patterns

it was raining tuesday with lightning, thunderstorms, hales, two days after my most painful day of summer in years.

the weather is, even during my favourite season, is being bipolar.

just like during the diurnal course, it's extremely hot in the clean utility room while it's cold in bay 2. it was 11 degrees this morning, while it's way too humid inside the shelter of home.

now my handy internet connection is way too slow. testing my patience at almost bedtime. but that has nothing to do with the weather, just part of my usual whining.

eddshrinker cup penalty shoot out

Team Maverick:
John, Dan, Mike, Maughny
goalkeeper : Maughny

Team Kuntz:
Dazza, Andy, Dave, Wayne
goalkeeper : Pete

eddshrinker cup 2011

                   eddshrinker cup 2
                    26th June 2011
Paddington Recreation Ground

White Team (Team Kuntz)
Dave, Tyrone, Alex, Gareth, Andy, Kenny, Luke (gk -- first half))
Wayne, Chris, Dazza, Anthony (c), Pete, Pete (gk -- second half)

Blue Team (Team Maverick)
Jamie, Harry, Trev, Maughny (gk), Russel, Jed, Ben, John, Tom, Matt (c), Mike, Dan, Ed, Ollie

Scorers:  Team Kuntz (4)
Dazza -2
Stubbsy (Luke) -1
Chris -1

Team Maverick (4)
Dan -2
Mike - 2

Team Kuntz winning 4-2 on penalties

edd

in this world, it's extremely difficult to find nice and kind people. in a not so strange land, let's be honest, diffused in segregation, it's even trickier. you get this, you came from the tropics, you're taking away our job kind of tensions.

then there was Edd, the multi-talented, towering musician, very smart, very nice,  who was and still is the kindest of them all. his passing away on his birthday last year was heartbreaking. we share the same birthday and he greeted me at two in the morning on facebook on that 20th of june, 2010.

can't celebrate my natal day without ever remembering him.

heat wave?

yes, heat wave. despite SPF50, still got sunburned. but it was more than two hours under the sun for the eddshrinker cup, with a referee. took the video for all the hours with my tiny camera. should have got a new video cam, with lenses. all the running while filming, the pictures are not quite that steady. better luck next cup.

greetings analogy

Out of the many friends on Facebook, a quarter greeted me on my birthday, it could have been 50 or a hundred. I didn't particularly count. The one or two absentees were a bit of a conundrum. They're usually quite thoughtful. Something's amiss. There were also others whom I'm only mildly acquainted but took time to type or press the touchscreen.

Nonetheless, the very best individuals who made an effort were models of etiquette and propriety, the very essence of cool. If it's our friend or aunt or brother's/sister's special day, it's very likely that we're aware it's their special day. Why not sprinkle their life with a touch of magic? So for those who sent cards and presents, my heartfelt appreciation.

berg

 

How do people reach the apex of stardom, let's say parlay the humble success of a slightly-known sitcom and become a Hollywood A-list?  Unlike his co-stars from Two Guys and a Girl (1998-2001), Ryan Reynolds is now a familiar name to the masses who are into blockbusters, the current People's Magazine Sexiest Man Alive, joining the likes of  Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and his Ocean's Eleven co-stars George Clooney and Matt Damon.  Clooney's success from ER is quite explanatory as his show was the number one drama in the world but Two Guys and a Girl was not exactly Friends.  Even the Friends stars are no longer as viable as when they were still on Friends.  But Ryan Reynolds was not only married to Scar Jo but starred with Sandra Bullock in The Proposal, the critically-acclaimed Buried and now he's The Green Lantern.  Is this  purely on luck or a good agent?  Or he's really talented and oozes charisma? Maybe he's really talented and oozes charisma.

walking in the rain

It's nothing but cloudy skies and scattered showers daily. There's intermittent sunshine but not enough to label this time of the year summer. Bo has written such enchanting blog about the sweat and blood of this fabled city. It's probably not that bad as long as you carry an umbrella, just in case, you'll never know the exact time of downpour, sometime during the day.

But next week's forecast is more upbeat and promising -- sunny, sunny, 28, 30. Why couldn't that be this week? The longest day was simply too wet.

neat

my summer solstice was overwhelmed with clutter. it's once again about tidying up the accumulated mess from daily living. sorting the pieces of paper does not necessarily keep me moving. but it does clear the mind.

despite the hundred hours i've allotted for the chore, nothing's done and completed.

i need to figure out a new system.

condiments

visited Tate Britain on my birthday. since i couldn't draw a straight line to save my ass, i compensate by being cozy in an art gallery or museum -- staring, admiring, drooling, reflecting. or these are lethargic activities that spinsters do? subliminal be damned?

there's always the option of having a party, catering, balloons, dancing, karaoke. can't hurt. but would torture the neighbours ears. can't ruffle sensitive feathers.

i prefer being a bore.

not the usual

on the 19th, father's day, my dad's fourth death anniversary, a day after honey's birthday, a day before my natal day, gone to bushy park via hampton court station with honey and her hubby plus little kobbi. the extra spring in kobbi's steps make me feel archaic. but how well we thrive.

jan's cupcakes

i call them temptation cupcakes. janette had to text and prod me. i couldn't simply proceed to her vicinity. if it was a birthday present i could pick it up monday. but it seemed to be a matter of urgent concern, thus she bleeped the hubby and give him parcels. voila, in an ube flavoured ice cream container, lie sweet, creamy chocolate cupcakes. wonderful, my weakness is creamy and chocolate. this wouldn't help me in my quest to trim down.

thanks jan. i'll open the card and book on my birthday.

HB honey

happy birthday to a great, great friend, Honey! busy bee -- a sparkling wife and mother. since our birthdays are so close together, we greet each other through greeting cards. never fails. i'll open mine on my birthday.

the friday before

my birthday.

I'm contemplating my itinerary. I'll tidy up the annoyances and trim the weeds outside the abode, weather permitting. There are also some plans that have gone haywired, like the dinner at Giraffe today or not seeing Joy this week. Grand.

Now, let's seek the solace of endorphins.

coca cola sips

got this link from tita wan's blog.

more than twenty years ago, in a span of like almost an eternity, i drank only pepsi products. it wasn't michael jackson, or tina turner or the pepsi taste challenge, it was magic's promotional deal and later what i read in his autobiography in the business chapter. but maybe in '95 or '98, i gave coke another chance, only in transient doses, when pepsi was not available.

however in the last decade, pepsi products are not as visible in the dispenser segments, in the shop trolley at work or in the pubs. so i drink coke. but since i want nothing but success for my home province, i'll try my hardest to avoid the red-labeled soda. the european distribution may have nothing to do with the coca cola headquarters in Bacolod, the issue of premix sugar or the state of the negros sugar industry but it's the same brand, the same product. if possible, i'll try other beverages. subsisting on good old plain agua for instance could make me lose weight.

high-calorie intake

managed to binge on dinugu-an with rice to satisfy some very profound cravings then slept for four hours yesterday. i also had tons and tons of dessert. at least i didn't gorge on kate's cupcakes. that would be really taking major piss with my weight.

back to work today after one sleeping day.
i'm in a great mood.

lighter

on a specially warm day in London.

i was asleep.
let's try again tomorrow.

going out on a date

played frisbee at the park with the loved one. it felt like my only exercise for the year. after that we had drinks at the usual watering hole, if there's such a thing.

how often do we play frisbee that we have a central perk?

more drizzles

i like my June dry. not too humid. a little cool. definitely not raining. or i'm merely blaming the scattered showers for my hibernation.

heed

it's bad to cogitate.  how do they say it?  over-cogitate.  i'm bad with words these days. i'm playing this words with friends game.  it's basically scrabble.  it's an app.  everything these days is an app.  the problem is, my scores are pretty low and embarrassing  i was looking over my husband's forum and ollie gets to 500.   it's ingenuity and knowing more words. as that teacher in oxford said like almost ten years ago, it's not vocabulary, it's word-base.  wha?  whatever the f  that means.  she was also the person that declared,"i'm middle class." i was thinking, so what?  at the end of our classes, we discovered she cannot dance.  no discernible rhythm at all.

  at that time, i wasn't aware that they're quite sensitive with their class divisions around in this hemisphere.  upper class.  working class. getting out of the doldrums and making something of ourselves is mostly done through grit and foresight.  who cares if we're not born with silver spoons and not get to hobnob with the duke and duchess of cambridge.  there's more to life ....

docu

On Thursday, I saw a documentary on Edgar Allan Poe. I felt like reading The Fall of the House of Usher anew. Just when we were doing it in school. The short story's ending made our class of teenagers think and realise it was not too spooky after all. Plus in the clip, the actress playing Virginia, Poe's young and sickly wife, reminds me of Laurice Guillen's daughter.

Just surveying all the literature I need to tackle is debilitating. I should be energised by the depth and beauty of words. But the pulverising grind takes too much time. At this minute.

scrapes

in London, there are lots of gorgeous folks. by merely walking around from point A to point B, somehow, it seems a given that we bump into someone that could be the next Jude Law, David Gandy or Kate Moss or those slebs themselves in person. we're pretty spoiled in this city. what seems unattainable becomes within grasp. however we're all aware that beauty is skin deep. it has to be or most of us are virtual failures in this game. do we factor looks in the matter of friendship for instance?

i don't, i'm not sure about the others.

respite

the questions pertaining to pregnancies and babies may be something i'm not keen to hear or addressed. but i don't have the answers. i'm just a mere statistic for the overburdened NHS. i couldn't seek answers from home as it's not in the agenda for this year or the coming years.

now i need a massage.

angel talk

i don't have any photographs of angel. rian does, just check out his blog. go to his search column above the title. a highly prolific blogger, one has to excavate further into his page just to find the exact topic of discussion. i'm trying to upload and save all my photographs from the old phone. the one above is one of them.


i dawdled today. spent some time with BBC iplayer and took the recyclables to the depot and buy the raw materials for cooked food. but it was still in slow motion. sad.

in the afternoon, was able to spend some time with ry prior to his flight back home to RP on saturday. he already smells like NAIA. he's going to be home, go to the beach, indulge in smart talk with his amazing family and friends, breathe tropical air. let's hope he'll be as prolific and make use of the wifi constantly.

glad to see bo and experience his precised, sharp edges. ah, to be with topnotch bloggers. swell.

hand held

in a mere two weeks, i'm bidding my phone adieu, the number, the network. seven years, it has been a good run. other people have older numbers, much older phones (why?). i probably have the fewest of friends, acquaintances who regularly ring and text me. i seldom ring them as well, only when it's an absolute necessity.
i seem to have no time for phone chats anymore. that's sad, as idle gossip with intimates is really fun.

as one of the last pictures in this phone, all i can say is that i like looking at arty objects.

offshoot

rian blew me off today but instead of sulking like a temperamental brat, i slept the day away. once i lie down and close my eyes on sleeping days, that's it.

are women in their 30's still considered brats? damn, i'm in my late thirties, i totally hate myself. i've been around the block. i've nursed my wounds, cried over spilled milk and promised to be bitchier.

 yes, i'm reading too much virginia woolf, she moans a lot, this girl. she's also been dead for quite a while. if you've seen The Hours, you know how she died. Nicole Kidman won an Oscar channeling her demons. that's merely spec, i haven't seen The Hours, at least not yet.

and i'm messing ry. go shopping. seize the moment.

little beauties

The film adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott's classic Little Women circa 1949 stars as the March sisters, familiar and iconic actresses of MGM classics. In this version, June Allyson is Jo, Janet Leigh is Meg, Margaret O'Brien is Beth, and a blonde Elizabeth Taylor as Amy (I haven't seen her on peroxide ever). Here, Beth is several years younger than Amy while in the book, Amy is the youngest March sister, a year younger than Beth.

I'm not that keen on June Allyson. As Jo she's the main character, the second eldest March, nurturing a writing ambition. When she follows her dream and go to New York, the camera preens on her flirtation with the older professor with utmost curiosity. That is how it is in the book.

The actress who plays Jo should be the most well known and during those times, June Allyson got the star billing, playing younger sister to Janet Leigh who was ten years younger in real life. But that's the magic of celluloid, a little tweak here and there, age dissolves in a snap.

This photogenic interpretation is a bit lighter compared to the Winona Ryder remake in the 90's. Death in the family is a dark theme. The wardrobe is colourful -- frills, laces, ruffles, fascinators (nah). And Janet Leigh had me thinking about mothers, daughters, offsprings. Talent is not merely skin deep but why are most mothers prettier than their daughters?

3rd

been away. i reckon i was doing my laundry. yet the ironing saga is merely halfway done. i've almost watched all my recordings of The Book Show yet here i am grasping, panting for adjectives, staring at the creased but folded pile of clothes. hoovering beckons, do we really have to do housework?

of course, the rich don't need to burden themselves with trivial tasks like making their beds. it's the domain of the struggling majority. in reality though, i enjoy cleaning. i'm just bereft of energy.

these are weeds

was trying to stroll in the shopping centre today. the place was full of half term kids, mostly teens, dressed to impress, clutching the latest mobile phone models to their chest.

how is young love in this age of twitter and facebook? from our impressionable years to adulthood, we tend to scatter pheromones in the air, to lure our crushes to our awesomeness. or so we thought. in my youth, i could never attract a cute dude, or even a slight looker with an overwhelming profound charm.

maybe if they saw my profile update, it would have been a different story, i might have gotten a love note after the said objects of desires were able to come to grips with my photoshopped images. but we are what we are despite space travel. besides what's my eternal humdrum adage?

"it's all in the past, what the heck. "

happy, happy birthday

babe babe.

here it is sweetie, i'm blogging about you. i couldn't figure out the proper present. as one of the earnest contributors to adidas retail, our tiny abode is overflowing with your trainers. you surely don't want any more shoes? maybe i should learn the art of bidding on e-bay. but i leave that to you. and i know my birthday is 19 days away, but i promise not to open any of my presents.

thanks. kisses.