FYI

I got a phone call yesterday. It's been a while since I've talked or even texted with this certain friend of mine... And well, she got right to the point of her unexpected call...

Aling aling: I had unprotected sex. But it's like right after my period ended. Am I safe?
Me: Well... I'm not really sure... But based on experience, I didn't get pregnant yet so I'd say you're safe.
Aling aling: Are you sure? It was unprotected sex.
Me: Yeah well I'm the Queen of unprotected sex so... Wait, who's the guy?
Aling aling: My boyfriend _____. You didn't know about him?
Me: Not really. LOL
Aling aling: Mao ka! Bitaw... This is driving me crazy.
Me: Okay, hang on. I'll ask some people who know for sure.
Aling aling: Okay thanks. I'll wait for your text mam ha.
Me: Relax... I'll let you know asap.

So... I thought I should just write down when the safe period really is once and for all.

During your period is the safest. Next safest is no more than 5 days after the end of your period with each day past the end of your period being more risky than the next. (this is according to wiki answers)

For those in a relationship, darlings it's time to get on the pill. If you don't want to be on the pill for whatever reasons, use a condom. Seriously, having protection, whatever your choice of protection may be is just a lot less hassle.

Sex is a choice, pregnancy should be too. So unless you're ready to be a mommy, BE PROTECTED. Trust me, you're saving yourself a whole lot of worrying and panic.

tropic thunder

We watched tropic thunder yesterday. Not your usual spoof owed mainly to the fact that the cast is a powerhouse. Let me just say that Robert Downey Jr. is amazing. How he could do that African-American accent is weird--there are times when I forgot he's not black. And I didn't even recognize Tom Cruise at first. Sa iyang pagka siya. hehehe

I don't know ha, but all Mr. Tanduay's quoatable quotes nowadays are made before, during or after a movie. Anyway, I went into the movie worrying about money napd. Because I went to Bacolod with nothing but a one way fare's worth of money and nothing else and I had to let Mr. Tanduay pay for everything. Which, as you know, is not such a comfortable thing to do for most of us who are used to paying for ourselves (sometimes even our freeloading boyfriends of yester years). So I was deep in thought before the movie started thinking about how shitty it is not to have your own money in your pocket when...

Mr. Tanduay: O what's wrong? What are you thinking about?
Me: Money.
Mr. Tanduay: Stop it... Stop worrying about money. I want you to enjoy the movie.

silence...

Mr. Tanduay: (puts his arm around me) Babe, let me take care of you sometimes...

I guess I should. But when you're taking care of yourself too long, it takes some getting used to to let someone else.

Dear Diary:

When it's hard for you to make a choice, trust that the world will make it for you.

kindness makes the world go round

I haven't been talking much about what's really going on in my life right now. Aside from my peachy love life, everything else is pretty much dreary. To be more specific, we have been going through a rough time with money. I HATE MONEY.

I hate it because it has been turning us into these people who wake up in the middle of the night worrying about friggin money. I hate it because people in this backward place that I call my hometown associate me and my family with it. I hate it because the wretched people that inhabit this place is just waiting for our downfall. I can just imagine what kind of things they are saying behind our backs. And the people who were your friends when you had a whole lot of money? They either tear you down or grab the opportunity to profit from your vulnerability.



It really is true. When times get tough, that's when you see who your true friends are.

An example of how rotten people can be. Our competitor is owned by three people coming from the same family. One of them is my godfather. Another one is someone who used to be dirt poor. During which time, my dad became a guarantor for a loan that she was applying for because nobody knew her. Fast forward to now... That same person is on the top. And we are now going down. What does she do? She badmouths us every chance she gets. And now they are building a new gas station just to make sure that we go bankrupt. The goal is "siguraduhon nga maclose ang Power-up gasoline station".

Imagine that.

But then there are others. Others who stand by us whether we have money in our pockets or not. Others whose kindess save us and give us hope to live just another day and fight for another chance.

Others like one of our business partners who took it upon himself to volunteer to help us get back on our feet. I'm thankful that he's there because I've tried with all my might to get my dad to change his ways in business to no avail. I'm amazed at his generosity with his time and efforts just to help us take control of a business that has been mismanaged.

We are on the brink of losing most of what we have. My dad for whatever reason, has become rusty in his ways of handling business. God knows the man has been through a LOT. I can't blame him. But it's just frustrating. How we could have prevented this from happening if only he listened to me. It's humiliating how you have to borrow money or be at the mercy of creditors. It's heartbreaking how so-called "friends" turn against you or just turn their backs. Sometimes I wonder when does this series of unfortunate events end because sometimes I'm not sure we'll make it.

But then sometimes, there's a silverlining. Sometimes a person's act of kindness makes all the difference. And I think maybe, there's gonna be a brighter day.

Quick hitters

la Lo

Lindsay Lohan is on the cover of Harper's Bazaar and in the "intimate interview", Lohan is asked about her relationship with Samantha Ronson and if she would consider herself a bisexual. Here's an exerpt of the interview:

Has she previously been with a girl? She laughs and says, "I don't know. Maybe." Has she ever been embarrassed about being attracted to a woman? "No." Would she classify herself as bisexual? "Maybe. Yeah." Lesbian? "No." She goes on, "I don't want to classify myself. First of all, you never know what's going to happen — tomorrow, in a month, a year from now, five years from now. I appreciate people, and it doesn't matter who they are, and I feel blessed to be able to feel comfortable enough with myself that I can say that." She sees herself getting married "eventually," but whether to a man or a woman, "I don't know."

Okay... I'm not bothered that she's with a girl or whatever. But what's up with the "maybe. Yeah. Lesbian? No."???? I really like aling Lindsay but come on...

Does she really think she can pull it off after months of this?

She has also come up with her own line of leggings. "There's not much you can do with leggings, but I'm doing everything I can," she says.

I say good luck L. Except for colors, fabric and probably holes in them, how can one reinvent the legging? (your tips are welcome)

Moving on.

Team Jennifer vs Team Angelina

Jennifer Aniston called Angelina "uncool" after Angelina revealed stories about the early stages of her relationship with Brad Pitt. Well... I must say, I am with team Jennifer on this one. The poor girl shouldn't have to relive that. Especially since the revalations happened at a time when Jen did not about the relationship yet. Angie, you're one of the coolest chicks around but please, you walked off with the gir's husband... You don't have to tell us how you did it. (Wait. Maybe we'd like a few tips on how to snag a Brad LOL)

ALIAS

The Secret Service have come up with nicknames for the new first family. All starting with the letter R (don't ask me why). Anyway, here are the chosen names. Mr. Obama will be "Renegade", Michelle will be "Renaissance", Malia will be "Radiance" and Sasha will be "Rosebud".

Meanwhile, the search is still on for the the "first dog". Here's my suggestion:

Not sure it'll take with the kids though. hehehe

Shaken and stirred

I watched the new Bond movie Quantum of Solace with Mr. Tanduay last Saturday. I'm not gonna talk that much about the movie though. What I would say is what probably most people are saying. That's it's a typical Bond movie. Grittier and darker though. It's the 007 version of what happened with the Batman franchise. It's the posh version of an FPJ movie. Always the target, never hit.




Anyway, so we were walking around in the mall after the movie when our Mr. Tanduay said, "hey babe, I have a confession to make."

Okay... Now what? So I said, "what is it?"

Mr. Tanduay: I lied. I actually saw the movie with my dad na. I didn't tell you cos then you wouldn't wanna watch the movie na or if you did, you won't enjoy it as much.

How could I get mad about that kind of lie? LOL

O

Obama won. Oprah Winfrey was in attendance. Kenya declared a National Holiday in honor of Obama's victory. And Palin lost.

At least America has not completely lost their senses.

As for McCain, well... There is no substitute for victory. But I think his speech was very well delivered.
"This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and the special pride that must be theirs tonight," McCain said. "These are difficult times for our country. And I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face."

Applauded. Luoy. Especially cos I have a soft spot for grandfatherly looking people.

Anyway, it was not a surprise. It's going to be interesting to watch how Obama's gonna handle such great expectations.

Here's what I think is the most compelling line in Obama's speech at Grant Park:

"It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment, change has come to America."

fools like me

Okay... The truth is, nobody knows shit about love.

We're like the blind leading the blind. Occassionally we stumble onto some glimpse of wisdom and we try to hold it in our hands, stash them inside our cluttered minds, try to remember them the next time, try to protect ourselves or our friends from the same mistakes...

Right. Like that's possible. No one is safe. We all become lovefools.

There's no such thing as logic in love. My previous post has nothing to do about logic. In a line it would be listen to your intuition. And whoever said there's logic in intuitions. It's a feeling. It's not rocket science. Nobody has been able to really explain it. Just. Like. Love.

We all mess up, stumble, crawl. We all go through the same ugly break-ups and gut-wrenching heartaches. Yet we all believe in it. We hope and we risk. We go through all the motions. At least once in our lives we become fools.

But then, once in a while we find truths. We find something rare and beautiful. Once in a while we find what it was we've been looking for and never really admitted. Once in a while stumble upon something real. Once in a blue moon we realize that all the madness has but one ending--learning.

We cross our fingers and hope we'll be wiser next time around... Heaven knows that's what we should be--wiser after every friggin time we fall all over ourselves.

And if you're lucky... Maybe then you'll find love.

Then again, maybe I'm wrong.

Lesson #1

Joey: [after spotting a guy with "Ding" shirt and another guy with "Dong" shirt together] I want my Ding.
Andrew: I want my Dong.
-from the movie, Boy Culture

Just recently, my good friend Jaycee flew to Bacolod presumably to attend the recently concluded Masskara festival but actually, it was to meet up with yet another guy. I know, predictable.

Of course, I was thinking "oh boy, here we go again..." and my boyfriend Gerard jokingly said that this one's sure to become yet another one of Jaycee's exes (yes, after that week in Cebu my boyfriend already knew this piece of information. The info being that Jaycee has a lot of exes hehehe). Anyway, while we were more or less calculating how short this affair would be, Jaycee had other things in his mind. Other than the obvious, he was actually thinking it would last.

I am not one to deny people of their happiness. And so I listened to his declarations of like, if not love, and happiness. I said the necessary things although at the back of my mind, I was skeptical. I told him not to be too quick to give credit and not to rush into anything, least of all expectations. But of course I knew that he was gonna do all those anyway. Have I not myself done that so many times before?

I can see the signs...

Highlighting his so-called attributes... Diminishing the obvious qualities that would discount those attributes... Announcing with glee that "I am happy" or "he makes me happy"... Ignoring that voice in my head that tells me "no, not really..." knowing at the back of my head that I was trying to convince myself and others by all the declarations of love, happiness and really things that were most of the time stuff taken from other love stories.

I wonder, why have I been so quick to award those guys with worth without waiting just a little for them to prove their worth to me... I think we know the answer. Besides, happiness need not be advertised. If it's real, it will show itself. And that funny little thing called love? You'd be surprised... It's not supposed to be so hard.

What then is the lesson? Do NOT do what Jaycee did or I did. hehehe

Seriously, listen to yourself. I know you know that we are aware of what is potentially a mistake. We just ignore it. So just listen to that little voice. Ponder on it. And remember what happened all those times you ignored it.