A Trafficker in Climaxes

I feel like when I sit down with people I used to hang out a lot, I wouldn’t feel the same sense of belonging as I have felt before. People change, I know that, but in this case, I think my buddies and I have all changed too much over too short a period of time. We are all finding it hard adjusting to our different lives right now and syncing it each other’s is a chore.

Even interests have evolved. I feel like a lot of them are still delighted over the same, ol’, boring things while I have discovered other things that for me are infinitely more interesting and more atttuned to my tastes. It’s kind of sad that I relate more to the people I meet (or don’t meet) on the Internet more than I do the real ones that I used to interact on a daily basis. It’s just that I feel like I have grown so much over the past two years and they haven’t. Call me a snob but that’s just how I feel.

Case in point: drinking sessions until you pass out is getting old. Going out on weekends all dressed up to get together and mingle is pointless; especially so when you just end up in a dark, noisy bar where you have to scream at someone’s ear just to catch his/her attention. I’d rather spend a nice, quiet weekend with a bunch of close friends whom I share the same sense of humor, or stay at home watching movies with the one I love. All those are better than getting together and talk about other people’s lives, who’s sleeping with who or discuss old, immature issues that people have with each other.

Fortunately though, I still have a nice, little circle of friends whom I adore and love spending time with. We’re getting fewer over time – everyone is leading separate lives and are busy building their futures, but it doesn’t stop us from having fun once we’re together (which should be more often btw).

I really need to add a gallery plugin here for easier photo management.

I’ve been really busy these past few days. I have a number of personal issues that’s bugging me.  I’m stuck in a rut. I can’t even finish an article after staying ’til early dawn last night (or a while ago?) for thesis documentation. I ran out of English words (is that even possible?) after writing twelve pages of technical crap in less than two hours.

THESIS UPDATE! I just submitted my progress report which contained 6 of the eight chapters that will all be due on March. I’m slacking on my thesis though, probably because I feel like I have done more than what most people have. A bad attitude that says so much about my slacker/procrastinator personality.

Anyhoo. Yeah, that’s all.

I was invited by my friends, Cham² and Drip, to be a guest “photographer” for the House of Hope yearly magazine. I am not a professional photographer by any chance but I volunteered for this gig because it sounds like a lot of fun and it’s a good way for me to practice tweaking with my camera.

House of Hope is a non-profit Christian Drug Rehabilitation Center established in 1997, duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and accredited by the Department of Health (DOH). We offer a one-year holistic program to people who are in bondage of drug addiction and volunteer themselves for rehabilitation. The program revolves around four aspects namely, spiritual, social, work and physical therapies.

Visiting House of Hope was a great experience. I admit that I felt quite lazy in the morning and was not as enthusiastic about the whole thing as I was when I volunteered for the job last week. However, not going there would’ve been a regret. The people in the center were warm, hospitable and made me feel more important than I really am (haha).

I also met quite a few interesting people. The volunteers and those in the rehabilitation programs were fun in both their antics and the stories that they tell. Aside from the socializing, I also thoroughly enjoyed taking pictures. It made me realize (all the more) how photographing people can be so much fun and how I want to do more of it in the future – even without pay.

If they’ll let me, I’ll probably volunteer to take their pictures again next year. Hopefully, I’ll already be lugging around a DSLR with a more decent lens. hehe.

The latter part of last year made me realize that constantly seeing your to-do lists propels you to actually do them. There’s also nothing more grand a feeling than crossing out an item in your lists of things to do, places you need to go to and things you need to buy.

Because of that, I want a planner for 2010. That overrated Starbucks planner is out of the question because

1. it is overrated
2. That lousy planner for that price? Ridiculous.
3. Starbucks makes you fat
4. I don’t spend that much money on coffee
5. I like tea

As an alternative, I want this! Aptly named the “I-was-supposed-to-get-that-coffeehouse-planner-but-I-got-fat/broke-on-the-10th-frappe Planner”, it’s perfect for me.

Colwin’s giving it away for free in his blog. If you want this, you can join the contest here. I hope you don’t win.

I have a terrible canker sore today. This all started when I accidentally bit my inner lower lip four times last Sunday. Yes, I accidentally bit it FOUR times. It was terrible and I am clumsy and if this is a psychological product of stress or trauma, I need counseling.

The sore developed yesterday and the little bitch worsened today. I woke up to a slightly swollen left part of my lower lip. It looks horrible and I feel cursed. I can’t even enjoy a decent cup of tea with the darn thing on the way.

I wanted to buy canker sore drops because I don’t trust tawas (which is mainly used for the armpits) and I don’t want something like it anywhere in my mouth. However, I few searches on Google revealed a few natural remedies that I have on the kitchen. I’m trying them out later.

Cranberry juice. Drink this juice between meals: It’s both a pain reliever and canker healer.

Good thing my boyfriend bought me a huge bottle of cranberry juice last Monday!

Honey. Mix 1 teaspoon honey with 1/4 teaspoon turmeric and dab it on your canker. This one may sting a bit.

What the hell is a turmeric and where can I buy it?

Salt. Combine 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 2 ounces hydrogen peroxide. Mix and rinse your mouth with it four times daily. If the taste is too strong, or the tingle uncomfortable, dilute with 2 ounces water. You can also just rinse your mouth with lukewarm salt water. Or, if you’re brave, just apply a little salt directly to your wound.

I’m hoping plain salt would work. I imagine dabbing it on the sore would be nasty, but at this point, I just want to enjoy a shawarma without flinching all throughout the meal.

Ice. This won’t make the canker disappear, but it will sure make it feel better. Simply apply ice or rinse your mouth with ice water.

It’s not a cure but whatever.

Source

totally unrelated picture

It’s 1:35AM at the time of writing and I do not know what the hell I’m still doing here. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think I’m slacking but I’m not. I am hopelessly giving in to my compulsion of getting things that I worry about done and over with. Aaaaaaand… tonight’s object of extreme anxiety happens to be this site’s layout.

I cannot, for the life of me, find the perfect theme and I unfortunately learned that that is what you’re gonna end up with if you don’t make one yourself. I’ve spent hours trying to find the appropriate theme – hours that could be very well spent on other things (thesis and freelance writing, for instance).

Oh well, I think I’m quite content with this one though. It’s kinda far from what I had in mind but it should suffice for the next two and a half months. Yep, I’ll hopefully be free enough to arrange things myself on April’s first week.

P.S.

Thanks for the hits and the comments, guise. You are all awesome.

I’m Only Sleeping is a site dedicated to posting Beatles photos and artworks and it’s awesome I tell you. Maggie is publishing 100 Beatles-inspired postcards and I just thought it’d be great to post some (or all!) of them here. The one above is obviously the first.

She compiled everything in a 3000 by 3000 pixels image with a high 300 PPI resolution. You can download it here. It’s perfect for a poster which I hope to be printed for my birthday on March. It’s gonna be really awesome but you can make it even MORE rad by printing it as a birthday present for me. hrhrhr.

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

I seriously cannot wait to blog here. I know that I have never really been a good blogger, having had so many blogs before. However, this is my first WordPress blog on a domain bearing my name. I am totally giddy with excitement but alas! duties call. :(

I have to finish several articles and my thesis is begging to be worked on. See ya later, internet.