since practically every blog i've read since the start of the year has this. so. here goes.

1. What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before?
took a sport seriously, fell off a moving ATV on a rocky hill trail (ok, so i didn't really do that,) said no to somebody i liked, modeled in a fashion show (PICC, chong! haha,) drove outside of alabang, bumped my car (several times, actually, haha,) wore a two-piece in public, lost 30 + pounds. (yeah, baby, yeah.) hmm.. plus several things i can't remember. anywho.

2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
don't really do those. so.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
hmm. no.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
not this year.

5. What countries did you visit?
singapore and hongkong. hmm! slow year! haha.

6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?
err... a good-paying job? does that count? haha.

7. What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
parang wala. haha. ewan.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
reaching the -30 pound mark in 4 months. sticking to the non-rice thing. yeah.

9. What was your biggest failure?
hmmm... honors? ewan. hindi din naman. know i didn't work enough for it, anyway. prolly losing in the elections. damn single vote.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
nope.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
prolly makoy. but then again i didn't really buy that. haha.

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
grr. i can't think of anyone right now.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
GMA? haha.

14. Where did most of your money go?
coffeehouses and thesis photocopies and overdues. haha.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
all major tennis tourneys. the christmas ticker card. haha.

16. What song will always remind you of 2006?
sexy back's the first thing that came to my mind.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? happier. :D
ii. thinner or fatter? like, my God, do I really need to answer this?
iii. richer or poorer? N/A. haha.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
church stuff. dangdangdang.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
spending? haha. no, that's not really true. shopping's always worth it. yey.

20. How will you be spending New Year?
tapos na. making apoy apoy the barbecue with my cuzans in cold cold baguio. yey!

22. Did you fall in love in 2006?
uso pa ba un? wahahaha

23. How many one-night stands?
hmm, wait lang ah.... 1.... 2.... 345..... (haha!)

24. What was your favourite TV program?
med shows like scrubs, house, grey's. scrubs pinaka siguro.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
haha. i'm not sure. love anyone i didn't this time last year, yeah, for sure. try not to hate people mych now. hehe.

26. What was the best book you read?
didn't get to read enough books last year. boo.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
hmmm... prolly stats and longwave.

28. What did you want and get?
a thinner body. yey!

29. What did you want and not get?
red hair. boo.

30. What was your favourite film of this year?
kasal, kasali, kasalo. haha! ooh! marie antoinette. really loved that movie.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
lotsa birthday celebrations this year. go-karting with the boocoo, bellini's with the choochoos, lunches and dinners with everyone else.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
satisfying na un! more than! woohoo!

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
hmmm.. varied, experimental. tried out lotsa different things.

34. What kept you sane?
the brew crew. as opposed to that other group which pretty much did the opposite to me. (haha. kiddong.) but promise. i love you guys! :D

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
depende sa season. sports stars, mostly.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
chacha. bwisit.

37. Who did you miss?
papa and yaya.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
coach chot. promise, ka-idol-idol material talaga. woohoo!

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006:
rice makes you fat. haha! no, seriously, you'll achieve anything you set your mind into. (and vice-versa.)

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
one love, one life... i'm too sleepy. i'll come up with something better next time.

there is a glaring irony that accompanies the notion of a loved one so deemed to have "passed" in death. all beliefs of demise as a sort of crossing over notwithstanding, death, at least for those who are left behind, is never a passing thing. on the contrary, it only becomes more manifest, more harrowing with the passage of time. perhaps, one comes more into grasps with it; a sense of understanding grows. but the loss stays imminent. it remains present. a loved one is never just lost in a day. the loss begins on one day, sure, but goes on. your father doesn't just leave at a particular instance, to be mourned, then to be forgotten. you are without father from that day on; forever.

even more painful to realize is that even if you wanted to forget, not only can you not, but that more importantly, you will not. if whatever memory you have of the person you love is the only thing you can cling on, then for God's sake, you will cling on for dear life. for fear that even that one bit you know you have can be lost. no, you will choose not to forget. you will not choose to lose what you have already lost.

to my loved ones in heaven, we all await. and until that sweet day, we promise; we will never forget.

for sure i'll be going through tons of drastic life changes this year, what with it being 007 and all, regardless of whether i'm prepared for them or not. so there really wouldn't be be much use in getting ahead of myself, now, would there. thus, i'ma start off the year with the following teeny tiny resolutions, while i still have time before that bell on major life-changing decisions dings on me. (tick-tock, tick-tock.) here goes.

1.) develop a good, consistent tennis serve (more specifically, a powerful, high-percentage first serve, and a consistent, stable second one)

out of all tennis shots and plays, this is the one aspect of the game that i, sadly, haven't even at least come close to having. and it sucks, 'cause after more or less 6 months of play, i've already developed a consistent forehand; a powerful, slightly less-consistent backhand; a decent, often outstanding forehand volley; an excellent, consistent, powerful, precision-control backhand volley, and a powerful, less-directional overhead smash... pretty much everything, that is, however underdeveloped some may be, except for that right combination of ball-toss height and direction, racket swing, grip, rocking body motion and timing that i haven't quite figured out as of yet. hence the consistent decline of game offers (however purely friendly and non-bearing) and tournament invitations to date. not that i've been itching to compete or anything. but, footwork and endurance aside, it'd be nice to develop a game that's more or less complete. something that's worth bragging to my elder brothers to, at least. haha.

2.) find my favorite coffee blend

it took the dawn of a new christmas season and the release of a new starbucks planner, but at long last, starbucks' planner-tied-up marketing strategy of "finding your favorite" has caught up with me. anyway, whatever it was - a strange obsession-bordered excitement for the holiday season that made me go crazy insane once them baristas pulled out those red cups, those must-have weekly java sessions with the brew crew, or that lovely group of people that made me want to keep coming back to coffeehouses for something other than their produce - i've been more interested in the waker-upper now than ever. i've realized how it's really such a shame how those anti-coniotics are so quick to criticize their so-deemed unnecessary "coffeehouse culture," as well as how coffeehouse posers have reduced it to mere mocha frapuccinos and what have you, failing to realize the true wonders and complexities of the drink. i'm not exaggerating; it's coffee that's so highly underrated. from syrup add-ons to brewing options to my recent obsession, coffee bean blends, there's just so much to learn and discover about it. so far on my bean rating scale: 4 out of 5 cups for starbucks' house blend (yummy standard goodness,) 2 out of 5 for their breakfast blend (too mild-bodied and acidic for me,) and 2 out of 5 for their colombia blend (too dry.) next on my must-try list: the velvety, roasty-smooth finished cafe verrona, cafe estima and italian roast blends. yumyumyum. :D

mmm... all that talk about coffee's suddenly made me crave for a quick caffeine fix. off to a coffe break; more resolutions to come in a few. :D

i've decided to semi-retire this blog, realizing that there are far too many people i don't want reading it who do. yeah i know, it's suppose to public domain, yaddiyaddiyadda. well there are some of you whom i still want to keep reading... if only there were some less discreet but more effective way of selecting readership. haha. anywho. i've put up a more private blog, but more for my personal ranting consumptions than posting my public opinions; if you're interested just ask me, and i shall check if it's okay to tell you or whatever. haha ang arte, no.
will still check in and post every now and then, though, just not as often as i used to. kidoki? kidoki.
thanks for reading! :D

THEY'VE RUN OUT OF TOFFEE NUT AND PEPPERMINT DRINKS AT STARBUCKS KATIPUNAN!!!!

:0

now i miss james even more.

waah.



[sheila and the insects/quick to panic]

i was actually planning to do something like this by the time i hit the 30-pound mark, but i just could not wait any longer, having just come from cebu and uploaded my newest batch of beach pics (will be up in multiply in a while, check them out) so here goes.

5 months, 4 kilos of rice less, 3 racket-hand blisters, 2 sizes down, and minus 28 pounds later...



i didn't set a goal weight so i'm not sure if i've reached my ideal size yet, haha, and i am not thin (and i don't desire to be - heavyweights will always rock in my world,) but hey, for eating pretty much the same way (sans rice and most carbs, that's it - i have never and will never starve myself just to lose a few pounds) feeling physically better, having more clothing options, and discovering a sport that i've really come to love, that's a pretty good deal, ain't it?

it's pretty interesting to scan through blogs and get all sorts of varying notions that different people have of 'friendship.' there are those who celebrate theirs through mindless drinking binges and out-of-town weekend trips; others through shopping escapades and cups of iced decaf lattes. there are those who speak of the perils of maintaining overseas, long-distance relationships; others of the comfort of having a friend who'll pop up wherever, whenever they'd need someone to be with, for whatever reason. there are those who tell of their incomprehensible, seemingly unresolvable loneliness, in spite of their involvement in multiple extra-curriculars, in spite of being surrounded by so many people almost all the time; others who couldn't be happier with no more than a constant, close-knit barkada, however small.

me? i'm just glad to have people i can call and wake up and not scream at me at 9 in the morning to drag to a meal just cause i suddenly felt like it one day.

amen. :D

[from the gorillaz' man research (clapper)]

i have never felt more spoiled-little-rich-bitch than i do now, and I LOVE IT. haha. first time i walked into rehearsals i couldn't help but snigger at the straight-from-The O.C. picture of snotty country club brats in topshop tees and mango minis and printed havees that befell me. but thanks to the persistence of certain titas, compliments from the guy from church my brother and i until recently only knew as 'mr. elvis,' getting eased into the whole situation courtesy of my supposedly co-first-timer 'friend' vinch, the idea of walking down the ramp as a goddess with my goddess friends, and being constantly commended by our lovable fashion director - and i quote: 'everybody's just walking compared to your group...' - i have finally embraced the moe-duhl in me. all that, and finally admitting to the fact that i was a topshoptee-mangomini-printedhavees-wearing spoiled country club kid myself (but note, as my boocoo boys were kind enough to point out - i may be spoiled, but i am definitely not a brat.) yeah. bring on the tableaus, fountains, and en masse - this girl's more than ready to strike a pose.

*nov. 26 at the PICC, people. and in case you think 1-5k's a bit too much to shell out for simply seeing yours truly strut her stuff on the catwalk, remember, we're still doing it 'for the kids' (Elsie Gaches Village, Marilac Hills, Tunasan City Jail, Ayala Alabang Hospice Foundation and some of the poorest parishes in the country, that is, in St. James-speak.) besides, that's what a fund-raising is really all about, after all, right?

[bright lights/matchbox20]

as if the whole idea of having to submit the so-called "meat of the thesis" that is chapter three on the first day of classes wasn't enough of a hassle, i recently found out that the club courts are gonna be closed for the entire duration of my break (read: oct. 23-nov. 10.) WTF?! if you guys know what my thesis is all about, you'd understand how big of a disaster this is for me. now i'm gonna have to work several times harder, having to think of other ways of getting those interviews and surveys and fgd's before the deadlines kick in. gaah.

that, and i'll be missing three whole weeks of my loviest sport. hoe. lee. sheet.

:O

[coldplay/trouble/parachutes]