"I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end."
Margaret Thatcher, in Observer April 4, 1989
i don't know who said this but i agree:
"Hell is empty and all the devils are here."
"Lately, I have come to believe that the principle difference between heaven and hell is the company you keep there."
-- Simon Illyan, from A Civil Campaign by L.M. Bujold
from The Devil's Dictionary by the ultimate cynic Ambrose Bierce :
"Patience: a minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue."
"Diplomacy: The patriotic art of lying for one's country."
"Politics: The conduct of public affairs for private advantage."
"Bride, n.: A woman with a fine prospect of happiness behind her."
"Lawyer, n.: One skilled in the circumvention of the law."
"Year, n.: A period of three hundred and sixty-five disappointments."
"Pleasure, n.: The least hateful form of dejection."
"Reverence: the spiritual attitude of a man to a god and a dog to a man."
"Admiration, n.: Our polite recognition of another's resemblance to ourselves."
"Corporation, n.: An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility."
"Absurdity, n.: A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion."
"Acquaintance, n.: A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to."
"Admiration, n.: Our polite recognition of another's resemblance to ourselves."
"Bore, n.: A person who talks when you wish him to listen."
"Quotation, n.: The act of repeating erroneously the words of another."
"Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum (I think that I think, therefore I think that I am.)"
"Brain, n.: an apparatus with which we think we think."
"Calamities are of two kinds: misfortunes to ourselves, and good fortune to others."
"Painting: The art of protecting flat surfaces from the weather and exposing them to the critic."
"Politics, n.: Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles."
"There is nothing new under the sun but there are lots of old things we don't know."
"Politeness, n.: The most acceptable hypocrisy."
"Truth: An ingenious compound of desirability and appearance."
"Mad, adj.: Affected with a high degree of intellectual independence."
"Love, n.: A temporary insanity curable by marriage."
"Egotist, n.: A person of low taste, more interested in himself than in me."
from Mark Twain:
"Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest."
"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first."
"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please."
"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."
"Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow."
from Voltaire:
"If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."
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WHaT'S oN MY SH3LF???
The 8th Commandment by Lawrence Sanders

Lawrence Sander's book: Timothy's Game
Monday, January 31, 2005
i've been thinking about this dream constantly. i'm not quite sure what some people in my dream stand for. what a crazy combination of characters i have there! angel, i think i know why. his name speaks for itself. i think someone up there is telling to slow down - you know jog. because i've been caught up with my work so much so that i don't have time for almost anything else other than doing my laundry on rest days (haha!.. i've been swimming with my laundry on rest days ",>) and true to his name he guided me to the house where i saw my lala.
as for cathy and willie, i don't know why of all people they were there or why it had to be them. i've never seen her for about two years now and i don't have any tv so i don't know why willie? and they're not separated simply because they've never been married - hah! but that's only if you take the dream literally. figuratively, it may make a weird sort of sense...SIGH
my old subdivision, i can understand. i grew up in that place. it's old territory.
but the house had no door and she didn't want the windows closed. an enigma of sorts. it'd be logical if she was mad because the house was missing a wall and a door, right? why can't everything be black and white? or why wasn't i born psychic?!
i've just never seen her sad or mad in any of my dreams. so that was what probably shook me up. i've only had two that i can remember. the last one was probably a month or so after she died. she was happy. smiling... and this is the dream where i couldn't see her face clearly because behind her shines a light so bright you have to squint to see her clearly. and she was wearing a yellow duster which i recognize and she was sitting on what looks like a rock and it felt like we were outdoors.
i think i know why i remember all the details in this dream. probably because i relive it over and over when i finally woke up. i kept running the scenes repeatedly as i saw them. other dreams i don't even do that. i simply wake up ... change positions and then sleep again. i don't even remember the details as i was waking up. i'm gonna call my mom and have her offer a mass. i'm feeling restless as well...
*
Sunday, January 30, 2005
i dreamt of lala dad last night. it was the first time i've dreamed of her where she appeared so vivid, so real and so sad. i woke up sobbing.
it all started pleasantly enough. it started with angel who was an old classmate from my old school. i don't know why he was in my dream or what he was doing there. i don't think we even spoke much way back in my elementary or high school days. in my dream we were jogging and he asked me to jog with him every morning because he said that he needs to practice. i didn't quite remember what the conversation was but i had the impression that he was in the track team. but at the back of my mind - i was thinking why track?? he's into swimming, which i know he was because he even competed locally and nationally. well anyway, my answer was - i can't because i remember thinking we're going to have a change of schedules at work tomorrow. i have to wake up earlier than usual and i don't want to go to work feeling tired. so i don't think i can do it. i just can't wake up early only to jog. i've never been fan of exercise i guess - strenuous exercise no matter how cute my companion is ",>
it seemed like we were jogging in the old subdivision where we used to live before we moved to villa corazon a few years ago; because suddenly we were in front of the house of another classmate of ours catherine T. I don't know why i associated it with her house but in my dream i know that was where she lived. then angel walked pass the gates and i remember telling him "You can't do this! This is trespassing!" Well he just walked in like he owns the place.
Then he said "look what he did to her house." The weird thing was - The house had no door! usually a house had four walls, one of them would frame the door, well this one only had 3 walls and there's nothing there that would frame or hold the door! a thought flashed into my mind that I've dreamed of this place before and have also associated the same house with catherine T's house. so that's how i recognized it again in my dream! then details about that other dream came to me - it seemed that catherine married Willie Revillame! in my dream now they have separated and now Willie has the house for some reason i cannot fathom. what catherine was doing married to this guy in my dream is one thing i cannot understand and quite hilarious. it would've been if i didn't wake up crying... in the first place this guy is an comedian and from what i've seen and heard- quite nutty ",).
the entrance to the house does not face the street - it's on your left side if you approach the house from the street or their gate. the house had no doors (which somehow reminded me of barrio churches) and the side facing the street were mostly windows (the kind with jalousies, not sure how else to describe it but i heard that's what these type of windows were called). outside it was painted white, but inside it's not painted yet - the color of cement. i noticed that the floor was made up of rusty colored tiles (though it doens't look like it's finished already because some parts of the house weren't in tiles yet). inside the house a purplish sheet of cloth served as the partition or division between the living room(though i didn't see any chairs or sofa) from what seemed to be the bedroom.
angel was walking ahead of me while i was looking behind us to see if any of the neighbors noticed or if the owner would come back. he parted that sheet of cloth and when we looked inside, the folding bed was folded (if you know what i mean like when it's not being used). like ate ange's folding bed only it was dark green. Now i recalled that in my other dream when i came upon this place the bed was laid out like somebody has been using it and it was ocvered by a white bedsheet. but on this particular dream,i remember thinking it doesn't look like somebody has been sleeping here. then we went out of that bedroom. the interior of the house was dark. i cannot see far back. then angel suddenly said "it's so windy." so he walked over to the windows and started to close the first set of windows closest to the entrance.
I yelled "don't do that!" but it was too late because he already closed it. then as he was withdrawing his hand my lala dad had her hand on his wrist. i didn't know where she came from she just appeared out of nowhere. and i know that was the reason i was trying to stop angel because in my past dream she doesn't want the window to be closed. i don't know why i knew it was her, i just know it. i don't understandhw i know it was the her my mindhas been referring to in my dream... I JUST KNOW IT. IT's LALA!
as i was trying to say in the first paragraph, she looked so real. i must've gaped at her for a few seconds, thinking it can't be she's dead. for an instant i seem to realize this is not real i'm dreaming because she's left a long time ago. she's dead. she never said a word she jsut looked at me.
but she looks more alive in this dream, more real, like she's really alive. like she just came home from school (she was a teacher). she was wearing what looks like a uniform - barong style but with long sleeves, buttons at the front. my grandmother is small, petite. that's how she appeared in my dream; the clothes hug her petite frame and she was wearing what looks like a gray or maybe greyish blue skirt slightly above the knees.
in this dream she was mad at angel for closing the window. so different from my other dream of her where although her features are a bit blurry (like when you look at her face it's like there's a sun or bright light behind her because you have to squint to see clearly). in those dreams i can sense she's happy and smiling. but she's not in this particular dream. i know she's...mad. she just wasn't smiling at all. she was somber. i remember apologizing over and over. "lala i'm sorry i'm sorry".
angel closed the window and that upset her. her face never changed you know, she was just staring at me with the same somber expression. i was holding both of her hands on each of mine. and then i said "i miss you lala, i miss you" i said it over and over and over and over again and her face crumpled like she was going to cry. by this time i was already sobbing in my dream. i kept saying "lala i miss you lala i miss you." it's one of those times i know i have so much to say sensible logicalthings but in my dream those are the only sentences i can mutter.
i wanted to hug her but i know in that instant i was slowly losing her, she was fading and it felt like i was being pulled away slowly. until everything was black and all i can think of is: this is a dream, my mom will hear me sob and she's gonna wake me up and ask me why i'm crying. i woke up sobbing. then everything came to me all at once. i'm all alone in my room. my mom's in naga. jack is in naga. she won't be back til tonight. and when i checked my cellphone for the time it's a few minutes after four in the morning. i thought of texting auntie melds or even uncle lito but they'll think me nuts for sending text messages during this time when everybody is asleep. and what are the chances of having the same dream as i do right? i never fell asleep again. i was crying until the sun came up and it was time to get up, wash and go to work.
now i don't even remember most of my dreams down to the last detail. this is the only dream i can recall down to a T - the colors, what she was wearing, where it's happening. and it looks like i've been dreaming of the same house but everything just came together in this particular dream.
is she trying to tell me something? have i offended her? what's going on in naga?- that thought bugged me over and over again even as i was taking my bath my tears were mingling with the water.
*
Saturday, January 29, 2005
: > > What's the first thing that comes to your mind?
> > > > 1. [ RED ]: mars
> > > > 2. [ BLUE ]: sky
> > > > 3. [ YELLOW ]: sunflowers
> > > > 4. [ GREEN ]: day ("I am one of those melodramatic fools neurotic to the bone no doubt about it") great band
> > > > 5. [ PINK ]: ruby (my officemate, she's obsessed with this color))
> > > > 6. [ WHITE ]: my flower earrings
> > > > 7. [ BROWN ]: chocolates!
> >> > 8. [ BLACK ]: midnight
> > > > 9. [ PURPLE ]: not my color
> > > > 10. [ CRAZY ]: some of the callers
> > > > 11. [ DICTIONARY ]: webster
> > > > 12. [ CALENDAR ]: my last year's calendar of angels
> > > > 13. [ BED ]: hmm sleep zzzz
> > > > 14. [ TV ]: don't have any =(
> > > > 15. [ CAT ]: siamese
> > > > 16. [ HANDPHONE ]: nokia cellphone
> > > > 17. [ LOVE ]: you're talking to the wrong person
> > > > 18. [ EYES ]: almond eyes
> > > > 19. [ WATER ]:something you have to drink 8 glasses of in one day?
> > > > 20. [ EXAM ]: it's the pits!
> > > > 21. [ FISH ]: earl's oscar (which amazingly looks just like a tilapia!)
> > > > 22. [ TOMATO ]: sauce (delmonte)
> > > > 23. [ SHAMPOO ]: pantene
> > > > 24. [ BURGER KING ]: am not sure i've tried it
> > > > 25. [ McDONALDS ]: frenchfries
> > > > 26. [ KFC ]: fun/hotshots
> > > > 27. [ TEA ]: earl grey
> > > > 28. [ SOUP ]: nido oriental soup =)
> > > > 29. [ CAR ]: the C6 (yellow or red)
> > > > 30. [ FRUIT ]: mango
> > > > 31. [ POWERPUFF GIRLS ]: was never into them, but i think one of them was named blossom
> > > > 32. [ NESCAFE ]: one good day coming up ",) -> yeba!
> > > > 33. [ AVRIL LAVIGNE ]: complicated
> > > > 35. [ SUPERSTAR ]: is it a song by the carpenters?
> > > > 36. [ BURN ]: usher
> > > > 37. [ FLOWER ]: red orange roses
> > > > 38. [ TATTOO ]: sunburst
> > > > 39. [ HOLIDAY ]: christmas
> > > > 40. [ BYE ]: ciao!
> > > > 41. [ DREAM GAL ]: puleeze! pass
> > > > 42. [ DREAM GUY ]: legolas - if all elves look like him, why not?
> > > > 43. [ SURVEY ]: never ends
> > > > 44. [ NAIL POLISH ]: nada
> > > > 45. [ FRIENDSTER ]: lots of surveys on my friendster bulletin board, rowdy friends from webhost manila
> > > > 46. [ NUT ]: walnut, macadamia
> > > > 47. [ BALLPEN ]: parker
> > > > 48. [ FISHBALL ]: outside st. jo way back in high school
> > > > 49. [ DIVISORIA ]: always teeming with people and muggers hah!
> > > > 50. [ MANOK ]: ni san pedro
> > > > 51. [ CHOCOLATE ]: always like 'em dark
> > > > 52. [ YM ]: blocked dito sa ofc had to use proxy to be able to use it ",> reminds me of ceej too because he can make it work on his end even if we're having a hard time with it on our end!
> > > > 53. [ STARBUCKS ]: the mug i got from last year's xmas party
> > > > 54. [ POWDER ]: talc
> > > > 55. [ TIME ]: has always moved too fast for me to notice
> > > > 56. [ MOUSE ]: a thing that's attached to your cpu and allows you to navigate through the mess you see on your monitor
> > > > 57. [ HEAVEN ]: there is no beer?
> > > > 58. [ HELL ]: is exothermic
> > > > 59. [ JUICE]: margarita na lang-> ok orange or (green) mango juice
> > > > 60. [ PERFUME]: pleasures, white MUSK
> > > > 61. [SOAP]: dove and biolink
> > > > 62. [LOTION]: victoria's secret, bath and body, jergens, nivea, avon
> > > > 63. [CAMPING]: i don't think i've ever done that
> > > > 64. [COMPUTER]: WORK!!! and SURFING!!!
> > > > 65. [CHAIR]: something that i have yet to purchase - how about a table too!
> > > > 66. [CLUB]: am not affiliated with anything, hmm does webhost manila count?
> > > > 67. [LECHONG BABOY]: lots of bad cholesterol
> > > > 68. [BAG]: nine west
> > > > 69. [SHOES]: black
> > > > 70. [T-SHIRTS]: blue
> > > > 72. [PJs]: sleep
> > > > 73. [CLOSET]: walk in
> > > > 74. [COLLEGE]: best days of my life
> > > > 75. [ESSAYS]: "The Second Spring: A sermon delivered to the First Provincial Council of Westminster, 1852" an excerpt of which can be found in the book "the exorcist" it's attributed to lankaster merrin, one of the priests who exorcised the girl in the story; but it's actually written by Cardinal john henry newman
> > > > 76. [BOOKS]: the day after tomorrow by allan folsom, lord of the rings, harry potter series, any books by Andrew Greeley, stephen king, ramsey campbell, dean koontz and james patterson
> > > > 77. [RING]: sadako-> ditto
> > > > 78. [CDs]: none right now
> > > > 79. [WEBSITE]: bendingover.blogspot.com, vanny.tk
> > > > 80. [REFRIGERATOR]: i want a whirlpool or white westinghouse, gonna buy one probably next month -> i wish
> > > > 81. [CALCULATOR]: thank god for leibnitz!
> > > > 82. [DARNA]: a line from a funny song by a nutty guy about being dumped ng hapon (a japanese) after the latter discovered he's a guy/gay!
> > > > 83. [SINGER]: sheryl crow
> > > > 84. [BROADWAY]: the phantom of the opera , west side story, grease
> > > > 85. [POOL]: efren bata reyes, django bustamante, mika immonen (he's hot)
> > > > 86. [BUS]: philtranco
> > > > 87. [DUNKIN DONUTS]: raspberry, blueberry
> > > > 88. [BASKIN N' ROBINS]: i wish! where can i get one here?
> > > > 89. [TO GO]: pizza
> > > > 90. [MALL]: glorietta, market market
> > > > 91. [NEW YORK]: frank sinatra "Start spreading the news, I'm leaving today I want to be a part of it - New York, New York
These vagabond shoes, are longing to stray Right through the very heart of it - New York, New York"
> > > > 92. [BELT]: black
> > > > 93. [DEODORANT]: nivea
> > > > 94. [GEL]: hair
> > > > 95. [BEVERAGE]: daiquiri (frozen's nice)
> > > > 96. [NOODLES]: nissin
> > > > 97. [CHIPS]: ahoy!
> > > > 98. [WINTER]: wonderland
> > > > 99. [SUMMER]: vacation
> > > > 100. [YOURSELF]: homesick...in need of a serious vacation
*
Friday, January 28, 2005
1) pierce your nose or tongue?: ears - boring=)
2) be serious or be funny? funny
3) drink whole or skim milk?: whole, never like the taste of skim milk
4) simple or complicated?: wish i could say simple but when i try simple it even gets more complicated ",>
D O Y O U P R E F E R . . .
5) flowers or angels?: angels
6) gray or black?: black
7) color or black-and-white photos?: color
8) lust or love?: Love
9) sunrise or sunset?: sunrise
10) M&Ms or Skittles?: M&M's
11) rap or rock?: rock
12) staying up late or waking up early?: staying up late, unavoidable
13) TV or radio?: radio (no contest i don't have a tv)
14) eating apples or oranges?: hmm i really love mangoes
A N S W E R T R U T H F U L L Y . . .
15) Do you have a crush? of course
16) Who is it? that's between me and God haha
D O Y O U P R E F E R . . .
17) being hot or cold?: lukewarm?
18) tall members of the opposite sex?: tall i guess
19) sun or moon?: sun
20) emeralds or rubies? what no pearls? ok rubies it is...
21) left or right?: right handed so i guess right?
22 having 10 acquaintances or 1 best friend:1 bestfriend
23)sun or rain?: sun
24)vanilla ice cream or chocolate ice cream?: chocolate!!!
25)green beans or carrots?: green beans
26)low fat or fat free?: tried asking the food - never replied so i guess i just don't care so long as I get to eat
M I S C E L L A N E O U S . . .
27)What is your biggest fear in the world? failure, getting hurt
28)kids or no kids? how about half kids
29)cat or dog?: definitely dogs ( i wanna rottweiler)
30)half empty or half full?: half full
31)Mustard or ketchup?: both
32)Hard cover books or soft cover books?: Both
35) Newspaper or magazine? newspapers AND magazines
36) Sandals or sneakers?: sneakers (wearing one right now)
37) Wonder or amazement? wonder
38) Red car or white car? red
39) Happy and poor or sad and rich? happy and poor - better a happy pg (patay gutom",) than sad and rich
40) Singing or dancing? singing (even if i don't have the voice for it)
41)hugging or kissing?: Hugging
42)corduroy or plain?: plain
43)happy or sad?: happy
44)Blondes, brunettes?: brunettes
45) what time is it? 18:30
46)nicknames: vani, ness
47)number of candles on ur last birthday cake: no birthday cake so no candles either ",)
48)pets: dogs
49)Eye color?:dark brown
50)Hair color?: black
51)Where do you want to live? wherever my family is
52)How many kids do you want? 2 or 3
53)Do you want to get married?: hmm try asking me another time
W H I C H I S B E T T E R . . .
54)2 doors or 4 (on a car)?: 4
55)Coffee or ice cream?: ice cream
56)Shampoo or conditioner? : conditioner
57)Bridges or tunnels?: bridges
58)One pillow or two?: more than 2
F A V O R I T E S . . .
59)Salad dressing?: caeasar
60)Color of socks?: black
61)food?: pasta, pizza, cakes and pastries
62)FAV. Color?: orange
63)1 MINUTE AGO: filling this up
64)1 WEEK AGO: taking calls
65)1 YEAR AGO: looking for a job
66)I MISS: family and friends and my dog
67)I AM: cogito, ergo, sum
68)Wearing: as in now? blue collared shirt, denims, black socks and sneakers
69)Current Music: punk rock
70)Current Hair: bad hair day - know what i mean
71)Current Desktop Picture: trinity from digital blasphemy.com (the guy who owns this is ASTIG!)
72)Current Book: just finished THE jESTER by patterson and just starting SUMMER AT THE LAKE by Andrew Greeley
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