A Night with Ely

Ches and I had business to do at Trinoma, that is to fetch Jewel who is very maarte to take bus or taxi but it was heaven becos i learned that Ely will be there in few minutes...   Ches bought us drinks so we could get into Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at the third level. I'm telling you, this is The Perfect Spot to watch the concerts at the activity center. A staff told us there were no more seats available, all the tables were taken. Duh? Who needs to sit when Ely is singing?

The concert started right on time. At 7 PM, Ely appeared on stage in a coat and tie, looking more Pupil than Eheads. As in the August 2008 concert in the Fort, he started off with Alapaap. Omigosh, the crowd went wild! Nico says Ely was quoted in an interview as saying he considers this one of his five best songs. Rightly so.

He followed it up with another song that I have to admit I'm not familiar with bcoz it's not Eheads. The only Pupil song I know is Bus Stop, and it turns out that's not even an original, it's a cover of a 60s song. It's funny bcoz I found out when we were in Cape Cod, while having early dinner at this ribs place, and the song came on. And I was like, that can't be Pupil playing all the way here! Hahaha. He did five or so non-Eheads songs that night. All good, with his standard senti lyrics and sad melody, but it was clearly the Eheads songs the crowd came to hear. 

The playlist that night included:

1. Alapaap
2. Ligaya
3. Wag Mo Nang Itanong
4. Maling Akala
5. Lightyears
6. Wag Kang Matakot
7. Magasin
8. Maselang Bahaghari
9. Pare Ko
10. Lift Your Head
11. Tikman
12. Ang Huling El Bimbo

It was such great fun to listen to Ely sing live again. He did Magasin in slow mo, giving it a sad love song take. Hilarious. He brought out his guitar and did an acoustic version of Pare Ko, before segueing to Lift Your Head. Owww. You can just imagine the crowd reaction getting fever pitch at this point. 

I especially love Tikman bcoz it's not often played. If you listen to the lyrics closely, it's pure genius. Original Filipino love ditty at its best. Lightyears is another one of my favorites. It's too desperate and heartbreaking, but the melody is angry rather than hopeless. It gives me a pang whenever I hear it, tho, bcoz it was the last song Ely sang before the fateful intermission in the August 2008 concert when he had a heart attack.

He was so, so good in this concert. He came down the stage and shook hands with his admiring throng. It wasn't the usual perfunctory showbiz gesture, too, that takes only several seconds. He went in several directions, all the way to the people on the far side outside the railings. Coolness. A few girls were even able to steal kisses from him. Dang. I should've been one of them. Haha. 

The last song was Ang Huling El Bimbo, of course. It's still as perfect and rocking as ever, but I think this is yet another reason why the Eheads should re-unite, and soon: it's time to create more great songs to finish off more equally fantastic concerts. 

I wish Ely and the rest of the Eheads could see from the sheer number and euphoria of the crowd that night: this is how much we still love you, after all these years.

My Own Parable

God Prioritizes Relationships

One day, a group of angry men threw a woman at Jesus feet

In my imagination, she was most likely bruised with blood dripping on her face, slapped a couple of times by these holy men. She was most likely naked too.

These men said to Jesus, “Jesus, we caught this woman in the act of adultery. The Law states that we should stone her to death. What do you say?” (This makes me wonder. The last time I checked, adultery happens between two people. Where’s the guy?)

In other words, she broke the rules! But to God, as shocking as this may sound, His relationship with the woman was more important than those rules.

So Jesus threw a pail of cold water on these violent, blood-thirsting, stone-carrying, rage-breathing, nostrils-flaring mob by saying, “He who has no sin cast the first stone.” One Bible manuscript says, “He who has not committed this same sin cast the first stone.”

One by one, the guys dropped their stones and walked out.

       (Let me insert this: Next time you’re angry at something, check the mirror. Because most often, we’re angry at something that’s in us—but we just don’t admit it yet. So we project our anger at others.

When everyone left, Jesus bent down to this crying, trembling, terrified woman, cowering in front of him. He asked, “Where are those that condemn you?

The woman said, “They’ve left…”

That was when Jesus said two powerful things to her. And it’s important that you keep the sequence of these two powerful things right. (Many religious people invert his sequence!) 

Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.” 

And then He said, “Sin no more.” 

Religious people have inverted the sequence of these two words. They preach, “Sin no more… and God won’t condemn you.” 

You hear this again and again. “Keep the rules… and God will love you.”

That’s not what God said.  That’s not the right sequence.  

The first thing God says to you is, “I don’t condemn you.  I love you. I accept you as you are. You may feel like junk right now. Rubbish. Garbage. Because of your sins, your failures, you feel like the scum of the earth.   Well, I don’t condemn you. And if you receive my love, and enter into a relationship with me, I’ll help you not to break the rules anymore. Because of my love for you, you can overcome sin in your life.”

That’s the Gospel of Jesus.

God prioritizes your relationship with Him. More important than all the rules. Actually, more important than anything else in the universe.

Dear friend, go do the same. Prioritize your relationships. Make relationships your win in life.

Life is all about relationships.

Shout it from the housetops: Life is all about relationships.

Clara's Pure Heart

I had the chance to escape work - that was given  the fact that im working even on Sundays - to visit Batangas. Claras has not seen me in months. When it was her time to showcased her talents she mimic a little ms. philippines (of Eat Bulaga) as says :

"I am Clara Marela Nanlini Fernandez, 3 years old....."

Me (the Malificent) : No! hndi na fernandez name mo.

Clara : Eh bakit yun ang name ko.

Me : Kc hindi na darating si daddy sir mo, kc nasa heaven na sya.

A little silence on Claras part...then

Clara : OK

It was heaven.

It was different from the first instance i told her that her daddy sir won't be coming anymore. it was during a call, and she ask me when will he be coming. i forgot that im talking with a 3 year old girl and just blatantly said so. my mom said clara cried and cried till she fell asleep. and every time somebody park a car outside the gate she would be rushing out to check if it was her daddy sir.

maybe, after sometime...clara also accepted the fact and the truthfulness of my word. that her daddy sir wont be coming. her 3 year old heart might felt what is happening and that made her accept it.

without so much fuss.

can you see the difference? clara with a pure heart forgets easily...mine find it hard to even consider forgiveness. it's because my heart is still cuddling hatred and regrets.

but, like my little clara......time will make me accept everything.

soon im going to say....ok.....

and it will be heaven.

i shared this story to claras ninang jewel....

Jewel : you have done a good job there, till clara discovered that it isnt true her dad is in heaven....because the truth is he is in hell, :P.

talking about bitterness hahaha.

Thom Getting Married

Thom sent me the save-the-date invite for his wedding the other day. And of course, I did exactly what I’ve been known to do when anything mildly poignant happens: I cried and cried.

 I was just overjoyed bcoz  Thom is practically my adopted little brother. Even after WU, he stayed.  I’ve lost count of all the times I blogged about how he is my most loyal and reliable and sweetest friend. He of all my friends has proven that a big part of friendship is all about showing up.

I still remember how I fed him with all these unsolicited crazy ideas about how he should propose to Joy. I was still in SG then, tho not so original.  And then there were all the serious talks we had way into the night about cryptic topics like The Future. Haha. I love that he has always treated me as his Ate whom he can trust with his life’s big issues, forgetting for a moment that I'm usually this shallow, uncaring person. Haha.

I’m just so glad that the day is finally here and he is all set to marry Joy, the love of his life. She is not only a UP lawyer, kick-ass brand manager in another pharma company, our neighbor, – she is also fabulous, warm and chatty, and responsible for introducing us to Guesstures, Melona, Pino, and Woorijib. After all of that, how can this girl ever go wrong, right? Hahaha.

It’s too bad I can’t make it to the wedding in San Francisco tho. I told Thom if it was even in January next year then I would definitely be there. Try as hard as I might, we’re just not the kind of people who can afford to travel to the US in a blink. Hahaha. Paula and I have offered to sing all thru-out the wedding if he will shoulder our plane fares. Even now we're still at it, us and our unsolicited crazy ideas. I actually sent him a list of all the songs I think they should play at the wedding. Hahaha.

Thom and Paula and I have what I call a love-hate relationship – we love to tease him, and he hates it but is too nice to get mad at us. Hahaha. He gets back at us, too, in his own subtle way, like threatening right this very end to make me a wedding ninang, when I’m not even ten years older than him. Grrr.

This is Thom's moment, tho, and someone as good and giving as him deserves no less than true J/joy. I told him that even if Pau and I may not be around to rock his wedding, I just know that it will turn out exactly like his save-the-date invite - exquisite, joyful, and perfectly heartbreaking. I just know it.

Finding Jerry

The day I met with Mailyn and Randy, I also ran into someone I have not seen in 10 years: our Pol Sci blockmate Jerry. He called my name in Shangri-La Mall and I knew instantly it was him. One thing led to another, and that same Saturday Ches, Nico, Lei, and I had dinner with him. (I told him he must really mean a lot to Nico, if Nico could suddenly be free on such short notice. Normally setting up anything with that guy is like scheduling an audience with the Pope. Hahaha.)

It was pure serendipity and perfect timing to run into Jerry, right when we are celebrating the 13th anniversary of our freshman year in U. He was one of the boys I got close to in Block A4. I had some kind of double personality in college: my best friends were Amor and Kai, who were Good Girls in every way, but then I also hung out a lot with the likes of Jerry, Nico, and Ches, who hardly even showed up in class and were The Height of Cool that early in college. Hahaha. 

We all had great fun catching up with Jerry. We've stayed in touch with Nico thru all these years and years, but Jerry we have not seen since freshman year. So we told him to start from the top - from the time he left the university to when he went back to school to his various jobs here and abroad to building his family. Amazing what can happen in one's life in a span of 13 years. Jerry's daughter is actually in highschool now. Gasp. If we had any doubts at all about how old we've gotten, that single fact banished all of it. We are not only undeniably old - we are practically heritage. Hahaha. 

The best part was reminiscing about the good, old days, of course. Jerry was actually our blockhead. I'd forgotten all about this until Nico reminded me. So Ches is supposedly the best-looking guy in the block, and we elect someone delinquent like Jerry as blockhead? Like I always say, A4 is one deprived block. Hahaha. 

I'm not surprised why we chose him to be blockhead, tho. We all remembered how he had this way with everyone, male and female classmates alike, as well as those in between (yes, we had a lot of those in the block hahaha), and even our teachers. He is one of those people who are so warm, open, chatty, and perennially smiling. And tho he denies this, Ches, Nico, and I are unanimous in saying: he was a big flirt. Hahaha. He had this thing for our Bombshell Blockmate A and Kas I teacher ER. I kind of recalled that, like Ches, he was also the loveteam of our Comm I teacher Ms. P. The funny thing was, none of us had any memories of him actually attending classes with us. HAHAHA.

Some of the more amazing/shallow things we laughed about in the course of our dinner at Secret Recipe, and then cakes and coffee after in Cravings:

1. Jerry holds the distinction of being the only blockmate who has ever been to Nico's house in White Plains. Ches and I have both been in his Valle Verde house, but not White Plains. (Nico is a sucker for this kind of trivia. He's so gay. Hahaha.)

2. I gave Jerry a red shirt which I just borrowed from my Ches. He saw me wearing it and liked it so much that I ended up giving it to him after I had it washed. Never mind that it was my brother's and not even mine to give away. Hahaha.

3. Nico loaned Jerry a white Guess watch, a gift from his mom and all. It was with him for months and months but then Nico ran into him and saw him wearing the watch and so Nico asked to have it back. Hahaha. I love this story. It kind of shows how carefree and stupid we all were in college. And I love that Jerry had no qualms about admitting that he would have kept the darned watch if only Nico hadn't caught him with it again. Hahaha.

4. Jerry ran into our Bombshell Blockmate A a few years back and cyberstalked her, which is how he knows about her newspaper articles and athletic activities. Hahaha. Ches seems to be the more persistent cyberstalker, tho, bcoz he is actually FB friends not only with A, but all the rest of our prettier blockmates. HAHAHA. (Like Bootsie says: 'mamiac'.) 

5. Of all the girls he liked in A4, he liked me best. And he said this right under my Ches' nose. Hahaha. You gotta admire this guy's candor. But before I could even let a crazy joke like that get into my smug little head, the three guys trip all over each other explaining that it was probably bcoz I was their buddy while the other girls were out of reach and hence mere fantasies. (The Tagalog word is way more graphic: 'pinagpapantasyahan'. Hahaha.) Now I don't know if this was supposed to be a compliment, bcoz I felt vaguely insulted. Hahaha. Sure, ok, I get it - I was liked best bcoz I happened to be accessible. It's not like I had any illusions about being a bombshell like A. Hahaha. 

What a long, crazy, happy night. Must Definitely Do This Again.

Amazing List

1. Hoarding amazing books from Fully Booked, undies from La Senza, dresses from Promod and Forever 21, a pair of shoes from Zara, and a Hello Kitty belt from Vans. Equals happiness. The shallow, manic cash register kind of happiness, but still. Hahaha.

2. Weekend lunch with the gang at Yen Yen Taiwan Street Food. We all loved the food, and I loved the tall poster of Taipei 101. Is had this thing for skyscrapers since New York and Empire State Building. It's a milder version of my hello kitty obsession - while Ardo  spews out nosebleed trivia like the height of the buildings, the year they were built, where to find them, etc. He doesn't even wait to be asked. Sheesh. Like I always say, Anna - let's move on and cultivate a marketable skill next time, why don't we? Something that will finance our Breadtalk addiction. Hahaha.

3. Thom surprising me with a Moonleaf at work in the middle of the day. Owww. Thom is the perfect poster boy for loyal, enduring friendship.

4. Mary Grace ensaymada smothered with quezo de bola. I've always loved their cheese rolls and lemon bars, and now I found this amazing ensaymada, too.

5. Trying out new milk teas, like those from J. Co. I'm not going to ditch my usual favorites for J. Co. or anything, but this place definitely walks away with The Cheesiest Napkins Award. Hahaha. Parang kami lang ni Ches.

6. Another Alba's lunch treat from my snooty friend in the office

7. A lunch treat from Legal Dept' boss, too, at Pancake House

8. Trying out something new, all for the love of Ches. I am fiercely anti-gun, but somehow he's into this whole shooting thing and has been bugging me to go with him for the longest time. So I finally went, fired one shot, and was so traumatized by the sound and fury of it all that I couldn't take another. I told him: you shoot your guns, I'll shoot my pictures. I mean, we can't all be the same kind of trigger happy friends, right? Haha. As for Jewel she said if she can't use her Lawyerly ability then she might use this one hahaha...."He" better be on the look out :P

9. Kind words from loved ones,. Sir also asked what my rank was in Accountancy school, and when I told him, he said, 'Good job!', complete with a high five. It was so the opposite of his usual snooty comments to me that I was rendered speechless for about five minutes. Hahaha.

10. The forces of good gathering steam (as my friend G puts it) to keep us in the fight when the dark side puts us down

11. Ann's baby shower at Serye, where we finished more than a kilo of crispy pata, plus kare-kare and bangus belly steak, and we had tall, too sweet drinks, to boot. We are clearly miles and miles away from our Biggest Loser days. Hahaha.

12. Stormy weekends which we spend lazing around in bed with our own little gadgets and books. Family bliss is made of these.

13. The London Olympics opening ceremonies. It was Raphael who told me I had to see it bcoz it had J. K. Rowling, Hugh Grant, Hey Jude, Voldemort - all things British that she knew I liked. So I watched it, and she was right, I loved it! The queen descending in a parachute with her knickers showing was tacky, and I'm not really a fan of Beckham - but never mind bcoz there was Mr. Bean playing the Chariots of Fire theme with the orchestra, and the magnificent cauldron rising from the ground to form the Olympic flame, like magic. Fantastic.

Baduy-ness

You tube is a gem of memories for me.

Like how this song can remind me of a promise :



specially loving the line "tinangka nating mangarap sa mundong sadyang mapagkait"

Nothing

while everyone is enjoying the long weekend rest im still here at my desk, trying my best to at least lessen the file of papers that's been eye sore to me since i hesitantly said yes to this BIR case. to be able to tap my keys to write on my blog seems a taste of a weekend, nonetheless. never mind if UBGang02 are in Batanes, never mind if my family are attending wedding of a favorite cousin in Mindoro, never mind if Esco Boss emailed me the pix at Misibis resort where i was originally part of the group, and all never mind things that i forgo in the name of finishing my work all for the love of my craft.....

last night i was able to see tv patrol....hahah that was big deal after not able to see it in months. you see i am working from 7am till midnight notwithstanding the absence of overtime pay. im not complaining here of course. this all im doing with hope that in the end i'll be able to tell myself i have done a noble job being a David compared to Goliath which is BIR....( i hope my readers doesnt include one of them...or they might cancel my accreditation no which will expire end of this year :p )

as i always have say unto anything that matters to me let me share you few of my thoughts on the news of the past months :

**on the death of Sec. Jessie - another evidence that life is too short. that even decision to take a commercial flight can change everything. this reminds me of one line in my favorite book written by Dahnl Colby - there is nothing we can do when its time. May Secretary's soul be resting now in the grace of God, which I have no doubt. I have known him personally (well hindi naman super close) while he is still mayor of Naga when i was working at WU and we would be having dinner with him on occasions with my then politician boss.

**on Zsa Zsa Padilla having T1 Ovarian Cancer - when it rain saw it pours. after losing his Lovey now the news breaks of having a malignant cancer. I was so touched of her father saying that amongst his children Zsa Zsa is the strongest. I can so relate. I felt like it was my father telling the same thing for me. I can so relate a lot of things with Zsa Zsa. Not to mention falling in love with a guy soooo much older than we are, hahahaha!!!

**on Dolphy's family being one regardless of which family they belong - time has its own magic of bringing together people without even considering the truth that somehow, past made everything impossible. Forgiveness and acceptance still topped billed the list of virtues that i believed to be.

**on the Habagat/Delubyo or anything but Bagyo which made NCR and nearby provinces sulk into flood. While i was wathcing the news i cried seeing children being wet and cold on top of their houses waiting for help. There were heros, tho everywhere ready to help...the barangay officials, the govt employees, soldiers and policemen.

**on P-noy being all but respectful on the TV Patrol Anniv where he showed how his patience got the better of him. It's so un-President action for me. Bakit ganun yung mga taong lumaki sa rangya???? Mga pikon sila! Because i knew somebody equally pikon like him. The name is so undeserving to be mentioned on my blog!

Little and Wise That I am

So we had another event at the office with the year-long Star Wars theme. They told us to come in military look. I guess it’s to discourage people who take costume parties seriously from spending their entire month’s salary on elaborate Queen Amidala regalia. Haha.

I have never been one of those people. Even in QT where you get fined if you don’t come in costume. Part of my stubbornness, I guess. Haha. If I have something in my closet that goes with the theme, then I will make the effort to wear that. If not, I just come in my usual jeans or dress. Rhoel and I like to say that Jon is our idol in this regard, Jon whom we accuse of wearing a peace sign as his compliance to a costume no matter what the theme, be it Wild Wild West, Olympics, Y2K, or whatever. Hahaha.

It so happened that I had a beige blazer with a lot of buttons. Equals military, right? I also brought home Jewel’s Forever 21 knee-high camel boots. So I thought those two together were enough.

Ches: Your blazer has a lot of buttons but it also has a lot of ruffles. No way is it military.

Jewel: How is that military? Sounds more like cowgirl look to me.

Grrr. Who needs enemies when I have friends like these?

And then I remembered that Yoshi had a Yoda shirt from Ate. I wasn’t sure it would fit me bcoz it’s for 6-7 year olds, as the tag says. But it did! It so did. I modelled it for Yosh who told me I can keep it since it’s already tight on his tummy. Hahaha.

Friends villains notwithstanding, I would have to say my look was a success. A grand total of four people in the office actually told me I looked ‘pretty’. Hahaha. Yes, four people saying I’m pretty is significant bcoz normally when people in the office talk about me they use ... other adjectives. More along the lines of maaway rather than pretty. Hahaha.

Must be the Yoda shirt, never mind if it’s for little boys. Or the wagas na boots. Or the buttons and ruffles blazer. Could even be the hair. I’ve actually been getting a lot of compliments on my hair. It has grown on me (pun intended). One Ate told me she liked it but prefers my long, wavy hair from when I first moved to the office. She wanted to know why I kept cutting it shorter and shorter. I explained to her that my hair length is inversely proportional to my stress levels. Hence, she should watch out for me getting bald next year. Hahaha.

The Little Things

......it’s still the little things that make you so perfect everyday.

1. You take charge of all of Clara's pocket slashing insurance and plans

2. You make us all kinds of yummy grilled sandwiches whenever you are around

3. You always reach for my hand everywhere  – and you always offer your hand when I reach for it

4. Your face never fails to break into a smile

5. You never stopped doing crazy stuff for me - like surprise me with Lily (the net with the flower) - without ever needing a reason or occasion to do so

6. You’re so good with kids that Clara love you more than she'll  ever love me

7. When I bitch about the legal issues in the office for the nth time, you make a comment like ‘It’s fun, tho, what you do’ – and you are absolutely correct

8. You never fail to pour drinks for me when we eat, and save me the best part of any dish

9. You made Jewel laugh so hard and pee her pants when you told her about my suitors

10. When we rummage in Booksale, you know exactly what books I look for

11. You tirelessly download my endless list of crazy indie films, never mind if they’re harder to find than The Bermuda Triangle

12. Clara is so loyal to you, and you have given him no reason to doubt, in all of his four years, that you are the smartest and strongest man on earth

13. You’re so secure with your own place in my life . You even emailed me a picture of your friend/my crush to keep me company in Anvaya! (Hahaha.)

14. You have instant answers when I need to know what ‘vacuous’ means, or Yoshi wonders whether electricity is from lightning, or when i  asks which is farther from the Philippines, North or South America. Who needs Wikipedia when we have you?

15. You have been my driver without pay since college. And you hardly ever comply with number coding - and hardly ever get caught, too!

16. You still write me long, hilarious, and ultimately heartbreaking letters

17. You are never without a book or a movie in bed at night - just like me

18. You look younger and fitter than when I first met you in college. How is that even possible?

19. You're always the first in line in blood donations, relief operations, and Habitat builds

20. You get the boys interested in man stuff like NBA, Olympics, National Geographic, and James Bond

21. Out of the 6 billion people on the planet, you know me best ... and love me most, anyway

22. I think most of our friends regardless of gender are just a little bit in love with you

Thank you, Chestnuts. Happy whatever. I’ll stop the world and melt with you.

Thank you for being the knight....thanks for the friendship!

The Giving Tree

Jewel went to The Giving Tree Gallery in Sandwich, and she sent me beautiful pictures of the poems and artwork all over the place. She said she didn't find anything special with it, it just looked a lot like all thetalahib in the farm behind our Lola's house. Hahaha. Crazy Jewel. But she did know I would've appreciated it so much more. Jewel is one of the few People Who Get Me. She is always buying or emailing me stuff that she knows take me straight to heaven.

She sent me this poem:

Wasn't that just perfect? It reminds me of the Bible stories about God taking care of the lilies and swallows, even if they don't do anything or serve any obvious purpose. Those are some of my favorite Bible stories bcoz they are just so comforting and consistent with my view of God as all-forgiving and boundlessly generous.

She also sent me this:

And I told her, OMG, that's a line from one of my favorite poems ever!

I am posting the whole poem below as a gift to all of you people who read my little blog =)

After A While
©1971 Veronica A. Shoffstall

After a while you learn
the subtle difference between
holding a hand and chaining a soul
and you learn
that love doesn't mean leaning
and company doesn't always mean security.
And you begin to learn
that kisses aren't contracts
and presents aren't promises
and you begin to accept your defeats
with your head up and your eyes ahead
with the grace of a woman,
not the grief of a child
and you learn
to build all your roads on today
because tomorrow's ground is
too uncertain for plans
and futures have a way of falling down
in mid-flight.
After a while you learn
that even sunshine burns
if you get too much
so you plant your own garden
and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting for someone
to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure
you really are strong
you really do have worth
and you learn
and you learn
with every goodbye, you learn...

Now a poem like that is definitely one of the things John Keats must have had in mind when he wrote about a thing of beauty being a joy forever.

(Thank you, Jewel, for the pictures and poems, and for getting me =)

On Love and Bosses

B and I were talking about bosses the other day. She can’t wait to get out of her office bcoz her boss is lazy and another boss is overbearing. I’ve always believed that laziness, like stupidity, is contagious. And so I’m rooting for her to be able to get da hell out of that office already.

I’ve had my share of bad bosses. There was the boss who made me sit beside him so I could see as he edited my work on his computer. I could have taken it if he was correcting my legal arguments or whatever on our audit findings, but no, he was just making sure I was 100% compliant with Strunk and White. Whaddahell. And he’d be like this even if it was already way past midnight and the last thing you could care about is whether you properly used semicolons. Aaargh.

Then I had the boss who was as notorious for her big, untamed hair as her absolute lack of people skills. During working hours she went to the salon to get a rebond or visited houses she wanted to buy, leaving you alone in the office to slave away – and then she passed off your work as her own. Sheesh. That woman so deserved her Edward Scissorhands hair.

And then there was the boss who was not only kiss-ass, pompous, and over-all grossly incompetent, but who also told me, when I wore my Mango navy jersey dress, that I looked ‘ravishing’. Eeeooowww. This person is The Embodiment of All That Is Horrible In Bosses.

But it’s all ok, coz they're in the past now, and I’ve also had two good bosses who totally make up for all the bad seeds.

There was M who, despite his stature, took the time to mentor me and take me out for long, chatty lunches. He remains one of the most brilliant lawyers I know, so I didn’t mind one bit if I could hardly recognize my draft after he was done revising it – it became just this big blur of red tracked changes (hahaha). He didn’t take it against me that I didn’t go with him to Beijing bcoz I couldn’t bear to leave having heartaches and all.  Best of all, he lawyered for me so I got these perks that made me stay just when I wanted to bolt the office already.

And then there was N, who is entirely in a class of his own. He’s brilliant, hardworking, and all cool and savvy when I least expect him to be. No other boss has ever made me feel so trusted and valued as this guy. He listened to me as if I made sense all the time, and talked to me like we were old, enduring friends. He shared my causes, watched my back, and singlehandedly did everything – everything – to make me stay in the office.

And there lies my one problem with good bosses: it is so, so hard to leave them.

Being Green

When I find someone to love, I get temporarily insane, start on a hot pursuit, and shamelessly go all the way.

I’m talking about authors. Authors I love. Haha.

Which explains why I used to have the complete works of my favorite Sweet Dreams authors, Janet Quin Harkin and Barbara Conklin, before I unsuspectingly lent them away and never got them back. (Groan.) Until now, I have most of the books written by another one of my favorite young adult novelists, Judy Blume. If you look in our massive bookshelf, you will find neatly arranged in rows books upon books by the same authors: Roald Dahl, Nick Hornby, Anita Shreve, Maeve Binchy, Chuck Palahniuk, David Sedaris, David Nicholls, Haruki Murakami, Anne Tyler, Neil Gaiman, J. D. Salinger. 

(Of course, I also have the complete Harry Potter, Narnia, and Lord of the Rings sets, but that’s different bcoz they’re a series, you really have to get the entire collection. I even have the complete Twilight and Fifty Shades trilogies. Shame. Haha.) 

It’s like, if I find a book I like, I just have to get more books by the same author. And if the second one turns out well, too, then it quickly turns into an addiction of sorts. Before long you will find me placing orders in Fully Booked or Powerbooks for the writer’s books that I can’t find on the shelves. And I obsessively pursue these books as tho there aren’t 60 million other books that are readily available. Haha. 

The most recent additions to My Favorite Authors’ Collection are the books of John Green. I started off with Looking for Alaska  – and have not stopped reading him since. Looking for Alaska is award-winning and all of that, and it does remind me a bit of the voice of Holden Caulfield and the classic coming-of-age tale A Separate Peace. It had a surprise death, tho, and somehow stories that suddenly involve death leave me feeling cheated of what I feel should be the real twist and ending of a story. 

That was ok, tho, because An Abundance of Katherines totally saved John Green for me. This story is too rollicking funny and smart I can’t wait to see it on the big screen, almost in the same way I could hardly wait to see how Ron Weasley would look like, and how quidditch is actually played. 

So of course I ended up ordering Paper Towns in Fully Booked, and was so not disappointed when I finally got it. This one has a touch of suspense and mystery, but still for the most part about love and friendship and youth, which are after all John Green’s forte. Again, a story I cannot wait to see captured in a movie, mainly for the funny, smart, likable characters.

The Fault In Our Stars followed, and I bought it even if it was available only in hardbound, which means I had to shell out more than twice as much than if I were getting it in paperback. The reviews were that good, and I was already a certified John Green fan at this point. Besides, it was a love story, and the blurb called it ‘a smarter, edgier Love Story', so how could I ever resist, right? This is the kind of book that you take your sweet time reading – you don’t want to rush it and dread reaching the last page. You don’t want it to ever end. It’s that beautiful and devastating. 

And just when I thought John Green can’t possibly get any better, he does just that with Will Grayson, Will Grayson. It’s about two kids with the same name, leading separate lives that at one point intersect, courtesy of the fabulous six-footer gay best friend named Tiny Cooper. With a character and name like that, how can you ever go wrong? I love love love this book. I want to get inside this book and make fast friends with all the characters there.

My next stop is Let It Snow. As far as I know, these are all the books he has written, so I'm hoping he will write more. 

Some of the gems I learned from John Green:

“Love and truth are tied together. They make each other possible.”

“The things you hope for the most are the things that destroy you in the end.”

“You don’t get to choose if you get hurt, but you do have some say in who hurts you.”