Tuesday, October 28, 2003

Famous One-liners

i just finished watching the last 15 minutes of Jerry Maguire and i never realized how many one-liners came out of this movie: "Show me the money!"..."You complete me."...and "You had me at hello." gosh, what great dialogue! and what about movies like Sixteen Candles with sayings like, "What's a-happenin' hot stuff?" said by the ever-popular exchange student Long Duk Dong? isn't it cool how lines like this can stick for years? look at Robert Deniro and his, "you talkin' to me?" line or Marlon Brando's "We'll make him an offer he can't refuse." that's just crazy how long ago those movies were made and still when you turn on the tv today, practically 30 years later, someone's quoting them.

that's it random. had to share that with ya'll. can YOU think of any more famous one-liners?

Monday, October 27, 2003

Paging Nurse Riann...

i stayed home AGAIN today. i know i know, lucky! ha ha ha...no but seriously, i still feel really blah. i got ready this morning and everything, but when she heard me coughing and sneezing my way through every sentence, my mom said, "Hay naku. stay home na lang ikaw ngayon." and i did. my dad stayed home from work too. am i just infecting everyone? today was the same kinda day friday was. i took my mom to work (as ailing as i was) and then came home to watch all the brush fires that seem to have spread across southern california. i don't mean to be insensitive or anything, but ideas of arson have come to mind. i'll just leave it at that.

but anyhow, i'm feeling a little bit better. on friday i got a surprise visit from riann! she called me on her way home from work, interrogating me on my diet that day and such and i told her i wasn't that hungry and we didn't have any soup in the house. so she bought me soup from quizno's and had her lunch with me. i was so touched! thanks riann! i really appreciated it! i've been eating soup all day today! and i've been drinking to much water that my pee is clear! (sorry for the mental picture but i thought that was kinda cool). anyhow, can't seem to eat anything too heavy...which is a good thing.

ok, gotta study for some accounting quizzes. until next time...

Sunday, October 26, 2003

D.S.T.

hey kids! don't forget to set your clocks back one hour! weeeee doggies! i'll take an extra hour anytime!

Friday, October 24, 2003

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

Have you ever been at work, staring as the clock ticks second after agonizing second like it knows you’re waiting for it to hit 5:00 so you can go home? WELL GOD BLESSED IT’S HAPPENING TO ME RIGHT NOW! And I’m so moving, typing and speaking to customers on the phone ever-so-slowly like it’ll make the slightest difference in expediting the passage of time...so today is actually the next day and i'm home sick with the flu. maybe i'll write a blog...oh look here comes one now…

So Fantone called me wednesday night because her dad was wearing the Cambridge University polo that she bought for him 4 years ago. Apparently this brought her immense nostalgia. “Anna let’s go back!” she screamed. And I had to second her. At 25 years old, I can confidently say that I’ve been fortunate enough to have had my share of travels (with hopefully more to come). And my 6 weeks in the UK has proved to be one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. Who knew the British could be so fascinating? Correction, you can’t call everyone who lives in the UK “British.” There are the English, the Scottish and the Irish from Northern Ireland. We were made aware, very early on, that Scottish and English people can sometimes be, ummm, sensitive to the other. I remember Professor Dawson, our instructor for British Social and Cultural History, saying, “Oh those Scottish, like to paint themselves blue and fight!” I didn’t get it until I saw BRAVEHEART. Ha ha ha…and then when we were in Scotland for a weekend, one of our teacher’s aids, Kadia, told us that some Scottish bloke tried to hit on her, but upon hearing she was visiting from Cambridge, soon after walked away. Okay strict about your women!

So how many people can say that after class they spent the afternoon punting up and down the river? Punting is maneuvering this small boat with a wooden stick long enough to touch the river floor. It’s so much harder than it looks, lemme just tell you. I didn’t do any actual punting but watching other people do it just wore me out! =) it was cool to have it as an option to spend the afternoon though.

i miss the pub-hopping: people go to pubs there as often as they go to the loo (the bathroom)! i miss qeueing up at the cafeteria to see the lady who sits in a booth and sells baguettes. oh man just thinking of the melted swiss cheese mixed in with scallions and bacon in a warm french baguette makes my mouth watah! i miss eating in the hall that seriously looked like the hogwarts dining hall...the tube in london, the random rainstorms (like we would go into class with the day as sunny as can be and then come out an hour later protecting ourselves from the rain!), the fish 'n chips (as oily as they were), covent garden, big ben, the cute teacher's aids (especially tim and mark...oh if orlando bloom was one too i would've asked for some help with my poli sci paper =P) and more!

what i loved most was the company. i met lots of new people, but remained as attached to cecile "i'm egyptian now" tecson, tommy "take us punting english girl / i hate my room" carague, jean "prince edward nga eh" ilano, christine "if i don't fall off this bed i'll get electrocuted" fantone, and andrew "better take my dramamine before every bus ride" boquiren.

man, all that made me think...maybe i'll go watch BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM right now...until next time mates, CHEERIO!




Tuesday, October 21, 2003

IT'S SOMEBODY'S BIRTHDAY I WONDER WHO

Hey everyone! It's Ate Tin-Tin's 27th birthday today (HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY ATE!!)!!! If you see her online, let her know you love her!!

Sunday, October 19, 2003

Lo Siento (I'm Sorry)

so we're all sitting in edwin's living room tonight and as usual, there is a constant ravage of hitting below the belt between everyone present. although all of us should be used to this by now, everyone still has their sensitive buttons; the very ones that can set you off on this defensive stance as soon as one word is uttered about it. i know i've got mine. some things i deny being sensitive about because i don't feel the need to create a big hoo-ha about it. i'd just try to hold myself down if it ever came up even though i know better. anyhow, so we're "joking around" and joe makes a remark and i must have responded awfully sarcastic that he thought i was truly angry (which i'm 100% sure i wasn't) and he left the room with edwin and matt.

at first i couldn't understand why joe would be so upset, but then cile tells me that i sounded like i snapped back at him and i felt really bad after. riann (who is big on channeling feelings and talking about everything) suggested i discuss it with joe so that he doesn't continue to think that i was angry at his comment. but since i wasn't mad, i didn't feel the need to talk about it. so i've been thinking about this eversince joe left the room, until now that it's 3:26 am and again i am faced with another problem area in my life: communication.

i think i'm horrible at it. i am the queen of suppression! you can call me passive,a push-over, etc. but that's how i work. i don't like making people angry, and if they already are, i don't wanna feed the fire so i don't talk about it. sometimes if i feel someone has wronged ME, i create a whole dialogue in my head of what i'm gonna tell this person but that's as far as the conversation goes because, I DON'T WANNA MAKE THEM FEEL BAD! or maybe, i just don't trust a whole lot of people so i'd rather hold in my feelings. i know that i have a big issue with trust. as i'm sure all of you have experienced, once you lose confidence in someone, it's hard to believe in them, and anyone else in your life, ever again. i'm reminded time and again that if you want to keep something a secret, you should really just keep it to yourself. once you tell someone, it's not a secret anymore and you are liable for this secret's distribution.

but i digress...my whole reason for this entry was to recognize that i have a communication issue to work out with myself. i am so good at telling people to talk to whomever they are having problems with when in actuality, i can hardly do that myself. second of all, i do wanna apologize to Joe for sounding mean. it wasn't your comment that got me to say what i said. you know i'll take whatever you boys have for me. there are real issues deeply-rooted inside that i have to deal with and i'll gladly explain it to you as soon as we get the chance. call it the beginning stages of OPERATION ANNA COMMUNICATES.

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

Healthy? Not me!

so yesterday i took a blood test cuz i told my ninang, who's a doctor, that my i was finding it very hard to breathe on monday morning. it wasn't that i COULDN'T breathe, but it just felt really uncomfortable and of course i got kinda scared. so it's been about a year since i've gotten any lab work done for my health so she draws blood yesterday morning.

my ninang comes to visit me at home tonight to tell me that my cholesterol and my triglycerides are high! not just high for MY AGE, but HIGH period. i'm not even gonna tell you the numbers she gave me cuz it creeps me out everytime i think about it. anyhow, i bet the reason i was finding it so hard to breathe is cuz my arteries are clogged! so she gives me the rundown of everything that i MUST MUST MUST avoid: dairy products (this includes cheese, ranch dressing, and yes, milk for my freakin' cereal even), carbohydrates (which is everything i eat) and junk food in general (no more sweets and fast food for me). she advised that i stick to fibers and vegetables and fruits for now. i might as well graze with the cows and sheep in Scotland! either that or i should just stop eating altogether!

but i can't complain, cuz this is what i get. i don't have any self-control when it comes to food cuz gosh, WHO DOESN'T LOVE TO EAT? but now it's gotten to a point i never thought it would and it's time to get serious about my health. so if we're ever out and i order a salad, please don't ask why i'm having just a salad cuz it'll just make me feel bad. UY! i don't even wanna get out of bed tomorrow knowing i have to give up what i know i have to give up. oh well, such is life. too much of a good thing can really kick you in the ass! wish me LOADS OF LUCK cuz the will power to better myself physically is in the process of getting built up still. UY!

Monday, October 13, 2003

FOOTBALL ANYONE? no JOE, REAL FOOTBALL!

hey kids! have any of you ever watched BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM? well, i saw it last night and i thought it was a great movie! it's about an indian girl who loves football (soccer to us Americans) but is chastised continuously by her traditional indian family who believes she should be more concerned with learning how to cook indian food and nabbing an indian groom rather than wasting her day striving to be as awesome at soccer as her idol, David Beckham. keira knightley from Pirates of the Caribbean is in the movie too. so it's got a simple plot and that's what i love about it; no excessive violence, sex or confusing storylines. the movie follows a young girl who must deal with her passion for a sport while at the same time coping with cultural opposition. i'll leave the synopsis at that. by the way, it's pretty funny too! i love listening to the british talk! anyhow, go see it!

Wednesday, October 08, 2003

What's My Name

one day in the 8th grade, we were talking about identity and how our names take part in that identity. our teacher told us to give ourselves a different name for the day and we were to call each by our new names. i thought about it for awhile and i picked the name, Cherisse for some reason. i think i had just heard it the day before or something but i thought it sounded pretty. anyhow, during lunch a bunch of my classmates and i started looking at each and tried to figure out a fitting name for that person. my old classmate, Ben, turned to me and said, "anna, you look like a BETTY." i do? hmmm, that would've been weird.

but weird is what my aunt WANTED to name me when i was born. some of you probably won't remember this, but in sesame street, during those cartoon breaks, this little scribble of a girl would come out from the side of the white background and yell, "WILLHEMENA WILLHEMENA!!" and then just leave. THAT's what my then 12-year old aunt told my parents she wanted to name me. CAN YOU IMAGINE? in the end my mom and dad decided to name me after a girl in a soap opera. i look at myself in the mirror every morning and the girl i see is anna. WILLHEMENA? i don't think so. Anna Lissa Bautista Gonda...that's my whole name. could you BE anymore Filipino than that?

but names are such a big deal. could you honestly see yourself with another name, except of course maybe for the chicks who plan to get married and change their LAST name. anyhow, that's all. if you could have another name what would it be? i know what iya would want us to call her...
LIFE FOR RENT

everyone's all cd reviewing so i thought i'd jump the bandwagon and tell you about DIDO's new cd "Life for Rent." maybe you think someone who's obsessed with *NSYNC and loves to sing and dance around to the bubble sound that is pop music couldn't possibly be interested in listening to someone as mellow as Dido. well, i heard her NO ANGEL cd and i must say that after that i was just drawn to her melancholy, whisper of a singing voice. that's one reason i love listening to norah jones' cd, but that's another entry.

anyhow, there's one song on Dido's cd that really got to me. it's the title track, "life for rent." just take a glance at the lyrics and tell me it doesn't make you think:

life for rent

i haven't ever really found a place that i call home
i never stick around quite long enough to make it
i apologize that once again i'm not in love
but it's not as if i mind that your heart ain't exactly breaking
it's just a thought, only a thought


but if my life is for rent and i don't learn to buy
well i deserve nothing more than i get
cos nothing i have is truly mine


i've always thought that i would love to live by the sea
to travel the world alone and live more simply
i have no idea what's happened to that dream
coz there's really nothing left here to stop me
it's just a thought, only a thought


but if my life is for rent and i don't learn to buy
well i deserve nothing more than i get
cos nothing i have is truly mine


while my heart is a shield and i won't let it down
while i am so afraid to fail so i won't even try
well how can i say i'm alive


but if my life is for rent and i don't learn to buy
well i deserve nothing more than i get
cos nothing i have is truly mine


this song could have a hundred different interpretations. but here's what it is to me. if you ever happen to wonder what the meaning of life is for you, and you can't, for whatever reason, figure out what that is. ask yourself about the last time you took a chance on an opportunity. did you seize the day or just tell yourself you were gonna fail at it anyway so why bother trying? how about the last time you asked yourself why you're alone. have you passed up chances to meet people because you're scared they won't think much of you? ever forbade yourself from feeling any kind of romantic feelings for someone because you can't remember the last time that emotion didn't fail to hurt you?

well, here it is folks. life is about taking chances, taking initiative. when i was younger i felt like this came naturally to me. teachers and bosses called me a "self-starter." but i know that for a lot of us, life seemed to slow down and the ability to "self-start" became harder and harder to maintain. i know my starter was cold for the last 3 years, but i feel like it's coming back to me. and not because i waited for it to warm up again, but because I decided put the heat back into it MYSELF. i don't want my life to be for rent, not having invested any kind of genuine risk in a venture. i don't wanna look back at my twenties when i'm 60 (god-willing i live that long) and say my life was a wasteland of missed chances. i've been reminded time and again in the last year that there is no courage without fear and there is certainly no victory without trial.

Thursday, October 02, 2003

I JUST WANT MY ID!!!!

oh man, what does it take to get your ID at GCC??? so first of all, you can't park on the lot across the street before 6 pm cuz there's a great big sign that says, "NO STUDENT PARKING. FACULTY AND STAFF ONLY" and they've got this security guard sitting by the entrance. so i drive around until about 5:55 (mind you i got out of work at 5!) when finally i'm like SCREW THIS i'll just drive into that parking lot cuz everyone else is. and lucky me, someone had just come out and i got a space quickly. so i put in 42 min worth of coins cuz all i had was a quarter and a dime. i'm thinkin, i'll be back in plenty of time. so i cross the bridge to get to campus and HI, i have no idea where i'm going. i go up some stairs, walked through a building and back to the library to ask where this place you get a student ID is. i go up these stairs...again, and find the room and i get there and the lady's like, "your ID isn't paid for yet. you have to pay for replacements." i'm like huh? so she sends me to admissions and i ask the lady at the window, "haven't i already paid for the ID?" and she said, yeah, when you started....in '97! joe and i took a geography class in the summer of '97 and THAT ID is paid for along with the fees. THIS ID is a replacement and costs $10!!! so i pay the damn $10 and head back to the picture lady and i take the damn STUDENT ID picture and you can SEE in the photo what i felt like after all that ruckus. i get back to my car and there is 9 min left on the meter. IT TOOK ME FREAKIN' 33 MIN TO GET A STUDENT ID! the whole process could've taken 10 min but it took me 33!!!

so i let out all my frustrations at TKB tonite with fernand. i don't know what it was about tonite's class but i was superduper exhausted after the thing. fernand said his vision was all blurry after. ha ha ha...

i ended the evening with a hilarious episode of WILL & GRACE, then a gratifying shower, then ER, and bits and pieces of BROWN SUGAR in between. has anyone seen that movie? the parts i saw seemed kind of interesting so i wanna watch the whole thing. any opinions?

ok, it's time for bed! i'm pooped!

Wednesday, October 01, 2003

Missin' the Mall

no, not the glendale galleria or the beverly center, the Mall in washington, DC where the Capitol Building, the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial are placed in perfect alignment. i've been on WEST WING overload eversince Bravo has been airing the old episodes. even though i've seen the episode like 2-3 times over, i always notice something when i watch it again...like i how much i miss being there.

so here lies the very source of emptiness i feel inside every so often. i do miss living there in our nation's capital. i miss getting up at 6:45 am because i need to be at the crystal city metro stop at 8:10 to catch the blue line headed towards addison road. i miss running my prepaid metro card through the "doorway" with the rotating wheel so i can get to the escalator leading to the track. i miss sitting on the stone bench in the tunnel waiting for the train to come and then getting up because i notice the round warning lights flashing by the track indicating my ride's close proximity. i miss standing in the train, with one hand tightly gripping the pole and the other clutching a book open, never wavering to the constant braking. i miss the 30 seconds or so where the track is above the ground giving me just enough time to look up and see the pentagon on the left. i miss watching men and women in uniform loading and unloading at the pentagon metro stop. i miss getting off the train and walking towards the office in the clockwork manner that i became accustomed to as if my feet led the way. i miss taking the elevator to the 11th floor and saying GOOD MORNING to everyone who i so loved working with. i miss having lunch down the street at HIGH NOON, and getting to walk past the white house like the most powerful man in the world didn't live there. i miss coming home after a long day to my roommates who are truly 5 of the most unique people i know. i miss standing in the balcony where you can see the monument and the capitol building in the distance. i miss going to mass at st. matthew where JFK's memorial service was held or the Basilica, the largest church in the north america. i just miss it all.

so yes i decided to come back home to sunny cali, hoping my fortune would somehow continue after the momentum i experienced in DC. but i was wrong and the momentum stayed on the east coast as i had feared and here i am, a little confused and at times, completely aimless. i don't regret coming home because i know there was a reason i did, but a part of me will always wonder what would've happened if i had just stayed there for another year. rest assured it won't have been my last time there. i'll go back.