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The cab driver who drove me home tonight was kind of classy, I guess you could say.

I first noticed something was up when I was getting in, and telling him where I was headed. “CommonwealTH?” he repeated, strongly enunciating the th.  Most other drivers would yelp “komonwelt?!”, then wince and scratch their heads as though wanting to guilt-trip me for living far away. (Or shake their heads, mutter some excuse, and refuse to convey. Bastards.)
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Until further notice, I’m naming him Fernando Torres.

Even though it's David Villa on the wallpaper. :D

After months of hesitation, I finally went ahead and bought a netbook last weekend. It’s the Asus 1005P, and I’m really pleased with it so far. The keyboard layout might take a while to get used to though (although it’s not a particular flaw of this model). After two days of scouring Cyberzone in SM North EDSA, I ended up with what was most probably the best price for the model. I also got a Smart Bro modem, which I’ve only used for two days but has been a bit on the temperamental side–sluggish yesterday, but pretty awesome this afternoon.  But all in all my coffee afternoons have been a lot more productive now. And that’s good.

Speaking of which–on two occasions now, my friend Ned has randomly dropped by the Starbucks that I go to and found me there, even without knowing beforehand.  Haha. So it’s like my default location now? Like Chuck said, we have officially become the people we hated in college. LOL. (more…)

Pfft. If there’s even so much as a drizzle in the evening, cab drivers around the city start to act like they’re the last ride out of hell. And they get away with it because there’s very little way to police the kind of douchebaggery they unleash upon passengers. It’s aggravating. Robots, anyone?

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Allow me to admit up front that I’m nitpicking here. Have you seen the new Cybershot TV commercial? The one with the hyper-feminine girl and the French(?) song. The particular camera model is shock-proof, see, and Sony decides to illustrate that this way: the girl is trying to take a photo of a juggler, a wayward ball hits the camera, camera falls to the ground–good thing it’s shock-proof.

It’s fine, right? Except…

I WOULD LIKE TO MEET SOMEONE WHO IS ACTUALLY DUMB ENOUGH TO HOLD A CAMERA LIKE THIS.

Here’s from another Cybershot commercial. I know they’re just trying to make it seem all romantic and pretty and feminine and shit, but you know what, it’s possible to be romantic and pretty and feminine without being A COMPLETE MORON.

Because seriously, anyone who is enough of a bimbo to hold a camera with two fingers ought to be pummeled upside the head with it.

I ordered these babies earlier today, from a Multiply shop.

I’ll make the bank deposit tomorrow, then try to stay distracted for the next two weeks so the wait doesn’t kill me. This is my first time buying footwear online so I hope they’re comfortable (but since they’re flats I’m not too worried). At around P1100 they’re cheap for boots, much better than mall prices (and the stuff at the mall really isn’t even that great anyway). So yay! :D (more…)

For my “day job” writing ESL textbook material, I’ve had to frequent a website called ScienceDaily, which churns out plenty of the topics that I need. Now while most of the time the articles there are insightful and relevant (I stay up-to-date on their articles on caffeine), some of these headlines are full of lulz–some because they look like they were written by Captain Obvious, and others because they make you wonder how and why they discovered these things. I mean, check these out:

Americans Want Self-Respect, More Than Ever

Scottish People ‘Living Dangerously’ (It’s the kilts, isn’t it.)

Squirrels Show Softer Side by Adopting Orphans, Study Finds

Those Less Motivated to Achieve Will Excel on Tasks Seen as Fun (Unrelated note, I am great at hanging out at the mall.)

The Joy Is in the Social Hunt: Facebook Users More Engaged Emotionally When Conducting Specific Searches (This is true; I remember not being very emotional the last time I did a broad search.)

Dark Pulse Laser produces bursts of almost nothing

Dog Owners More Likely To Share Germs With Pets By Not Washing Hands Than By Sleeping With Dog

And lastly, my favorite:

Compulsive Behavior in Mice Cured by Bone Marrow Transplant

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Guess who went to the spa today.

My dogs.

They were whisked off in a van, and were gone for half the day. When they came back, one was cleaner and looked several months younger, the other was shorn bald and looked like a different breed altogether, and both smelled like aromatherapy votive candles.

It's ok, fur grows back. Hopefully.

My family isn’t the type to afford our pets such luxuries on a regular basis (we can’t afford it), but their condition (read: flea-bitten and mangy) had worsened to the point that we couldn’t handle it anymore and needed the help of professionals. Actually, had they not come today we wouldn’t have found out that Shasha is preggers again. PUPPIES! :D

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I didn’t get to post yesterday, but Happy Independence Day! We have a ton of problems as a country, but being a Filipino is still pretty kickass, if you ask me.

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Remember the bridal entourage from this post? I swear, it’s following me. I went into Landmark yesterday and there they were, pretty much blocking off the whole footwear department. And then five minutes later, while I was at the lingerie section, they came marching in again. I could have taken a picture but I was too engaged in adding to my ever-growing collection of laughably cute knickers.

Ribbons! Because I'm bad-ass that way.

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For the past two days my Blur fandom has flared up again and I’ve been obsessing over Damon Albarn. I didn’t realize it before but he looks kind of like James Dean–a scruffier, sillier version of. I might do a screencap picspam for my next post.

Today at Landmark Trinoma, I was on my way to the supermarket entrance when suddenly the guards started shooing me and the other shoppers toward the side of the aisle to make way for a parade: a handful of violinists in evening gowns wailing a painfully off-key rendition of Pachelbel’s Canon in D, followed by a bridal entourage. Apparently someone thought it would be a bright idea to promote their wedding products by having the entourage march through the supermarket lobby–which, like the hardware store, is a part of the mall most often occupied by people who are already married. I wonder how that brainstorming meeting went. They must have run out of coffee.

I almost felt sorry that I didn’t have my camera with me to take a photo of such a ridiculous sight, but that probably wouldn’t have been a good idea. Because then they might think that I appreciated it and would love to see their next line of bridal couture paraded around the next time I buy bacon.

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About an hour ago I got a random text message from a jejemon whose number wasn’t on my list. All of the following text messages are verbatim.

Person:
Hey guyz,
Ny-ty-nyt na po,
Me church pa po
2m0rw,
Slip wel,
Swit dreamz,
Pray 1st,
Ny-ty-nyt ult
Mhuahh,

>,.g.m., ..<

Me [wondering if it's someone I actually know]:
Sorry, but who is this?

Person:
Gn0, sa y0uth bliw ka tlga
Save u numbr ku ha,
2l0p na b si bujay?

Me:
I don’t know you.

Person now identified as Gn0 from “youth” (whatever that is):
Hey b0y .f.y.i.
This is gin0 fr0m church, i d0n’t believe that u d0n’t kn0w me,
Hahaha what a big mistake…
D0n’t blame me cauze’ i kn0w and u kn0w that u kn0w me!
Maybe i sh0uld txt y0ur m0ther tita dheng,
By the way d0n’t w0rry i kn0w the cellph0ne number of y0ur m0ther..
And last, is bujay asleep?

Person now identified as gino from church, after I didn’t reply:
Hey nj,
Do y0u surrender u haven’t yet answer my questi0n? Let me repeat it again is bujay asleep?

That’s the last of it so far because I didn’t want to waste any more phone credits on this doofus, but to be honest this is kind of cracking me up. First of all, I’m curious about the circumstances and am forced to speculate that this is a guy texting another guy who gave him the wrong number on purpose. That would make sense, because I’ve only received a few messages from him and hell, I know that if it were me I probably would’ve given him the wrong number too. Especially if I were a dude. I almost want to feel sorry for this Gino kid, but at the same time he is incredibly annoying.

So far I’ve decided to ignore him and hope he figures it out on his own and leaves me alone.

That said, were I feeling a little more bored or mischievous, I do have a few other options for dealing with this bugger, like telling him to go ahead and text “tita dheng” like he said he could. That’ll be something. For now though, is there no way to block phone numbers?