Working It

Its great that I got and am getting tagged. At least I’ll be able to update my blog, hehehe.

Here goes…

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TAGGED [MY WORKPLACE]

I was tagged to do this by Ris and Kengkay.

Behold, my workspace (because its not really a workplace, per se).

At ang aking kaagaw sa aking workspace, hehe.

Since we’re still living in a hotel, my space is really generic. Boring no? May extra pang kahon sa gilid (as you know, we haven’t really unpacked most of our stuff yet and some of our boxes, which couldn’t fit in storage anymore, are all here inside the room with us), hehe. Pasensiya na.

Anyway, this is pretty representative of any space I occupy. I only have my laptop, my cellphone, a purse, a book or two, the wireless router (we brought our own kasi bwiset yung signal dito sa hotel), and a kulit little girl who takes over the chair as soon as I stand up, hehe. There’s not much clutter kasi I’ve always kept it simple para hindi mapakialaman ng batang pakialamera. Anyhoo, I just use the workspace to blog and surf, so no need to make it seem ultra-busy. :)

My other workplace…

As a sahmmy, the kitchen is my arena. And this itty-bitty kitchen is what I’ve been using for the past two months. Its utilitarian, I can give it that, pero there are only two burners and absolutely no oven so my gourmet pursuits have been put on the back burner (yeah right, as if).

There you go! That’s where the magic happens. Nyhehe! :)

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TAGGED [SEVEN TRUTHS]

Dru tagged me with this one. I need to write seven truths about myself. At first, I was seriously considering directing y’all to my previous Seven Ramdom Things About Me tag. But then, what the heck. Let’s just do it. :)

Truth No. 1: I love my family. That one is set in stone.

Truth No. 2: I’m Catholic. Hopefully, I’m set for heaven with that one.

Truth No. 3: I am not a morning person. My diwa is not awake until 10am. Its a good thing Ninna seems to take after me - that way, I am able stay in bed until 11am, hehehe.

Truth No. 4: I am 25 pounds overweight. Ok, 30. Although I have tried to deny it, this truth is something that I really can’t escape. Seriously. Need. To. Do. Something. About. That.

Truth No. 5: I am scared to have another baby. First, I’m prone to threatened abortions. If I get bedrested again, who is going to take care of my family? Second, we’re nomadic. The only reason why I was able to carry Ninna full-term was because I was settled in Manila back then. How would I be able to do that now? Third, I’m apprehensive about adjusting to having a newborn again. Its like riding a bike daw but, I won’t know that for sure until I try again, right? Fourth, more pregnancy weight. I haven’t even gotten rid of the ones from the first, tapos heto na naman. Vain no? Fifth, how will Ninna handle being a big sister? How will I handle having more than one kid? Papayat kaya ako?

Truth No. 6: I want a new bag. Haha, I just had to put that in there. I always want a new bag so.

Truth No. 7: Right now, I am so disappointed with politics in the Philippines. We’re capable of more than this. I know it. So why don’t we just get rid of all the trapos and start anew?

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TAGGED [ANONYMOUS SEVEN]

What’s with the number seven kaya?

Anyway, Ris (uy suki, haha!) tagged me for this one. The idea is to select 7 bloggers who have inspired me. I will then write a few honest sentences about how each one has impacted me without naming who they are. I’m going to give clues, though. Can you guess? :)

Anon 1: I do not know him personally but I have known him since I was a child, listening to my dad as he hummed the songs of this guy’s band. Now, I’m glad to have gotten to know - and follow - the writer side of him. His musings and ramdom thoughts are a compelling mix of cogent impressions, observations, and opinions. His words are always so eloquently formed and so musical to the eyes - visually light, as if written on air.

Anon 2: One of my favorite writers/bloggers ever. Her blog was a huge turning point in my blogging life. It has been a while since she last updated her blog, though - her family probably takes top priority in her life right now. Sometimes, when I need inspiration to write, I go back to her old posts and I just bask in the beauty of how she strings her words together. Miss her lots.

Anon 3: I don’t really know how she does it but this lady has unlimited talent, unlimited ideas, and unlimited positivity. She’s also the only other person I know who has more blogs than I do, hehe! With every step she takes, she’s an inspiration, not just to me but to all of her fans/friends who have followed her happy nest over the years.

Anon 4: This guy’s pictures tell a thousand stories. However, I have to say that his impact on me actually transcends blogging - it is his willingness to give back to the community, to guide young kids towards the path of caring, and his ever-positive outlook in life that I find truly inspiring.

Anon 5: This lady will probably be a permanent fixture in my list of “inspiring bloggers”. She writes with only the experience of woman who has “been there, lived that” could write. The fact that she so gamely embraces this period in her life (with oh-so-beautiful odes at that!) is, for me, a subtle reminder that indeed there’s lots more room to grow up even as you grow older.

Anon 6: They are a bunch of ladies who have willingly given their time to share their individual opinion on various issues regarding wifehood. At the risk of seeming self-indulgent, well, I think I am the right person to say that I’ve seen how much dedication these women have shown over the years towards the success of their (once) mini-project. Through this medium, they have more than given interesting and provocative insight to their readers in many ways than one. More power to you, ladies!

Anon 7: For every word you write, for every story you tell, it is a window to a world so far and different from my own. Thank you for letting me visit. Thank you for showing me around. Thank you for making me laugh, or cry, or think, or sing and dance (if applicable). Thank you for making my small existence larger. And most of all, thank you for inspiring me - my stories gain meaning with your every visit.

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If you wish to try any of these tags, be my guest! :)

MrsWorkingGirl :: Oct.30.2007 :: MeMeMee :: 17 Comments »

*Rubs hands together*

Weng and Toni both tagged me to list six songs that would take me down memory lane. Six lang?? Ay.

Well, since I was tagged twice… and since its humanly impossible for me to trim down the music of my life down to only six… and, anyway, since this is my blog and I can pretty much do anything in it… I decided to make two lists! :D

Toni, for you muna.

I would like to call this list: The Making of the Music in Mee
(Note: The year I will mention before the title of the song is the year - or an approximate of it - when the song became memorable to me. Fyi. :D)

1986: TRUE COLORS (Cyndi Lauper)
At a time when most of my girlfriends were choosing to go the “Like A Virgin” route, I was She Bopping - I even had the spiked pink hair to show for it! Cyndi was probably to me what Avril Lavigne is to my nieces - she’s the soundtrack to my coming of age. And this song, well, everytime I felt my tween world closing in on me, I would play it and I’m all right.

1988: BURNING FLAME (Vitamin Z)
From being a diyosa in grade school, I suddenly became a nobody in high school - just one girl among many. Rap was making headway then and, though I learned to appreciate it (even danced to some of it!), it was not who I was. This song, as well as my other little new wave treasures, I would play to bring back some of the diyosa in me.

1991: PATIENCE (Guns N Roses)
There was a time when I actually believed Axl Rose was my soulmate. I loved GnR to the teeniest of their tatoos, enough for me to learn to pick up a guitar and learn. Well, I gave up after I realized I wasn’t Slash-material but I can safely say that I totally rocked in college, hehe.

1992-Forever: HUWAG KANG MATAKOT (Eraserheads)
I was lucky to catch the second wave of band invasion in UP - and to witness the rise of the Eheads. They were simply the most unique, raw, and honest sound I’ve ever heard in my entire young life. I loved them and I love them still. I remember, they played Alapaap for the first time in our campus’ Little Theater and I remarked at their growth as a band - more polished but still true. PS. Huwag Kang Matakot is one of many songs that I love from the band. I take offense, though, imo the band that recently revived it did not do it justice. Hmp. So let’s just all listen to the original, ok?

1997: BUILDING A MYSTERY (Sarah Mclachlan)
After I dropped out of law school, I took up some creative writing classes in UP (to pass bum time). One of my classmates (I’ve long since forgotten her name but I haven’t yet lost hope that we would someday cross paths again), she shoved a tape at me and said “listen to this”. I don’t know what happened - I got myself a job, went to get my masters, and started dating seriously. Did I just grow up? I guess so. Mystery solved.

1998: LAND OF THE LOVING (David Benoit feat. Dianne Reeves)

You know you’re definitely growing old when Jazz starts to sound agreeable to you. :D I actually wanted this to become my wedding song but, as it turns out, there’s another song out there patiently waiting for me.

And that makes six. Thanks, Toni!

Next.

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Weng, this is for you naman.

I would like to call this list: BONUS TRACKS (hehe)

1985: BITUING WALANG NINGNING (Sharon Cuneta)
You’re nothing but a second-rate, trying hard, copycat (saboy tubig sa face). My love for Ate Shawie started even before Lavinia uttered this unforgetable line, but this song is probably my favorite of all the songs ever recorded by Ate Shawie. You need only to listen to the lyrics to see how beautiful it is. You know me, so enough said.

1993: GOOD VIBRATIONS (Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch)
Together with my sweetest friends, Win-win and Reg, we performed this Mark Wahlberg classic on my 18th birthday party. Think Roger Rabbits and Running Mans, haha! I’m sure both of them would like nothing more in the world than to bury this memory more than six-feet under (I do!). Looking back, though, I think we did pretty ok considering we only learned the steps on the day of the party itself and had no time to practice. I could never thank these guys enough for indulging me and my Aldeguer dreams. Love you Win! Love you Reg!

1994: REASONS (Earth Wind and Fire)
This song became memorable on another one of my birthday celebrations (what can I say, my birthdays were always exciting). Following a friend’s pina colada incident (sorry, inside joke) at a Makati bar, I hauled all of my friends to this relatively new club in Quezon Ave to see a relatively new band I was raving to them about. The band’s name was South Border and they had a different lead singer back then, whom we requested to sing Reasons (because his voice was just perfect for it, I thought). Brix (the guy) begged off, citing some throat problems, but didn’t lose time charming the socks off of my gorgeous friend LT! (LT, are you getting this, haha!). I was thinking, ako ang may birthday bakit hindi ako ang nilalandi nito, mwahaha! Well, the band went on to become one of the more famous bands in Pinas (minus the lead singer, of course).

2000: HALIK (Aegis)

Christmas party. Band. Guest singer. I refuse to say anything more. You can use your wildest imagination, I suppose, if you care to dare, haha! (Mamah, bawal humirit!)

2002: YOU FIRST BELIEVED (Hoku)
Despite our instruction to use “our theme song” for our “first dance” in our wedding video (because we actually danced to it during the wedding), our videographer used this song instead! The song neither had any psychic nor sentimental connection to hubby and I but, well, the video turned out ok naman in the end. Naging dalawa na tuloy ang theme song namin, haha!

2003: THAT’S ALL (Rod Stewart)
I used to play this song over and over and over again to Ninna when I was still pregnant with her. I was bedrested, hubby was away, and I was mostly cranky, not to mention, ugly bloated. Weirdly enough, this was the only song that would relax me and the kulit little one in my tummy. And then when Ninna was born, whenever I played this song, she would turn her head towards the music. This was our little connection. Now, its Dancing Queen.

Whew! There you go, Weng. Overload, haha!

If you guys got this far, congrats! I hope you enjoyed our musical journey. I did! :)

BTW, if you liked any of the songs here, I think you can download it from my Imeem. :)

MrsWorkingGirl :: Oct.24.2007 :: MeMeMee :: 14 Comments »