Whose dark materials?

I am currently reading The Subtle Knife, it is book two of the trilogy His Dark Materials and below is a conversation I had with my officemate, Carl.

Tracy: You have read all three books right?
Carl : Yup.
Tracy: One question, who owns the material? I mean who is HE, the person being referred to by the word His in His Dark Materials?
Carl : I have no idea.

Does this mean there is going to be a book four on the supposed trilogy? Hmmmm.

Fabulous Carbs

Two weeks back from my 16-day-vacation, I still have not lost even a quarter of a pound. It is the carbs! Why is it just sooo hard to stay away from carbs? Actually, I already know the answer to my question.

1. Puttanesca Farfalle
2. Adobo
3. Pizza Margherita
4. gourmet croutons
5. garlic bread (with extra garlic! hah!)
6. Foccacio
7. cereal prawn
8. banana bread
9. microwave popcorn (especially after a late night out)
10. wasabi potato chips

deja vu, my stupid shoe, my stupid shoe

It was January 2006, I was on my way to meet my sister when my sandals caught an unsecured wire and the super skinny strap broke. I had to slide my way to the nearest shoe store to get a pair that I not only liked but also matched my outfit and my other clothes as I’d rather spend for something I would still wear in other occasions than scrimp for something I’d never wear again. I bought myself black strappy sandals.

January 2007, I find myself on the same route, again to meet up with my sister when my 4-inch-right-heel got caught in the step that caused pressure on the slim strap and forced it to snap. This time I limped to the nearest store to find again, a shoe that met my criteria. I got a pointed black woven leather flats.

Both experiences proved quite hassling, but I must admit that I really like both pairs and it was a blessing that I was forced to look them up and get them, when I needed shoes the most.

The Holy Infants

I saw a very interesting feature in Discovery Channel today, it was about a painting bought by a art collector 38 years ago, The Holy Infants. He believed it to be by Leonardo Da Vinci, so he devoted his time to prove or disprove his theory. It took him 30 trips to Europe to trace the route the painting took from Da Vinci's workshop to the London auction house, and God knows how much to do various testing to the painting such as carbon dating, etc. It is really cool what we could do today due to the advancement of technology.

http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/davinci/article/article.html

I really, really wish I had a better picture of the painting.

Oh and once upon a time it was owned by a highborn homosexual whose joy was to watching very young boys. That is really disturbing.

What Real Men Do...and Don't Do

To get some exercise, I decided to swim this lazy Saturday afternoon. After 8 laps, I was ready to throw in the towel. I felt so puny. This must be exactly how Toad feels when he is around Wolverine. I then spent a good 30 minutes in the sauna then went back to the poolside to watch the bright sky turn to a shade south of indigo while I listen to some acoustic rendition of 41 by my favorite band.

A resident I have never seen before walks by wearing a shirt that says 'Real men wear black'. This made me do a mental list of the what I associate with being a REAL MAN.

1. Opens doors and gives up seats for women, regardless of the woman's age or attractiveness.
2. Has clean, clipped toenails--absent of clear coat and that red antiseptic.
3. Doesn't wear floral anything, save hawaiian shirts.
4. Admits that Shutter scared the crap out of him.
5. Recognizes and is secure enough to say that Daniel Craig's thighs in Casino Royale were perfect.
6. Moisturizes his face, elbows and knees (only!) almost regularly. All other parts (back, shoulders, arms, etc.), only when necessary.
7. Knows when to listen.
8. Never rolls his eyes.
9. Refuses to comment at times when he SHOULD NOT comment.
10. Knows the answer to the age old question "Do I look fat?".

Tagged Tracy

I have had a couple of blogsites out there for a while now but I had never Tagged, until today. I was not too sure how this blog networking works but as I understand it, I need to write five things about me and tag five other blog owners. Simple enough. Here goes my five.

1. I sleep beside an older-than-me baby doll. She was a gift I received when I was just a tad bigger than a thumb in my mom's womb. She is orange, has a receeding hairline, missing an eyelash, and somehow her left eye has faded. Very close friends who have seen her refer to her as Chuckie, my family do not raise the subject as they know how much I love her. I think the Tooth Fairy is afraid of her, as she never came for any of my teeth.
2. My favorite snack: Cucumbers with Balsamic Vinegar and Rock Salt. I don't think I could elaborate any more on this.
3. I have a lucky finger nail. Okay, maybe it doesn't exactly bring me good luck, but I think I am quite lucky to still have it--the nail on the pointing finger of my left hand. When I was in first grade, I accidentally slammed the door of my mom's car into my finger, when the door was opened a minute later, the nail had fallen off. I was brought to the hospital, the finger was treated and bandaged. A few weeks later it has healed. I go to a children's party and McDonalds, the party was near the play place. I was waiting for my go on the slide, but the person before me, Fletcher (yes, I remember him alright!) who was then already in highschool, took a step back and sure enough, stepped on my finger. When they opened the bandage, the nail was, once again, not on the finger!
4. I once wore a bracelet for seven years. On my junior year in the university my parents gave me a bracelet that had a screw, it even came with its own screwdriver. As I found it troublesome to take it out and put it back again, I decided not to bother with taking it out. I literally wore it for seven years straight. The first time I took it out was last december as my boyfriend got me a bracelet for Christmas and I thought it was too much to wear two bracelets in one arm.
5. I am contemplating on being a chef. Basically, my plan had been laid there since three years ago. I'd go to Singapore, save enough money to support myself through two years (full time) of business school then go get on track with my career out of IT. A few thousands from my MBA, it seems as though I am having doubts as to what I really want. I am suddenly smitten by the idea of being a fusion chef.

Why are yawns contagious?

Here is something for the five people who had picnic with me that one rainy Saturday afternoon. I apologize for not having a better source than WHY DO MEN HAVE NIPPLES? Hundreds of Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini by Mark Leyner & Billy Goldberg MD.

Anyways, here it goes. Verbatim.

Why are yawns contagious?
Here are several things we can be thankful are not contagious:
drooling
nosebleeding
itching
seizures
farting

That said, there are several theories for what causes yawns and why they are contagious. It was originally thought that people yawned to get more oxygen, but this appears not to be true.

The most common theory is behavioral. Ina an article examining contagious yawns, Dr. Steven M. Platek and others state, "Contagious yawning may be associated with empathic aspects of mental state attribution and are negatively affected by increases in schizotypal personality traits much like other self-processing related tasks."

Huh? I find myself yawning right now.

What they mean is that people are unconsciously imitating others when they yawn. Yawning is seen in many animals, including cats, fish, and birds, although we don't know what a yawning fish looks like either.

Happy New Cheeks!

My good friend from work flew back from a business trip in Germany this weekend. Despite the her impossible workload, she not only managed to get me cheek stain, but also a white t-shirt! (I am, by the way a collector of white shirts).

Kristine, I promise to wear the shirt after 7 pounds.

Counting Lovebirds

I saw a picture of a married couple with caption "We are happy together and counting.".

This confused me... did they mean they were counting before taking the picture like "hey honey we are so happy, lets take a picture of this happy moment. one, two, three *snap"?

Or is it "Darling, lets count until we are no longer happy counting, one, two,..., five thousand one, I'm no longer happy counting."?

Please help.

GQ's THINGS HARDER TO FIND THAN THE DA VINCI CODE'S HOLY GRAIL

There were 20 items in the list but I narrowed it down to the 3 entries that I especially liked.

1. Steve Martin's sense of humour
2. Anyone who honestly understands Lost
3. A Terry Pratchett fan able to talk easily to members of the opposite sex

The Good and the Bad

Bad: I had to work today. No, not remotely. On site. Milenia Tower.
Good: For lunch, I had a the giant Queensland Chicken Salad; you could practically call it a garden!

Bad: The croutons were brownie-brown instead of golden-brown. It looked burnt and tasted burnt.
Good: No carbs for lunch!

Bad: Per and Che are in Singapore for a week and neither of them got roaming.
Good: They managed to get in touch with me and we are meeting for dinner on Wednesday.
Better: Cindy and Obet are coming too!

Some Saturday (and the day has not yet come to an end)

07:00 I wake up, take some multivitamins, drink a glass of water and go back to sleep.

09:20 I wake up, the second time today, look at my watch and decide to sleep some more.

12:34 I wake up, the third time today, got out of my room to find out that Neneng prepared okoy and bachoy for lunch! Yipee!

13:45 After flossing, I lie down in bed to watch episodes of Sex and the City.

13:50 I send a sms to my sweetie to tell him that even if I hear him fart, I'd still be attracted to him. Blame Carrie Bradshow for my disturbing message!

16:00 I take a quick shower and change into my gym clothes. Today, for the first time in a very long time, I'm going jogging.

16:28 It starts to rain. Hard. I find myself a long way from home without a phone, money or a bus card. I head back.

16:45 I am panting along the entrance of our condo. I am positive there is no way I could be more wet. I rest for a while by the covered area near the pool.

17:15 Confident that I am at least 90% dry, I go into the gym, and start on the treadmill.

17:23 I am breathless. I feel that I am about to faint. I stop. I rest.

17:40 I am feeling better, I decide to head straight to the sauna.

18:10 I get out of the sauna feeling dehydrated and quite honestly, dizzy. I also realize that it is still raining, and harder.

18:13 I get into our unit and I head straight to the shower.

18:20 I look into my phone to see that I have a missed call and some unread messages--my sister. I call her to say that yes, that was the book that I wanted.

18:30 I realize that I should be in church as I have to go to work tomorrow.

18:40 I am at bed starting at Sex and the City again, sipping red wine while simultaneously eating popcorn, banana nut wheat flakes and slivers of parmesan cheese. I relax and wonder how I am going to spend the rest of my Saturday.

Sex and the City Favorites #1

Carrie gets off the car and walks towards her apartment with a puzzled look on her face. She suddenly stops, turns around calling "Wait" as she hopping-brisk-walks back towards the car. She knocks on the window. Mr. Big opens the window and looks at her, waiting.

"Have you ever been in love?"

"Abso-f*cking-lutely"

And his car pulls away, she is left awestruck, standing alone along the sidewalk.

Three Years Today

It was January 17, 2004, Big Jay picked me up to go to Gold's party at Big Sky Mind. I was wearing my then new, now favorite linen-halter-wrap-top in the lightest-possible-pink-shade with jeans. We were pretty sure it would be a fun night, it was, after all, a very small party, 30 people tops; I didn't however, expect it to have such an impact in my life. That night, I met THE one, of course I didn't realize it then. I took him for the Stifler, no thanks to Tonton.

Here is one of the pictures from that night.

The guy in light blue polo is Big Jay; he is now Big Daddy Jay, married with one baby Enzo.

Right beside him, wearing a black polo with a velvet dragon inlay is Aa, Mr. Commitment, he is now based in Canada, he is, I understand still overdressed most of the time, but no longer underpaid.

I am sitting right beside Aa.

The girl beside me is Janis, she left for Shanghai the day after party to work; she is now also married with one baby Basti.

TJ is the guy with his back on the camera, although he is still the best martial artist I know personally, I'm not sure if his new workplace allows him to wear Hawaiian shirts on Fridays.

Dentists & Dating Potential

My friend was telling me yesterdays that people in the IT field such as ourselves rarely meet dentists at social gatherings. He says that he met someone. The minute she said she was a dentist, she transformed right in front of his eyes, he added. He realized that being in dental profession turns a seemingly-ordinary-just-a-friend-girl to an interesting-and-very-datable-woman.

Similarly, my bestfriend was into this dentist a few years back. Although she was never into the Eminem look (READ: SLIM SHADY), but this guy, he used to be THE ONE for her. Whenever I ask her why the drastic change from preppy boy to well, uhhh white-trash-rapper-type, she shrugs and says that he is kind of cute and really fit, besides, he can't be that bad, he probably has brains, he is a dentist!

I am suddently reminded of my ortho. There was a time when I had to see him every three weeks (for two years!) for braces adjustments. Not once did I associate him with my possible-partner-population. Of course it did not help that he was married and had five kids. And although he had excellent taste in books (he knew bestellers before they became bestsellers!), he was just not datable for me. End of story. He was not suddenly attractive because he was a dentist--even a good ortho at that!

I visited Marco's dentist when I was in Manila and I remember thinking to myself "She is pretty cute". When I try to picture her face now, I think "She is just okay". I guess my first statement was because I was expecting someone 3 - 4.5 in a scale of 10, and her being a 5 came as surprise. What I'm trying to say is that, in real life, as I know it, doctors and dentists don't get such nicknames as McSteamy or McDreamy.

My conclusion? Being a dentist MIGHT add to one's dating potential but in no way could it make someone undateable, datable. There are known cases though wherein being a dentist was enough to tip the scales to a more favorable outcome--for the dentist.

(I know someone who dated a dermatologist for a while even if she was positive that he was more attracted to our guy friend BECAUSE HE IS A DERMATOLOGIST. Now the dermatologists, that is a whole new ballgame!)

10th Floor Tower 2 (A Tribute) by Aa Martinez

Monday. 8:30am. The elevator stops on the 7th floor. Aa and TJ step out, looking uninspiringly sluggish as they half-heartedly drag themselves to their respective cubicles.

"Akyat ka? "

"Yeah."

They deposit their bags, turn on their pentium I's, and head off to Chuchay's cube. Aa unceremoniously grabs her mouse and closes the web browser before she can even protest.

"Ang aga aga friendster."

Chu puts on an annoyed expression, but decides its not worth the exasperation. Being the nice person that she is, she lets it pass. Like she always does =). At the far end of the floor, a pretty girl with a curious pair of black-rimmed glasses peek out of her cube. Tracy manages a demure smile, grabs two sticks of smokes from her pack and makes her way to join them.

The 4 friends share the short elevator ride 3 floors up. Known simply as 10th, the place is a makeshift coffee shop with a carinderia atmosphere. The food selection is terrible, background music from the sexbomb dancers, and the staff albeit friendly, is a mildly retarded bunch with a collective IQ of about 50.

The gang walks in and finds two more friends waiting, huddled in the corner table at the back. Raine a.k.a Mr. Swabe, is the resident cool geek. He's having his morning supply of Winston. Jay, the gentle giant (and badminton monster), is enjoying his hot cup of 3-in-1.

This is how they get through Monday mornings. The six of them goes on and share a collective groan of exhaustion of having to be there. For the next 30 minutes, they talk and laugh about everything and nothing in particular.

Aa talks about his recent weekend adventure

Chu talks about her rich but oh so kuripot fake-gucci-bag toting boss

Tracy talks about her all-pink Britney Spears outfit

Jay talks about his baby civic's new accesories

TJ talks about getting drunk-plastered on the weekend, meeting new women, and staying a one-woman-man.

Raine talks about smelling his customer's underwear in his laundromat.

9:00am. Time pulls them back to reality, just as Aa's computer finishes booting up.

Cheers to the people of 10th, a place of bad food and good memories.

I Scream for Eye Cream

Has everyone my age started using eye cream but me?

Jea says she has using eye cream to combat crow's feet--she is only 24!

My bestfriend, I found out just recently, has been using eye cream since she was 25.

Lanie from work, a-bit-more-that-a-year my junior, has, apparently been at it for two years now.

Kristine says 'You really need eye cream because the skin around your eyes are not only thin, but also very sensitive'--spoken like a true Wikepedian.

I did some research and....

(From http://asiams.net/Question/question5.html)
When does a woman need to start using eye cream?
Applying facial moisturizer around the eyes is fine until, at some point in your life, temporary welts appear on your eyelids every time you use the facial moisturizer, partly due to the skin around the becoming more sensitive as one ages. This is the time to start using eye cream. Eye creams are made to be very emollient and yet does not leave residue that will leak or interact with makeup. And most eye creams are made with ingredients with less preservatives to prevent allergic reactions. Preservatives like chlorohyxadrine, thimerosal, and phenols can cause allergic reaction.

Okay. I didn't get that one. When is a welt a welt? How do you know it is a welt?

(From http://www.blurtit.com/q631087.html)
What is eye cream and at what age should I start using it?
Eye cream is designed to help protect and nourish the delicate area of the skin around the eyes. Experts say that the areas around our eyes are the most sensitive, and that it is constantly under pressure from squinting, blinking, and rubbing every single day. This is why we are told that we need to protect the area by using eye cream.However, before you rush out and buy some, it is important to know which kind of cream you need. Different eye creams do different things. Some hide and eliminate fine lines, others get rid of dark circles and some others can even reduce puffiness. There are loads of products on the market so it is important that you do your research beforehand. When choosing which cream to go with it is important to know that lightweight creams are best. Heavy cream can block up the pores and cause more problems than you started with. It is best to stick with a cream texture as that works best over serums and gels.As eye creams can set you back a bit it is important to try the product before you buy so see if you can find any samples first.

Did you notice anything there? The question was not aswered! WHAT AGE?!? Stupid Online-Q-&-A-Editor! I give up! I will just get the damn eye cream tomorrow and worry about wrinkle cream five years from now.

It's Over

Concealer Crayon Correcteur 04
2003 - 2007

I bought my first and only concealer four years ago, this was the time when I was doing night shift. It is pretty obvious why I did such a drastic move, buying a concealer, I started looking less like my high school grad picture (not too sure if that is a bad thing...) and more like KISS.

I got it from Body Shop and I must say that it is the best concealer there is, not that I have tried any other brand, but because upon trying it, I was convinced that I need not look for another. As I hardly use it, only when I go out go out (parties, clubbing, formal dinner), I was very much convinced that it would last me a decade. Today however, I declare it completely consumed.

Animal Crackers

My niece has both the cutest and best tasting snack, seaweed flavored animal crackers (This by the way is very surprising--a two-year-old liking seaweed flavour). Let me tell you, these are the best animals crackers I have ever tried! I ended up finishing all that there was in her little container! My sister, realizing how much I grew fond of them crackers, gave me three boxes for the poor kid's supply. These crackers obviously take the shape of different animals, but rather than being plain and boring, are stamped with the animals names. I ate a cow, a hen, a handful of porcupines, a lynx, a boar, a wild boar and quite honestly, some other animals I have not heard of before. Oh, and it is also available with spanish or japanese text!

To all the guys out there planning to pull the Ben-Affleck-animal-cracker-stint, be sure to get Ginbis Party Animals Seaweed Flavored Biscuits + Calcium! Hah!