Barefoot in Manila

Fishing for compliments. Complimenting for fish. It's a life.

Tuesday, June 25, 2002

Anybody want to give me this? I'll be forever grateful. I'll even beg if you tell me where you are.
Please?!?

.: posted by cecille 9:11 AM

Monday, June 24, 2002

A(n undeveloped) metaphysics of loneliness. I�ve always been haunted by the concept of "alone". What is it that makes some people loners? Why do others go to such lengths to have people constantly beside them?
I think it was T.S. Elliot who once said, "hell is alone." I came across this quote once and I was so struck by it that I wrote it at the back cover of my notebook. (I still remember that notebook. It had Mr. Bean for a cover and something about "private smallish notebooks" scrawled on top of his weird smile.) Is being alone really like going through hell? If yes, does this necessarily mean that surrounding yourself with people will make you happy?
I was in law school this Saturday, on my way to the comfort room (I�ve always thought that the smell of shit or piss could lead to unexpected intellectual/spiritual epiphanies), when I realized that man, at the state of nature, is alone. Why else are we born one at a time? (I know, you�ll say that two babies can�t possibly come out through that small opening simultaneously. But if nature willed it otherwise, surely the reproductive system would look much different? Use your imagination.)
Everything really is a cosmic joke. We are born alone. We strive throughout our lives to find someone. And the cosmos will do everything to tear you apart. Why? Because it is not natural. Natural is alone.
Consider: There are times when a person is conceived together with someone else, as in the case of twins. That would have been the perfect instance (if your twin was of the opposite sex) for people to go through life together, loving each other. But what happens? As soon as you�re out of the world, you learn that that�s a sin. That�s incest.
He�
I�m rambling. I don�t make much sense, do I? Well, it�s past six in the evening and it�s time to go home. You�ll have to excuse me then if I don�t exactly seem sane.

.: posted by cecille 6:11 PM

Saturday, June 22, 2002

Weezer, baby!
I'm a lot like you, so please, hello, I'm here, I'm waiting. I think I'd be good for you and you'd be good for me.
For all you know, you want me too. Or maybe you just don't know what to do. Maybe you're scared to say that you love me too.
Stupid is it, I can't talk about it. I got to sing about it and make a record of my heart.
They're playing Weezer on the radio. Man, I haven't heard this song in a long while. Reminds me of my college stalking days.

.: posted by cecille 10:55 PM

Friday, June 21, 2002

Our word for today is fuckwit. This word, according to a website I've gone to, is of Australian origin. However, it caught on in Britain around the 1970s. I first read this word in Bridget Jones Diary in 2001. And I've seen it on several pieces of Brit Lit since then.
Who really is a fuckwit? They claim to know. It's not such a big mystery though. Just look around. My wild guess is about 80% of the world's population partake of the nature of fuckwits.
And I'm not one of them.

.: posted by cecille 3:38 PM

Thursday, June 20, 2002

You're kidding me! Just goes to show that you must not believe everything you read. Me, a Cheer Bear? Watch as every one of my friends snicker.

.: posted by cecille 4:54 PM

Cheer Bear
You're the Care Bear cheerleader! Your spunky personality and optimisim lifts everyone's spirit. Though you want everyone to be happy, you stand your ground on issues you feel strongly about and this can bring disunity among your friends. Despite this, you are a true believer in working together.
Take the Which Care Bear Are You? Quiz!

.: posted by cecille 4:39 PM

Like text? If you have a mobile phone and you use it to send SMS messages to anyone, here's a site where you can do the same for free. The person you send it to will receive the messages on their mobile phone.
And the service is free, by the way.

.: posted by cecille 3:54 PM

Monday, June 17, 2002

Unrequited love theme. This song is by a UK band called Cinerama. I've loved them forever and yet I've only been blessed with being able to listen to just one album (Va va voom). Here are the lyrics to a cut from the album. I just love this song. Substitute the pronouns from she to he and you've got my life story.

Dance, Girl, Dance
I thought that we could just lie here,
but yes I know how you love dancing in that dress
And yes, I love to watch
You soothe away my troubles
But now slide those freshly shaven legs into
The clean cold sheets I've put on just for you
With every single touch
My love for you just doubles
But of course none of this has happened at all, yet
We've not even spoken, but I'll bet
Once you're through my door
You'll want to stay for ever more
Because I will hold you so tight, I'll make you see how
You are the right woman for me now
Just give me a glance
To show me that I've got a chance
All this cavorting is designed to tease
And girl your dancing drives me wild so please
Do it one more time
But make it last forever
Oh how come none of this has happened at all, yet
We've not even spoken, but I'll bet
Once you're through my door
You'll want to stay for ever more
Because I will hold you so tight, I'll make you see how
You are the right woman for me now
Just give me a glance
To show me that I've got a chance
Oh dance, girl, dance
None of this has happened at all, yet
We've not even spoken, but I'll bet
Once you through my door
You'll want to stay for ever more
Because I will hold you so tight, I'll make you see how
You are the right woman for me now
Just give me a glance
To show me that I've got a chance

.: posted by cecille 4:14 PM

Looking for pirates. I almost went crazy this weekend. As you know by now, I went to my first class on Friday. We were assigned to read about 20 cases and asked to prepare digests for each of the cases. I still didn;t have about a third of the assigned cases so I planned to go to the library on Saturday. Unfortunately, the library was closed for the rest of the weekend. The voice on the phone said that the library would only be open on weekends starting the fourth week of June. What was I to do?
Around this time, I realized the importance of having my own copy of Lex Libris. The Lex Libris cd contains Philippine jurisprudence dating back to 1901. Having my own copy would mean that I wouldn't be subjected to the whims of the library staff. I would be free to get as many cases as I needed on my own time, at my own pace. Plus, it would save me precious time better devoted to reading the cases, instead of waiting around for the photocopier to reproduce copies for you.
Being the reformed citizen that I am, a model of exemplary behavior to young adults my age, I resolved to buy the cd from the original disrtributor. Where the resolve of other students have succumbed to the wiles of software pirates, I was determined to stand tall and proud (of my original copy). I went to the website and got the telephone number that you were supposed to call for inquiries.
I almost had a heart attack. Apparently, while the road to hell is paved with good intentions, the road to heaven is littered with potholes of greed.
The bastards! One cd will cause you damage amounting to P35,000. Yes, you read it right. It costs THIRTY-FIVE THOUSAND PESOS. It costs almost double what a complete package of the Adobe Publishing Software will cost you.
I wasn't that easily deterred, however. I asked the voice on the phone if they gave discounts to students. After all, it's not like I'm going to make money off the cd sometime in the near future. Well, she said that they actually gave 20% discounts to students. Thay also offer it on instalment basis: payable within six months without interest.
Are you kidding?
WHERE WOULD I GET TWENTY-EIGHT THOUSAND PESOS?
So now I'm looking for pirates.

.: posted by cecille 1:08 PM

Friday, June 14, 2002

Bye! There goes another one. Chickclick.com is dead. I've been visiting it on and off for the past two years. It's such a shock that it didn't survive. And to think I thought they were doing well.

.: posted by cecille 11:20 PM

Welcome back! First off, let me just say that the world revolves around me. Therefore, anything and everything that happens in this world is aimed at getting a reaction out of me.
Now that we got the basic premises out of the way, allow me to proceed.

I just got home from my first class back in law school. Boy, was that such a riveting re-introduction into the big, bad world of studying the law.
The teacher we got is tough. Classes weren't even supposed to start until Monday but he wanted to have class tonight. He also gave us about 15 cases to read for tonight's class.
And that's just for starters.
When he began to enumerate the house rules, I had to grab unto the back of the chair for support. What rules, you ask?
1. We're not supposed to bring our readings (photocopies, books, etc.) in class.
2. We're supposed to make digests (summaries) of each case assigned and make an outline of the discussion scheduled for that day. No computer encoded text, no photocopies. Notes must be in our own handwriting.
3. When called on to recite, we can glance at our notes. Note that glance is the operative word, not read. According to him, there's a world of difference between the two.
4. After your recitation, you're supposed to submit your notebook to be checked. If you don't have notes, you'll get a 4 even if you deserve a 1 (the highest grade) for your excellent answers.
He also has an excellent memory. We were talking about Marbury vs. Madison and when nobody could give the answer, he recited Justice Marshall's decision word for word. That's like six paragraphs. Sans any mistake.

I'm so blown away by what transpired in class tonight that I can only think in non sequiturs: I love Mika Immonen's smile, and the Blur song Girls Against Boys won't quite playing in my mind.

.: posted by cecille 11:15 PM

Thursday, June 06, 2002

This one's old. I wrote this entry about 10 minutes after I saw High Fidelity. That was last Saturday. I wasn't able to post it because my ISP was acting up (again!). Anyway, here it is.

Wow! That's pretty much all I can say and yet this three-letter word encapsulates everything.
Allow me to wax ecstatic.
I love John Cusack. I love High Fidelity. I love music. And I love books too, although that isn't what the film is about. And I pretty much got the movie.
The lines that stuck to my mind are about not telling people we meet (and like!) about what we are like but about what we like. I can really relate to that. Usually, when I meet someone I really like, I start asking them questions like, "What kind of music do you listen to?" or "What books have you read lately?". I like to think that I'm a person who can easily get along with different kinds of people. That's true. But for those people whom I'd really respect, I tend to get more snobbish. I want them to listen to the kind of music I listen to. Or at least not like the kind of music I hate. The same goes for books and television and movies.
My brother once asked me why I gave so much importance to these stuff. Well, other people may find it trivial but for me, it's really important. I've always felt that only if you listen to the stuff I listen to will you ever truly get me. I'll never be able to explain why I feel melancholic whenever I listen to Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah. But you'll know (or at least have an idea) about what I'm saying when you do listen to that song too.
Well, enough about that.There's the love angle in the movie as well. All I really want to say about that is that I'll marry John Cusack anytime.

.: posted by cecille 3:31 PM

Wednesday, June 05, 2002

This is the best. Dave Matthews Band Live at Luther College is my favorite cd. I also think it is DMB's best recording to date. I've had the cd for close to three years and I've never gotten tired of it.
There's always a song to discover or rediscover. I bought it because I just loved Crash Into Me. Now I'm in love with Two Step.
Here's my top five favorite songs from the cd as of today, 05 June 2002:
1. Two Step
2. Little Thing
3. #41
4. Ants Marching
5. Lover Lay Down

.: posted by cecille 8:50 AM

Tuesday, June 04, 2002

Here's another one that I got from the mail. I think it really captures the office situation.
It's a fine sunny day in the forest, and a lion is sitting outside his cave, lying lazily in the sun. Along comes a fox, out on a walk.
Fox : "Do you know the time, because my watch is broken"
Lion : "Oh, I can easily fix the watch for you"
Fox : "Hmm. But it's a very complicated mechanism, and your great claws will only destroy it even more."
Lion : "Oh no, give it to me, and it will be fixed"
Fox : "That's ridiculous! Any fool knows that lazy lions with great claws cannot fix complicated watches."
Lion : "Sure they do, give it to me and it will be fixed".
The lion disappears into his cave, and after a while he comes back with the watch which is running perfectly. The fox is impressed, and the lion continues to lie lazily in the sun, looking very pleased with himself.
Soon a wolf comes along and stops to watch the lazy lion in the sun.
Wolf : "Can I come and watch TV tonight with you, because mine is broken."
Lion : "Oh, I can easily fix your TV for you."
Wolf : "You don't expect me to believe such rubbish, do you? Here is no way that a lazy lion with big claws can fix a complicated TV."
Lion : "No problem. Do you want to try it?"
The lion goes into his cave, and after a while comes back with a perfectly fixed TV. The wolf goes away happily and amazed.
Scene:
Inside the lion's cave. In one corner are half a dozen small and intelligent looking rabbits who are busily doing very complicated work with very detailed instruments. In the other corner lies a
huge lion looking very pleased with himself.
Moral:
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY A SUPERVISOR IS FAMOUS; LOOK AT THE WORK OF HIS STUDENTS.
In the context of the working world:
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY SOMEONE UNDESERVED IS PROMOTED; LOOK AT THE WORK OF HIS SUBORDINATES.

The difference between genius and stupidity is the genius has its limits.

.: posted by cecille 10:09 AM

Monday, June 03, 2002

Which John Cusack Are You?

The verdict is in. Yes, I just had to know which John Cusack I was. Apparently, I'm a John Cusack that I don't know from a movie I've never seen. Take the test and tell me who you are.