The smiling president

Not her usual evil-ish grin. She was probably in her nicest element today.

So are the PSG. They were incredibly nice (compared to my past coverages of the Pekeng Pangulo as what we call her). No more long lines for media accreditation or for PSG inspected stickers for my recorder and camera. See? If it's this peaceful every time, I would love to go see her. :p

I took the photo (click the photo to enlarge) this morning at PNPA's graduation in Silang, Cavite. Arroyo was blabbering nonsense at the start of her speech but was able to declare anew she would stay in power until 2010. Ok, fine, Stay. As if we have a f*ck*n choice.

I just realized that no matter how many times we call for mass actions, no matter how many people from all walks of life converge in a protest district, she would NOT step down. Probably even if today was the end of the world, she would stay in her post--the presidency she holds so dear. Oh so so dear.

And I don't want Noli either. Sure, he was a former media practitioner (I am  being biased here hehe) but I don't think he's meant for the presidency at all. And he was also very ill-tempered today (sana man lang, maganda ang sagot). This time I'd love to believe initial impression might as well last. I hate him. Ang bastos sumagot ng tanong! hmpf.

Might as well wait until 2010? I don't know. I really don't know. All I know is that the lesser evils had been snatched by the heavens.

Have you observed that every possible replacement, or any possible icon who asked for Arroyo's resignation would suddenly pass away or get a fatal disease?

Think of Fernando Poe Jr., Raul Roco, and now Cory Aquino. Let's pray for Cory. And let's also pray for the evils in our midst.

Your president is one lucky bitch, indeed.

Five years from now

Two years after marching down that vast, grassy land at UPLB on a sunny April day, here I am, working on a cold press office inside a highly-secured police camp.

You see, when you have what you want, you become clueless on what to do next.

Yes, I am still young and I can still do a lot of things. And it's not right for me to get bored. But now I am BORED. And this is not good. Especially that I'm in a job that's supposed to excite me, mesmerize me, and stress me every single day.

Unfortunately, life can be monotonous at times. I wake up, switch the radio on to monitor the news, leave the house and go to the beat or somewhere the editor assigned me for that day. I interview people, I write the news, take some videos if I could, then sit, rest a bit then wait/search for the next story I could write about.

If it's a good story day, I would be out in the field and let adrenalin rush take over. Like the Manila Pen, Glorietta blast, Congress explosion. But of course I don't want disasters to happen just so I can say I had a blast at work.

If I was lucky (lucky it is! grr), I'd be walking from Guadalupe station to MMDA under the scorching 12 noon sun just for one metro story. But hey that's PUBLIC SERVICE. You tire yourself, you walk more than you should, with you getting underpaid by the day just so you could inform the public.

And I'm not the only journalist experiencing this. Everybody in this industry can rant because we all rightfully can!! (As much as those in the corporate world, I bet). And I don't blame those who have left this noble job. I perfectly understood why they bid us goodbye.

Whew, I think it's about time I set up my own communicatins firm. haha. Or I should start looking for alternative jobs. hahaha.

On second thought, do I really want to leave? I bet you know the answer. I'm addicted to this job, despite of and in spite of. And that's why I hate it!! The journalistic bug is indeed poisonous, can somebody find an antidote?

I think I was just restless today. I want some action!!!!

Still, watch out! Because five years from now Jun Veneracion, Alcuin Papa, Christine Roque, and Thea Alberto will set up a firm that will make us all happy! hahahahaha :)

Win 2 tickets to China (Beijing olympics)

Win 2 tickets to China..!! 2 TICKETS ALL EXPENSES PAID INCLUDING AIR FARES TO THE 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES IN BEIJING, CHINA. To participate is very easy, just view the attached photo, correctly answer the following six questions below. Send your answers to: International Olympic Committee, Private Bag, Lausanne, Switzerland. 1. Which student seems to appear tired / sleepy? 2. Which ones are male twins? 3. Which ones are the female twins? 4. How many women are in the group? 5. Which one is the teacher? 6. Which one is a queer? Good Luck!  I guess you are not going either. L

hehehehehe. :)

Somebody just tried to hack my Youtube account

What a very very stupid move. Asking for the password and even asking to change the password? Good thing Youtube sent me a notiication email.

I don't have anything in my youtube account. I just registered in Youtube some three years ago so I could watch more videos (some are banned, you know.). Still, it's freaky! Hohum. But I'm quite sure nobody could guess my password.

Ha! Subukan niyo lang, kaya ko kayong ipatrace sa CIDG!!!! Grr!!!

PNP says Manila Ocean Park safe - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20080318-125510/PNP-says-Manila-Ocean-Park-safe
Go there go there go there! :)

SE7EN (tagged again!)

People love to tag me in blog games. Does this mean I am soooo fond of surveys? hahaha :) Maybe. :p Else I wouldn't be filling up this thing. :)

Can I not tag anyone after this? :p But you can all copy the questions if you want :)

Seven things that scare you:

1. Death. Not mine, but of my loved ones.
2. That I might someday lose Nixlove. (Though I'm certain this would not happen :p)
3. End of the world?
4. Losing my sanity. hehe
5. A deadly disease. Because I dont want to be a burden to anyone
6. Amnesia?
7. Ghosts. Who's not afraid of them, anyway?
 

Seven things you like the most:

1. Beach. and being there with my loved one :)
2. Books. I can spend my entire paycheck on them hehe. I love the works of Joyce Oates, F. Sionil Jose, Stephen King, and David Mueller
3. Funny conversations. I love intellectual talks sometimes, but theyre just plain boring.
4. Hearing my favorite song on the radio. :)
5. Pasta and pizza. :) And sharing it with Nixlove :) We two can eat a whole family sized pizza!
6. Feel good movie. :)
7. Making my mom happy. :)

Seven important things in your room:

1. Padingtun my baby :)
2. My closet hihi. :)
3. My bookshelf
4. the laptop :)
5. The fan.
6. My bed, of course. :)
7. My shoerack. hehehe

Seven random facts about you:

1. You dont know me that well. :)
2. I'm excited to have a child. But I'm scared to give birth! tsk.
3. When I was young, I wanted to be a gymnast. :)
4. I've said this before: If I wasnt a journalist, I was a pre-school teacher :)
5. I am allergic to seafoods. (Everyone in my beat knows that hehehe)
6. I'm giving up my "budding Imelda" title. I now know how to control myself when entering a shoe store :p
7. I am a good driver :) Want a ride? :p

Seven things you can’t do:

1. run for presidency, or any government post. Eww
2. smoke. I never ever tried that yucky vice. :p
3. algebra. or any complicated (division and multiplication included! tsk) math for that matter! Thank God for calculators hehehehe
4. Cook. I know to make some noodles (is that cooking?) but I managed to do some nice dishes back in College for my HNF class. Who knows? I might just need some cookbook :)
5. get a passport. Task. I'm so tamad to process it. :(
6. Not to smile in pictures. hahaha
7.skate boards. :)

Seven things you can do:

1. Love. :)
2. Write news. :)
3. Hug people I love :)
4. eat an entire bowl of milk-filled oatmeal in 3 minutes :p
5. wear a mini-skirt (nung college hehehehe)
6. Sing! (feeling...hehehe)
7. Laugh out loud. As in super loud. hehehe

Seven things you plan to do before you die:

1. Transform at least one life. :)
2. Meet the spice girls hehehe
3. Get my Mom a home and a prince charming :)
4. Have children and raise them well
5. Get published (in a book.) Oh this was fulfilled na pala!!
6. Finish at least a thousand books. hehehe
7. Win the lottery. hahaha

Seven things that attract you to the opposite sex:

1.  That mystery factor. :)
2. That artistic factor. :)
3. Intellect. Who needs a cutie when he is as dumb as as cockroach?
4.Good skin. :)
5. Diction. Oh my, this is very important. I want someone who can express himself well.
6. someone who can sing. :) At the least, someone who hit the right notes.
7. Honesty. :)

(Nixlove got them all. :) hehe)

Seven things that repulse you in the opposite sex:

1. Bobo. (ok, I'm being mean here)
2.KIA (know it all hehe).
3. Too greedy.
4. If he hates kids.
5. Big mouths.
6. Over reacting.
7. Manhid. :))

Seven things you say the most:

1. Really?
2. Eeeee
3. Yeah
4. Why?
5. Haba ng hair! hahahaha
6. Astig!
7. Talaga?

                                                Seven celebrity crushes:

1. John Lloyd Cruz. hahahahaha :)) (sige, tawanan niyo ako :p)
2. Go Soo (Anthony Kim of marrying a millionaire)
3. Vladimir Putin (He's scary but very intelligent!)
4. Stephen King. (He's a celebrity too! I like his writing talent, not his face. hehe)
Sila lang. I dont crush a lot. :)

5.--------
6.-------
7.-------

High school buddies

In my case, my highschool buddies were the people who witnessed how I first fell in love or how I first cried over a failure. They were with me through it all--from checking what cheek tint would suit me best, what I looked like when my crush went by, etc etc.

My highschool buddies were almost part of my family. My Mom, my lola were also their Mom and Lola. The same goes for their Moms and Dads. I can say I discovered lifelong friendships in them.

It's funny how infantile our conflicts were back then. Still, the friendship I shared with them prepared me for my future relationships. :)

Of course my college buddies are life-long friends too, but they are different. (I must devote a different blog entry for this.:p)

I'm not sure whether I can have my much needed rest during the Lenten season but I think I want to go home this time. After all, one of my high school friends just gave birth (kainggit! hehe) and her baby's baptismal party would be a perfect venue for a get-together. Hay.

Just for today, I want to wear my school uniform again and live life like it's just all about homework, crushes, and allowance :(

2 hitchhikers die in Davao del Norte truck mishap - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20080311-124091/2-hitchhikers-die-in-Davao-del-Norte-truck-mishap
One of the shortest, most straight, but depressing stories I've ever read in the site. No drama in lead, no quotes, simply who what when where why.

Hitchhikers. Teen hitchhikers. It was possible they did not have money to pay for the fare. So they hitchhiked to death.

:(

Marrying a millionaire

.....Ahahahahay! I soooo love this Koreanovela :p I've never been a fan of Koreanovelas until I saw Spring Waltz and Marrying a millionaire. :p

I wonder how Koreans are able to emphasize love without needing to show love scenes. I wonder how they are able to present conflicts without the shouting, overacting gun chase, and the 'buhusan ng wine you're nothing but a second rate trying hard ekek' scenes. Antagonists in Koreanovelas need not be ugly and totally mean to be hated. And Koreanovela stars need not be glamorous to become one.

Most of Korean stars I've seen over google are simple. And I guess that's when their true beauty shows.

Koreanovelas are so Asian, so true, so simple. I wish Filipino soaps would soon become like them.

Because if we learn from what we watch, we're in big trouble. Enough of Marimar, please. We might end up becoming Angelika.

45 Natural Highs (grabbed from a forwarded mail)

1. Falling in love.
2. Laughing so hard your face hurts.
3. A hot shower.
4. No lines at the supermarket.
5. A special glance.
6. Getting mail.
7. Taking a drive on a pretty road.
8. Hearing your favorite song on the radio.
9. Lying in bed listening to the rain outside.
10. Hot towels fresh out of the dryer.
11. Chocolate milkshake (vanilla or strawberry).
12. A bubble bath.
13. Giggling.
14. A good conversation.
15 The beach
16. Finding a 20 dollar bill in your coat from last winter.
17. Laughing at yourself.
18. Looking into their eyes and knowing they Love you
19 Midnight phone calls that last for hours.
20. Running through sprinklers.
21. Laughing for absolutely no reason at all.
22. Having someone tell you that you're beautiful.
23. Laughing at an inside joke with FRIENDS
25. Accidentally overhearing someone say something nice about you.
26. Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours left to sleep.
27. Your first kiss (either the very first or with a new partner).
28. Making new friends or spending time with old ones.
29. Playing with a new puppy or kitten.
30. Having someone play with your hair.
31. Sweet dreams.
32. Hot chocolate.
33. Road trips with friends.
34. Swinging on swings.
35. Making eye contact with a cute stranger.
36. Making chocolate chip cookies.
37. Having your friends send you homemade cookies.
38 Holding hands with someone you care about.
39 Running into an old friend and realizing that some things (good or bad) never change.
40. Watching the _expression on someone's face as they open a much desired present from you.
41. Watching the sunrise.
42. Getting out of bed every morning and being grateful for another beautiful day.
43. Knowing that somebody misses you.
44. Getting a hug from someone you care about deeply.
45. Knowing you've done the right thing, no matter what other people think.

Old messages

I rarely delete messages so you could I imagine how chaotic my inbox is. :p Tonight I decided to make my mailboxes clutter-free but instead of doing some clean-up, I found myself laughing over past messages. :p

My first friendster message came from a highschool friend who now lives in California while my first yahoo message came from a high school crush. haha :) (I created my yahoo account when I was in first year hs.)

There are also messages from my old flame/s, all unintentionally (?) saved.  I had no second thoughts deleting their messages. hehe :) No, I'm not bitter. I just think those messages no longer need to be in my inbox. :) I think they're happy where they are now, just as happy as I am. :)

Then there are friendster messages from people I don't know, all asking to approve friend requests. DUH??! It's funny how rude I was in answering their annoying messages. Stupid of me to even write them back. But I was that stupid then. hehe.

Then my bulletin posts, ohmy! My old bulletin posts--all asking for advice whether to pursue this or not, whether to let go or not! All of those were written way back 2003 and the replies of my friends who responded to those bulletins were such awesome pieces to read. These are the types of messages I decided to keep. :)

I also decided to keep messages from people who are now gone, like Dioni, Rainier, and Dan. Of course, this needs no explanation.  I'm keeping the messages because the messages will never happen again. :(

I also kept messages sent by my bosses when I was just starting. E-mails of encouragement, reprimand, or even coverage assignments will remain in my inbox. :)

Hay. I need to do more mailbox sweeping. But I have to send my lovelots, hugs and kisses emoticons to Nixlove first :)

So, what's your inbox like? :)

My artist :)

I am sooooo drawn to artists. Maybe that's one of the reasons why I think I fell inlove at first sight with Nixlove haha :)

I used to like photographers, painters, and most especially, writers. tsk.

I am so weak when it comes to dealing with mysterious guys, the kind who would not need to converse with you just for them to look interesting. :p I hate bigmouths, I hate those who think they are so good in public relations hahaha. I hate competition, you know (hehehe) :p

Seriously, what I was looking for in a guy was the ability to make me shut up. Someone who could make the giddy Thea left in awe. And I finally have that one person.

Believe it or not, the first time I saw Nix (it was an orientation for the college publication. He was the editor in chief while I was a freshman trying out for a news writing post) I knew we'd click. (o ha? hehe) It could be gut feel, it could be wishful thinking at the time. Still, almost three years later, my instinct turned out to be right after all. :)

Since we were both taken then, the idea to have him never crossed my mind.  We were just glad the universe conspired to bring us together, with heaven's perfect time :) I even had to pinch myself the day he asked me out! I thought I was dreaming! haha :p

And if you would ask me who's the best writer alive, I would proudly say it's Nixlove :) Not because he is Nixlove...it is because he has power over words. Imagine, he already wrote a book when he was 14?!! And the book did not even have traces it was written by a budding writer. It was written like how a professional novelist would do his eight book. I just wish I could submit the book for publication. He would just not allow me. tsk

No wonder why I love reading his love letters.

Goodnight, everyone. I'm bound to do some reading tonight

I want to read more books

..but by the time I get home from work, I'm so tired all I want to do is sleep. Or maybe I'm so overdosed with words because of reading updates on the site the whole day that I can't even lift a page.

Bad me. I need to read because I see reading as an exercise. Reading is like my practice if I was an athlete.  Reading is my therapy.

And I pity the books waiting to be explored. :( Just this February, I bought 6 books; 2 books last January--majority of them left untouched to this hour.

I'm now reading Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses (oh what a pity, I should have read this ages ago). The book was a gift from my college professor before he left for Australia last 2006 and I just started reading it last month. Now I'm not even halfway done. :( lalalala

So obviously, my books have been accumulating dust and I hate that. I just hate that. I think I'm going to sleep really late tonight and prevent myself from opening my laptop. (Oh I need to find my other books, they're scattered all over the house!)

Internet is a big big distraction. Grrr. Why can't I hit that log-out button?

Theft of vote

From There's the Rub
Conrado De Quiros

The Arroyo regime's biggest albatross is not corruption, it is usurpation. Or its biggest theft is not the theft of money, it is the theft of the vote. A President who doesn't mind ruling illegitimately today won't mind ruling illegitimately tomorrow. If you can't make her go now, you can't make her go then.

The point is not for her to resign, it is for us to compel her to. You do not send criminals to jail with their permission, you send them to jail with their feet chained, whether they like it or not. The ruled are not powerless in the face of an unwanted ruler. The citizens are not powerless in the face of an unelected leader. Even without a military solution, there's no dearth of ways to loosen a usurper's grip. Though while at this, I don't know why the officers and gentlemen of the Armed Forces shouldn't consider that solution at all, with the help of the people. The duty of a soldier is to follow the chain of command, it is not to be a link in the chain of evil. The duty of a soldier is to obey an order that serves and protects the citizens, it is not to obey an order that serves and protects their oppressors.

READ FULL COLUMN HERE: FAQ

Frustrations

Para naman maiba. :) Puro na lang kasi dream come true ang nasa blog ko, hehe. At sa unang pagkakataon, sisikapin kong magsulat gamit ang wikang Filipino. Para din maiba. :)

Una, gusto kong maging mananayaw. Noon pa. Nursery nga ako marunong na akong magsuot ng 2-inches ballroom shoes. Gusto ko rin magballet. Kaya lang hindi bagay sa akin. Puwede sana ballroom  (yung tipong hindi nababalian ng buto kapag nag-deep na sa Tango hehe). Pangarap ko ring tumilapon habang nagsiswing at pangarap ko rin na maging ala J. Lo (hindi Jun Lozada ha) na sumasayaw ng hataw to the max. Hahaha! Ano bang kajologan 'to. :))

Kaya lang wala atang chance para magawa ko pa ito. Aba, baka mawalan na ako ng credibilidad. Haha. Kaya kung magsayaw man ako ng hataw to the max, siguro sa bahay lang (tanungin niyo si Nix kung ano itsura ko kapag tinugtog ng ang Hollaback girl. :p) o kaya kapag pinapanood ko si Shaun T. sa Hiphop Abs. :)

Hay.

Pangalawa, pangarap ko ring umarte sa teatro. As in yung malaking teatro ha, hindi skit sa eskwelahan. Nagawa ko siguro ito nung nasa kolehiyo ako kung hindi ako miyembro ng Perspective. Ewan ko ba, pakiramdam ko kasi dapat seryoso ang "image" ko noon. Ayoko kasing maging "theatre celebrity" na news writer at editor. Diba parang hindi bagay? Kaya hanggang pangarap na lang ang pag-arte on stage.

Isa pang hay.

Pangatlo, pangarap kong tumugtog ng violin. Na siyempre mahirap nang pag-aralan ngayong "matanda" na ako. Kaya pinabayaan ko na lang na kunin ng crush ko nung freshman ako lahat ng musical talent na meron sa mundo. Kung devcom ka, kilala mo kung sino tinutukoy ko! *blush*

Ay naging pangarap ko din palang maging gymnast, yung tipong tumatumbling hanggang sa kabilang dulo ng gym tapos magiging commercial model ng Milo. hahaha :))

Ano bang nakain ko ngayon. Tsk. :))

Tulog na ata ang kailangan ko. :D