:: Tears of the Moon ::

:: Sunday, August 26, 2007 ::

Ouch. OUCH. ouch

I hurt all over.

All over, dammit.

Yesterday was the office's 'GK Day'. We had to be at the office around 7am for the pickup at the gas station across the street. We had fifteen volunteers from my group. Tere had fifteen from hers, Liza had thirty-five (wow!), and Johno sent two guys. Vtech had about ten people. All in all we were about sixty or so, and JL only sent one van. Liza got to rent two vans for herself on the spot. I sent my guys ahead on the first shuttle ("The first ship, is away!" - sorry, Star Wars reference, hehe).

Tere the Feckless rode the first van, leaving her people behind. What a flake. (Story has it she even demanded the van to stop because she had a call coming in through her cell. Pfft.)

It's like our local version of Habitat for Humanity: Gawad Kalinga. The company 'bought' homes, and the employees volunteer to build the houses. Last Sunday was our scheduled day for the place. We had three activities: medical mission, story-reading for the daycare center, and sweat equity for the actual homes.

Most of Liza's team spearheaded the medical mission and the daycare stuff. Most of my team, Tere's and Vtech volunteered for sweat equity.

Which explains why my back hurts and my arms are sore: I mixed cement, hauled hollow blocks, helped chip into walls for trimming, painting. It felt good.

At the end of our day, the kids kept on asking if we were coming back. I said yes, we'd be back the next week. One of the girls who really taught me to do the stuff (I'm sure she was rolling her eyes at my amateur attempt at mixing mortar) actually had a home in the row of houses we were building. She was sweet, and very patient. She was nineteen, with a two-year old boy of her own, and doing the work of construction workers to help her home get built faster. She would put plaster on, paint, mix cement, haul hollow blocks.

We're building her home, and there's no room for bitching and moaning for busted manicures and sweat. Not unlike the idiots from the Feckless' team (and sadly, even my pampered boss, too) who stood around after two hours of work, smoking. What the fuck.

Anyway, all in all I had a great time. Trish kept on telling me to take a break (coz I stood sentinel over what I was doing the entire time), but I didn't, not until it was over.

Trish is great. I don't think I've ever had a friend who looked out for me that way. Take a break, go home. Rest. Ease up on the caffeine. What a relief.

Japanese food whore.

Been eating Japanese food for days. Anybody tried Teriyaki Boy's Tuna Tempura Sashimi? YUMMY. Yuuummyyy.

http://www.teriyakiboy.com.ph/home.html

Ghost Whisperer and watching new shows.

New addiction. In the absence of Grey's Anatomy, Battlestar Galactica, Prison Break, CSI:Vegas and Heroes, I've been catching some new shows on cable. My new addictions: Ghost Whisperer (where they've been showing back to back episodes!), Medium, Eureka, The Lost Room. Mostly sci-fi/occult stuff, but they're really really good, and they feed the addiction.

Books. And more Books.

I've also been buying books every time I go into a bookstore. Since I read them really really fast, by the time I get home, I'm almost halfway done.

33 Strategies of War

For anybody who deals with idiots everyday = and if you're a war story buff - buy yourself a copy of 33 Strategies of War. Perfect textbook for those with aspirations of world domination. I don't plan to have a global domination strategy: I just want to get through my day and eliminate idiocy.



A fellow manager lent me his copy for me to read. Now I know where he gets his dirty tactics ;)

A Sample:

10) Create a Threatening Presence: Deterrence Strategies.[1] Make people think they will lose, bluff if needed. People want an easy victory and will not attack if they think they will lose.

* Reverse Intimidation. 1) Make bold maneuvers and bluff wisely, 2) be a threat, make sudden moves, imply aggression, 3) move irrationally, create unpredictability, act crazy, 4) Feed your opponent's paranoia by indicating capabilities that they are afraid of, 5) maintain a bad reputation, mean, nasty and non-negotiable.

Also, go get yourself a copy of The Corporate Dominatrix (Kit, WHAT kinds of books are you reading?!)





After browsing this at a bookstore, I discovered my basic dominatrix personality is Queen. ;)

(My boss was Amazon.. in retrospect I shouldn't have been surprised, but hey.. that's probably why we clash so badly.

:: D said @ 1:36 PM [+] ::
...

I realize that it might be time for an update.

My sister has permanently moved to Singapore for work.
It seems that she's enjoying it. It sounds like she does. I'm supremely glad for her. She left three weeks ago, after having a four-week notice and headstart to get tickets, get her affairs in order (medical, dental, etc etc), buy new clothes and toss old ones, and contact relatives for additional support. It's amazing how fast the family can get together for stuff that needs organizing: emergency funds to start her up (she won't get paid till month-end), contacts for temporary housing, someone to help pick her up from the airport and whatnot (once again, Mom's sorority contact pulled through). It was all organized so fast that we didn't have enough time to absorb that hey, she's leaving the house!

I love that she's going someplace!

I hate that I miss her so much. :(

My sister has always been my one best friend. I guess part of the reason why in my life I don't have (or rather actively kept?) a best friend, is that this is it: my sister. I never resented her leaving, but I can say I feel the vacuum so much more than I expected. I find myself turning over my shoulder, ready with a comment that starts with "Chi, isn't that..?" and she's not there. I miss having her around to sound off on, to bounce ideas around with.

I went to Childhood Crush's brother's baby girl's christening. To which I was the Godmother to their family's first ever girl offspring
First: Childhood Crush. The phrase is not a joke. We knew each other literally since birth. Our dads were high school classmates, and our moms became super close when they each got married. Their family is a family of four boys, and the youngest (Childhood Crush) is a year older than me. The last of their family to stay unmarried (#3 is the guy whose daughter I'm the godmother of). For a long time, my family was a family of two girls (before Bryan was born). So: Four boys, Two girls. The four boys were all smart, and their last kid was the Boy Genius.

Was it any wonder then, that I found Childhood Crush irresistible?

ANYway, we spent Saturday for the Wedding-and-Christening event. It was a small affair (tiny, actually), consisting of the parents of the girl and her brother and their kids, and the groom's family: the three brothers with their wives and kids, Childhood Crush's girlfriend, and my parents and my brother and me.

That baby girl is SO going to get spoiled.

And yes, Childhood Crush has a girlfriend. Once again, another "Simple" girl, and uncomplicated, nice, kid-friendly wallflower of a girl that has very basic fashion sense and simple desires in life. Hearth, home, to be malleable.

Why can't I be malleable? (that's topic for another entry!)

I'm at the brink of a career change.
..Which has kept me awake most nights the past six weeks (or rather, most days since I sleep during the daytime?). Had stresses with people at work, and I got that sorted out.

Got to touch-base and be more friends with other folks in the office.
I realized, more than anything, that the glue that holds us sane in our office is the strong working relationships we had with each other. Even when we had no one running the shop - no captain running the ship - for close to two years. It was the middle management team that kept it together. Maan kept the numbers on track and helped make us smarter, stronger, more decisive. Liza and Johno helped keep me sane with the Operations crap. Acie kept me steady and sound.

My heart broke.

...

I went on Retreat.

Nothing better than keeping tabs with what's really important in life, ey?

:: D said @ 10:06 AM [+] ::
...

I've never thought of myself as Simple. I don't understand the concept of shy as it relates to me. I've always wanted more to life: to be better, to strive harder with school, to travel, to express myself. I've never learned to keep my opinions to myself, I've always been encouraged to fight for my beliefs and say my piece. I guess that comes with having outspoken parents, with life experiences that list having been student activists in the Seventies, having been entrepreneurs, having always been leaders in our community. I have never been short of thoughts, opinions, or words about anything. That probably has something to do with my absolute love for reading and learning new things.

So why am I frustrated?

More and more I realize that these traits are great to have - if you were a guy.

If you were a girl, being outspoken can be perceived as being shrewish and unfeminine. Having read and understood the workings of many things can be impressive with guys, and can be an absolute repellant in girls. I've had many people (young and old, men and women) tell my parents that I was "way too smart" for them, and that I might "have problems finding boys".

Like, being dumb attracted them more-? I'd like to think real men (I know they're out there) would know the difference, right? See, this is where biology is against us: girls mature faster than boys. Girls' emotional maturity is about five years ahead of the boys. So, girls at twenty-five shouldn't be amazed that guys their age 'act like they're eighteen' (look, they degenerated two years more!)

In any case, this doesn't just apply to the notion of Meeting Guys (although they make up the other half of the human population). Outspoken Girls also cause other girls to be standoff-ish towards them. They're termed as freaks, geeks, nerds (I'm all three, they say) and outcasts. Having broken out of the standard mode, they dress the way they want, express themselves more obviously and creatively than others, and have a take-no-prisoners attitude with others.

Is it being the Alpha Female? I don't think so. There are Alpha Females who feel that they're Power Women just because they know how to throw tantrums at the guys. I don't mean that. I hate girls who throw tantrums and fits to get what they want (my boss, incidentally, is one of these). It's not that. I'm saying that it's hard to practice being yourself in a society that still has preconceived notions about what Girls or Women ought to be: malleable - or have some degree of obvious malleability. It seems that they tend to be perceived as 'nicer' somehow.

I speak in a declarative tone. Is that a bad thing? My voice cadence is like a march: a little assertive, and will probably have short pauses. For a long time till my early twenties, I eschewed wearing skirts (while liking high heels). I've only been interested in fun clothes and makeup. But while those are the trappings, I'm still the same person with the same opinions, thoughts, and the same

What's the difference-? I don't get it.

:: D said @ 9:37 AM [+] ::
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