dear friend who uses SNS the proper way

I wish you'd share a little bit about yourself every now and then. Because if all I wanted to read were news articles (no matter how interesting they may be), I'd go to a news website, not a Social Networking Site. 

I know that they say you shouldn't inform everyone about every little mood swing that you have. Especially when your friend list includes both personal and professional contacts. I know that one needs to be thoughtful about what they post. But Facebook isn't LinkedIn so please don't get ultra-stiff & conservative.

Sure, don't post about EVERY pound you gain or EVERY day you're pissed off at work or EVERY night you're hung over. But once in a while, please try to post something about YOU. Try posting something that does not link to a news or feature article. Because even though Hemingway says we should "edit sober", he also says we should "write drunk". Because it's the "drunkenness" that speaks of your personality, your individuality, of you living a life (rather than a press release).

So dear friend who uses SNS the proper way, go ahead and remain thoughtful about your posts. But once in a while, I'd appreciate a post about what's really going on with you.

Photo from annnniegirl.

Click here for previous posts from the Dear... series. 

heartbreaking moment

I remember feeling the mother's intense pain & sorrow when I first saw this photo.

While I'm not sure that what I've been going through the past couple of days approximates the overwhelming feelings of a soldier serving her country away from her child, I have to say it has been quite an emotional ride for me as well. You see, Isabella is in the hospital and has been having bouts of severe pain. And while she goes through what certainly looks like the most horrible physical pain, I cannot describe how it feels watching her. How I so want to take away the pain. How I feel so helpless when my usually feisty, strong-willed baby is crying in pain and begs, "I don't like na, Mommy. Please make it stop." How, while I try to encourage her: tell her she can get through this episode of pain, find the positive in the situation - like how this shows her body is fighting the infection or that the medicine is working, I am a wreck deep inside, worrying why the medicine doesn't seem to be working or that her body might not be able to take this. I cannot quite describe the horrible emotional pain. But I would take double this anguish if I could take even a little of hers away.

She is obviously pain-free while I write this post. She has been watching Disney music videos on YouTube for the past hour. Which is how I learned you can play Snake on YouTube while waiting for a video to load by pressing the down-key. And that the guy from Chuck is Flynn Rider from Tangled. Both speaking and singing voice! It's actually sweet how she keeps asking me what Disney movie we will watch songs of next - when she's really the one watching since I'm catching up on work (and sneaking in this post) during this good hour of hers. It seems it is important to her for me to like the songs we watch (er, I listen to). Now, this heart-tugging moment is much better than the heart-breaking ones. Hoping for more of the former. Thanks to those who have been praying for Isabella and sending get-well-soon wishes! Much appreciated! :)

Photo from designeditor.

guilty

Eeep. Am guilty. I have to admit there is this feeling of hatred in the driver in me. Not towards bicyclists, but towards motorcyclists.

Not only because they take away the one fun thing about catching a red light here. But because they weave in & out, often dangerously overtaking from the right side. I think the idea of designating a motorcycle lane is the right thing to do. But a whole car lane on Edsa does not seem to be the right way to do it. Because daily Edsa traffic is proof that the volume of cars is just too high, the motorcycle lane will always be occupied by cars too. And the motorcycles will just overtake from the right or left of those cars in the motorcycle lane. It doesn't help that the motorcycle lane is a middle-lane because they tend to spill out to the left & right lanes, affecting all 3 car lanes -- rendering the motorcycle lane pretty useless.

I think there's something to learn from bicycle lanes. Bike lanes around the world are small. They don't fit cars, just bikes. Maybe they should designate 1 or 2 motorcycle-wide lanes on Edsa as the motorcycle lane.  It will segregate cars from motorcycles, keeping everyone safe. Perhaps this is why "love is among cyclists". They have their own lane - safe from dangerous overtaking against much bigger vehicles, yet still unperturbed by the heavy traffic of cars in the car lanes.

I remember the time when buses would weave in & out of Edsa traffic, going from the leftmost lane to the rightmost and back. We've managed to get buses to stick to their lane. I'm sure we can get motorcycles to do the same! As long as they can have their lane all to themselves. Maybe this is one time that sharing [lanes] leads to hatred and selfishness leads to love...

Photos from designsponge.

Today, I am unloving...

Today, I am un-loving... that happy nails make me sad. Because I can't have them.

This photo of purple & yellow-orange nails that I just posted here reminded me of my unfortunate reality. I am allergic to nail polish. My nails turn completely white (like the white ones on the tips of normal nails) and it will take at least 5 months to grow them out.

I noticed that black nail polish has been popping up everywhere. On Eva Mendez and Zooey Deschanel. And in a non-goth way. I haven't really decided if I would be willing to try out this black nails trend. But it doesn't really matter because I can't.

And it really is a shame because I would love to accent a completely neutral outfit with a pop of color on my nails like this!

Today, I am un-loving... that I cannot wear nailpolish.

Photos from garancedore, acupofjo, 101gramsofeyecandy and annnniegirl.

Click here for previous posts from the Today, I am un-loving... series.

my root canal

Remember here how I didn't have the courage to even schedule my long overdue root canal because I was terrified of the pain?

Well, I finally mustered up the courage to schedule it for yesterday. And this was how I felt the whole day yesterday, leading up to my 5pm appointment...

Actually, I felt this more while I was waiting in the dentist's chair with the bib already around my neck and the drill bits & injection were being laid out on the dentist's little table. My sweet Isabella was holding my hand, encouraging me, telling me I could do it. And when I cowered like a child and asked for my mommy, she reminded me how old I was. I know it was embarrassing, but I really have the lowest tolerance for pain. :(

By the time my dentist was seated beside me and I had my mouth wide open, I felt like the arrow was heading straight for my forehead!

But surprisingly, it wasn't painful! Turns out, Dr. Villareal is my-Disneyland-dentist here come to life! It was quite unnerving to hear the sound of what-looked-like-needles scraping the inside of my tooth and to watch his hand twist them like screws. I cringed when I saw the nerve he took out - which looked like a tiny, little uod [worm]. But throughout the injecting, drilling and scraping, I did NOT feel a thing!

Dr. Hermogenes P. Villareal, D.M.D.

F.P.C.O.M.S., F.P.A.I.D., F.I.C.D., F.P.F.A., F.A.C.D.,

Diplomate - Int'l Congress of Oral Implantologists

Oral Surgeon/Implantologist

Chairman, Dept. of Dentistry AHMC

Asian Hospital & Medical Center - Unit 415 Medical Office Bldg.

Tel. No.: (632) 771-9358

Photo from annnniegirl. 

what if today was your birthday?

I can't imagine what it would be like to be born on February 29... Celebrating on the right day every four years, and on a different day during those years in between...

As an adult, I imagine that it could be special. It could be an excuse to throw a party every leap year because after all, it doesn't happen every year.

But what if your child was born on this day? Can you imagine having to explain to your preschooler that his birthday is February 29 but that his birthday isn't in the calendar every year? How would you explain that it only comes every four years and most times, you'll be celebrating his birthday on March 1?

I wonder how he'll take it... Will he be wishing his real birthday would come again next year as he blows out his candles? Awww, I sure hope it isn't as sad as I'm imagining it...

If today happens to be your - or your child's - birthday, do tell me what it's like because as you can see, I am awfully curious.

Photo from here via nyctaughtme.

a row with rows

I've got a row with rows. Pardon the pun, I couldn't resist. :) What I mean is, I've recently realized that there are some pretty frustrating things about queues these days...

The half-hearted queues - A popular drugstore here in Manila has those queue posts with retractable belts leading to the pharmacy counter. But when you get to the counter, it suddenly becomes free-for-all and people just find gaps  along the counter (even if they don't necessarily fit a whole person) to squeeze themselves into it. And once you find a gap you can fit in, you have to try to catch the attention of a drugstore personnel to get what you need. So I wonder: what was the hopeful-beginnings-of-a-queue for then?

The invisible queues - I see these mostly in mall bathrooms. A small line begins to form before the first bathroom stall, then someone enters and bypasses the line and creates her own line at the second stall. Soon, the people at the back of the original line rush to create a third line at the third cubicle. Since I'm sure I didn't have Harry Potter's cloak of invisibility on during these times, I tend to ponder: do they really don't realize there's a common line? Or do they just believe in shrewd line-picking (which results in a "Woot! Woot! I picked the fastest-moving or shortest line!") over the fair first-come-first-served line?

The imaginary (really unnecessary) queues - For me, this is the worst of all. You know how baggage claim belts are pretty long (and winding) at our airport? I can never understand why people line up behind me - even if there's a wide expanse of empty portions around the conveyer belt. So they end up pushing me, trying to catch a glimpse of the bags passing and even force me to move aside if their bag comes before mine. I would be okay if it was a really big plane and there were just so many passengers around the belt that a queue is necessary. But when it's not, I really cannot fathom why they queue up behind me (hitting my calf with their trolley a number of times) when they can have their own empty space in front of the belt, just a few steps further. In fact, I've contemplated a lot about this (yes, it takes that long for my bag to come out) and I think it's better for people to stay away from the belt (i wish airports would paint a yellow line a meter away from the belt so people can stay behind it like they do at immigration or ATMs) since you can spot your bag from afar anyway. And once you do spot your bag, that's when you can go beyond the yellow line to pull your luggage from the belt with enough space to maneuver the heaving of bags off the belt and onto your trolley (is it obvious my bags are always at maximum allowable weight - and then some - vis-a-vis 5'1" me?). Isn't this a much better baggage-claim system?       

Don't get me wrong. I'm glad to see people lining up more these days. But I just wish we'd do away with these half-hearted, invisible, and imaginary (really unnecessary) queues.

Photo from annnniegirl.