When you stop chasing the wrong things, you give the right things a chance to catch you.
So starting today…
- Give up trying to be perfect. – The real world doesn’t reward perfectionists, it rewards people who get things done. Read Getting Things Done.
- Give up comparing yourself to others. – The only person you are competing against is yourself.
Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.
Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.
She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.
Buy her another cup of coffee.
Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.
It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.
She has to give it a shot somehow.
Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.
Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.
Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilightseries.
If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.
You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.
You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.
Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.
Or better yet, date a girl who writes.
(Source: littlemissdorkette, via germiegerms)
(via poeticheartache)
(via donnutella)
As promised, here is the second half of my “2010 recap” post.
8. September 5, 2010: First time to volunteer at a medical mission. I decided to join UHSAAI’s yearly medical mission at Manaoag, Pangasinan last year. Two words describe this experience best: tiring and fulfilling. I really wish to volunteer again this year. It feels great to know that somehow, I was able to help bring service to fellow countrymen.
9. December 6, 2010: First job. After seven months of bumming at home (including the 2 months spent waiting for graduation day), I finally am working at SM Retail, Inc. as a Merchandise Planning Analyst. However, this does not mean that I am letting go of my dream of working at Nestle. I will be applying for their Corporate Management Trainee program this year. Hopefully, I will get accepted.
Other remarkable events last 2010 include the alumni homecoming (where they asked me to stand in the middle — bida much?) and the Cafe Ilang Ilang buffet at Manila Hotel. I also ate Persian food for the first time, and it wasn’t bad. Haha!
I am extremely proud of myself for being able to accomplish nine new things last 2010. I am looking forward to the new adventures that 2011 may bring, and may this year be as action-packed as the past year, if not more.
Happy 2011 to all!!
2010 has been a fun-filled year for me. Although I was mainly at school and at home for most of the year, I was able to squeeze in a lot of things in between. Here, I chronicle my most memorable happenings for the year 2010.
1. January 16, 2010: My first time to sing at a concert! The Grand Alumni Association had a concert early this year at the Philam Life Auditorium, and my alma mater, Uno High School, was invited to perform. Although I was only part of the “backup singers” group, the experience is memorable and fun at the same time, as I was able to do one of the things I love best, singing, with some of the best people in the world! I am looking forward to next year’s concert, to be held on March 19, 2010. I am scheduled to work on that day, but I will be taking a leave to be able to perform. I wouldn’t miss this for anything!
2. February 22, 2010: My first photo shoot with friends. My choir-mates, namely Jhoana, MJ, and Sarah decided to do a photo shoot, and I modeled. Jho was our photographer, and I modeled with MJ, Sarah, and Sherwin. Although I had a lot of things to do that day, I still decided to join the shoot, and I didn’t regret it for one bit. I rediscovered my love for dressing up. I was browsing through childhood pictures with my younger sisters the other day, and I realized that in almost all of my pictures, I was dressed to the nines. I hope to be more like that in 2011!
3. May 28, 2010: Spa and Island Cove day trip with Jho and Germs. I am glad to have shared my first spa experience with two of my closest girlfriends!
4. May 30, 2010: Philippine Fashion Week! Thanks to Sarah Chua, MJ Si, and Jhoana Tamayo for the opportunity to attend a fashion show! I hope to do this again next time. I really enjoyed the show.
5. June 19, 2010: College graduation! After five years of college, I finally graduated, with recognition to boot! I am extremely proud of myself for graduating Honorable Mention, although I know that I could have done better. Haha! I also am proud and extremely happy for being part of the winning ACM thesis team! We decided to take on an unchartered topic for our thesis, and I am glad, and thankful, that our risk paid off big time. Special thanks go to my thesismates Ayra, Belle, and Maine, and to our wonderful thesis adviser, Dr. Ginny Santiago. Thanks also go to the members of the panel who selected our research as the best ACM thesis for 2nd term, school year 2009-2010.
6. July 17-18, 2010: First out-of-town trip with high school friends! We went on an overnight trip to Banio Kreek Farms at Silang, Cavite, with a side trip to Tagaytay. I am glad to have shared that experience with my most beloved barkada - Jhoana Tamayo, Erika Chua, Germaine Teh, Richmond Fang, Rexmond Fang, Dan Gawki, Jesse Ching, and Matthew Tan. Jho’s sister, Janyl, also went with us. You guys rock!!!
7. August 8, 2010: Attended my first UHSAAI Induction. I performed two song numbers (excluding the routinary Philippine National Anthem, School Song, and Alumni Song) with fellow members of the UHS Alumni Chorale - Jhoana Tamayo, Kim Joyce Velez, Kathy Yeung, Janyl Tamayo, Sarah Chua, Keryne Cheng, Dan Gawki, Nicol Lee, and Jesse Ching. I hope that all of us will remain active members of the chorale in the years to come.
Since it is already 11:55pm, I’ll continue this post tomorrow. In the meantime, let’s all usher in the new year! May we all have a wonderful 2011 ahead of us!
Is this best followed by an “oh no!” or an “oh yeah!”?:))
But seriously, the “cartoon invasion,” as manifested by the deluge of cartoon-character profile pictures, is the newest hype on Facebook. Being that this is being done in support of children’s rights and of the fight against children’s violence, each profile picture change is accompanied by a status message as such:
“Change your facebook profile picture to a cartoon from your childhood and invite your friends to do the same. Until Monday (December 6, 2010) there should be no human faces on Facebook, but an invasion of memories! This is for a campaign against violence on children.”
Honestly, I do not have vivid memories of watching cartoons when I was a kid. Thus, I do not really know if I want to jump into this particular bandwagon because I do not have an idea on which cartoon character picture to post. My ever helpful brother suggested that I change my profile picture to that of Hello Kitty. After all, we used to watch Hello Kitty shows on television while we were having our afternoon snacks or breakfast during weekends. I’m not really a big fan of cartoons, although I do watch Cartoon Network/Disney Channel at times.
So I guess it’s Hello Kitty?
Time to look for a nice picture!
A long read but incredibly beautiful.
This is for anyone who needed to hear it — JUST. LET. GO. something amazing will be waiting for you when you do :)
_______________________________________________________________________________________
One always has to know when a stage comes to an…
Flash Forward never fails to amaze me. It’s sad to think that the show has been canceled. Is it because the producers did not think that they can top the only season they created?
But then, isn’t it better to end on a high note? :)
View high resolution
Got these from my cousin. Totally unexpected! Hahaha.
Maybelline Fruity Jelly Lip Gloss
The Face Shop Lip Gloss
