Unplugged

Hello, internet!  I'm back.

It's been twenty days since I went online.   Though I missed some of the things I do online, I found it utterly refreshing not to be online.  The only thing I allowed myself during this "vacation," was to check and write emails on my iPod and check in on GetGlue. 

Surprisingly, I find myself not keen on keeping up my old online habits.  At present, it's a tedious task for me to even type in facebook on my browser.  I'd rather keep my online presence on blogger, twitter, tumblr, YM and pinterest.  I'm this close to deleting my FB account, but we have business pages there so I'm held hostage by that.  That and the scores of possible clients who are hooked on FB.  (Much as I want to let go, our business relies heavily on our online presence and activity.)

Social networks have claimed a huge chunk of my day, and I'm pleased that I have reduced that hold to about an hour or so in a day.  I've been able to read more, finish books I've been putting off.  I now have more focus because I'm no longer distracted by notifications and pings on my computer.  (Except the alerts from WhatsApp on my phone, but those are live friends!)

One thing I missed, that I used to have a lot of time for before the advent of  FB et al, was listening to audiobooks.  I used to have audiobooks of Walt Whitman's, Yeats and Emily Dickinson's poetry in the car (proven and fantastic method of curtailing road rage, trust me).   I have amassed a lot of unheard audiobooks, and the first few ones I loaded on my iPod was Casanova and Sherlock Holmes Rail Way Mysteries, both read by Benedict Cumberbatch.   (He and Martin Freeman are my current celebrity obsessions and deserve a blog entry all by themselves.)  I couldn't really concentrate when I played them on my computer because I'd inevitably get distracted by social networks.

Now, I can blissfully listen to them while keeping my hands occupied with something else.

I strongly recommend unplugging for a spell.

Rainy Season's Sidekick

With rainy season (in the midst of May) comes flu season. 

Over the weekend, Nards and I accompanied our assistant to an event somewhere in the mountainous regions of Antipolo.  That venue was perched on a steep hill within a village with guarded gates and quirky street names.  

The wind was blowing so hard, it rocked the car in the parking lot after the boys disembarked and unloaded the equipment.  I was half-afraid that the car was going to get flung to the other side of the courtyard with me in it.  I didn't want to take that chance so I followed the guys to the hall beneath a theatre (where I saw little caucasian girls, in cute tutus, dancing).   The hall was nicely decorated and swathed with black and white.  There were strings of crystals suspended everywhere.  I love the velvet damask table cloths.

We had a glitch in set up.  One of the primary cables was not working, and we had to high tail it to a computer shop (all the way from the top of the mountain) to get a replacement.  I went ahead to the parking lot to get the car warmed up.  I was halfway to the car, when it rained.  And it wasn't a gentle drizzle, it was a full-blown downpour with cold winds whipping me into a glacial mess.  When I got to the car, I was shivering.  I turned on the engine and cranked the car heater just to get off the chill.  

The following morning, I had a colossal headache, a bad case of sniffles and an itchy throat. 

That night, as we were about to sleep I laid my hand on his arm. 

Nards: whoa.
Me: what?
Nards: you're hands.
Me: what about it?
Nards: they're like pan de sal.
Me: pan de sal?
Nards: yeah, warm like pan de sal.
Me: (touched his feet with my feet) even my feet?
Nards: you're feet are like pan de sal too.
Me: *groan
Nards: where's the paracetamol....

I developed fever, of course I did.  Nards, on nurse mode, gave me meds, fed me warm meals and supplied me with fruits.  Now, I am mostly on our recliner, resting, watching TV and dozing on and off.  Going online when I'm up to it, to check our business correspondences, because Nards is busy with our current events.

What's the take away here?  My sister sternly told me to always pack an umbrella or a windbreaker in my bag.  No argument from me.  But this weather is starting to wear me down.

RPGs and Me

Before I got involved with Square Enix, EA, Ubisoft and Capcom, I had a long standing love affair with LucasArts.

I remember that summer before my sophomore year in high school, when my parents got us a computer.  It was a 286 processor with 56kbs of RAM, with a CMYK monitor.  It had a floppy disk drive, (5 1/4 floppy disks were 360-800kbs only) and built-in speakers.  Powerful thing during those days, but quite pitiful by today's standards.  I learned to use Wordstar and Lotus on that thing.  I learned to touch type.  I also learned basic programming and how to make batch files.

Clockwise (L-R) from upper left hand corner: Monkey Island, Maniac Mansion, Pirates of the Barbary Coast, Sam & Max, Prince of Persia (photos from Moby Games)

But the best part of that computer was the new array of games we could play.   LucasArts, at that time, had the best games.  And my siblings and I spent most of our summer (when there were no 8-hour power failures), playing.  We also had Win, Lose or Draw, Family Feud and Wheel of Fortune.  I can still remember the midi sound track to all those games.

 Maniac Mansion Intro

There was no internet back then.  No walkthroughs to download.  They could be procured from the computer shops that charged a minimal fee for printing costs.  I remember my classmate in HS gave me the walkthrough for Maniac Mansion.  It was a big relief for us to finish that game because we got stuck at some point.

There are revamped versions of this game.  I have finished Prince of Persia Sands of Time and Warrior Within.  I have Sam & Max on my iPod.  I'm going to try the new Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island.  I hope I will enjoy them as much as I enjoyed their original versions.

May Showers

I find it ironic that the day I saw a friend twitted a news link that says La Niña is over, we get a downpour.   Not that I'm complaining.  I'm grateful for the relief from the intense summer heat, the sound of thunder, the smell of rain and the sound of it as it hits our neighbor's roof.  

I used to dread rain during the month of May because it meant that the new school year is just around the corner.  It was haggling season with my Mom on our sleep schedule.  (She liked to put us to bed earlier and wake us up earlier a few weeks before the first day of school to get vacation mode out of our system.)   It also marked the time when I had to start covering my new schoolbooks with plastic.   I love getting my new school books.  I'd always cover my literature books first and read them afterward.

I feel that was ages ago.  But at the same time it also feels like it only happened yesterday.   Does that make sense?  At present, all I know is that this rain is a welcome break.  And the whole city just took a much needed bath.

My biker roommate is a bit sad though, because rains = no biking today.

Mother's Day Macaron Promo

Click on photo to order. :)

Somewhat Rainy Labor Day

It's the first of May.  I hear our expressways were clogged.  A few people I know went laptop shopping and dumpling shopping.  Nards and I stayed home.  I tried working on some designs this morning, but I couldn't think because of distractions from friends who were on holiday mode.  So I closed photoshop, opened our video player and put on the entire third season of Mentalist.

The heat and humidity was more intense today.  And it made sense when dark clouds rolled in and the air became heavy with the scent of rain.  Around lunch time there was a brief downpour but the really good one came late in the afternoon.   It was strong and was accompanied by a brisk breeze.   I went out the balcony and saw a lot of our neighbors looking out their windows watching the rain.  

Thank you Lord. :)

Eight Reasons to Watch The Avengers. (No Spoilers)

Nards, Beng and I just got home from watching The Avengers.  I hate spoilers so I certainly won't be posting them here, but I am going to give you good reasons why you should run to the theaters and watch the film.

1. Mark Ruffalo makes an awesome Hulk.  No disrespect to Edward Norton, but Mr Ruffalo made the Hulk funny and even more lovable despite his volatile and destructive temperament.
2. Tom Hiddleston made Loki really badass.  Subtle and classy.  But really badass.  Magneto and Joffrey Baratheon cannot hatch an evil plan that would measure up to what a super villain like him can possibly make.
3. Agent Romanoff has sensible and believable superhero hair.  Not too short so she's still looks very feminine.  Not too long that she looks like she's a spokesperson for a shampoo or something.  
4. Fantastic action sequences that does not give one a headache.  It was well-shot, well-coordinated and it does not become the focal point of the movie. 
5. It's well-paced and well-coordinated.  Those three hours will go by unnoticed.
6. It has a plot.  And it's a good one.
7. Signature one-liners.  I swear, it's so Whedonesque.  We were quoting all the hilarious one-liners as we were walking out of the theater.
8. Joss Whedon.  He wrote the script.  He directed the film.  He made Firefly and Serenity.  Enough said. 

There.  Eight solid reasons. 

What are you waiting for?  Go! :D

A Post-Earth-Day Entry

Yesterday, I braved the traffic jams surrounding Megamall to drive my Dad to his meeting.  He wanted to take the train, but I did not want him to walk the short distance from the station to building A in the interminable summer heat.   Summer gets remarkably hotter every year, thanks to our irresponsible way of living.  

With the news of the SM tree-cutting debacle, and the failed NatGeo Earth Day Run, I am flummoxed at how companies, organizations and individuals can be so casual with their non-earth friendly actions.

I believe that being environmentally responsible is a commitment in ensuring that our actions and way of living does not bring more harm to the environment.  It is not a PR statement that can be flaunted around to entice buyers; nor is it a fad that can be worn for popularity points, and then junked when the next one comes in.   I agree that eco-friendly living may not be easy.  But little changes in our lifestyle can at least lessen our contribution to the problem.

For Nards and myself, here is a partial list of our green commitment:

1. Always bring an ecobag.   (Always keep at least one in my bag; and a couple in the car);
2. Always bring a refillable water bottle, to avoid buying mineral water;
3. Whenever an appliance is not in use, we unplug it from the electrical outlet;
4. When no one is in a room in the house, we turn off all the electrical appliances, including the aircon ( I know of a few people who leave the AC on all day so they can come home to a cool house);
5. We use rechargeable batteries on everything: cameras, flash, wireless keyboards and mice, etc;
6. Bring our own utensils whenever we go out to avoid using plastic spoons and forks;
7. Always consider the packaging of products when we go to the grocery store;
8. Refuse plastic.  If I don't have an ecobag, tough, I shove it in my bag;
9. If possible, bike or walk to our destination.  If using a vehicle cannot be avoided, we schedule all our errands on the same day;
10. Carpool;
11. Keep our car well maintained, and to keep the tires inflated properly;
12. Buy local, whenever we can;
13. Using pedala for our courier needs;
14. We try to keep our paper consumption to a minimum, e.g. all contracts are emailed instead of printed and delivered to clients;
15. I never use wrapping paper for presents; either use recycled paper (yellow pages) or use a handkerchief;
16. Whenever we're at a coffee shop, we opt for our coffee to be served in a mug instead of the paper take-away cups;
17. We use biodegradable detergent, i.e. Plantex;
18. Buy less and try our best to adopt minimalist living;
19. Recycle and upcycle our belongings;  (I'm thankful for Nards who loves to make things from scratch using materials around the house.  He's made a bike bag--hand stitched!--from his old jackets, and he's made a kindle case out of an old useless hardbound book.) 
20. For baking, we've investing in silpats instead of repeatedly buying parchment paper and disposing of them after a few uses; and
21. In the photobooth, we encourage our clients to use fabric backgrounds instead of the customized tarpaulins.

It's not much I know.  But in our home, whatever we do, whatever we buy, whatever we dispose, we always ask the question: is this environmentally sound?   I hope you can all join us in contributing to Mother Earth's welfare.  A little sacrifice will go a long way in making sure our children and our children's children and our children's children's children still have a habitable planet to inherit.

Let everyday be Earth Day.  Let every hour be Earth Hour.

Reckless Driving by VS&F Catering Truck

At around 11AM this morning, my sister and I opened our gates for my parents who came from church. As we opened it, I heard the swoosh and growl of a truck engine on high speed, and then followed by a frantic rustling of leaves, a loud crack of wood splitting and a whimper of a woman. I ran out the open gate to see what happened.

A VS&F catering truck sped down our street and clipped our langka tree. A branch heavy with fruit (one large and one medium sized) broke off from the main trunk and fell on a poor woman who was walking in front of our house. I wasn't able to get the plate number because the truck careened down our residential street. All I could see were the letters VS&F that were located on the upper left hand corner of the back of the truck.

 I quickly called VS&F and asked for a supervisor and reported the event. Mercy, one of the supervisors, told me that they had no catering event in our subdivision but that they'll check on it. They said I should expect a call from Lani, their operations manager.

It was reckless going on that speed on our street. And if they had no catering event here, what business does their truck have in our private subdivision?

UPDATE: I just got a call from Lani, and she told me that their catering jobs for the day were in Camp Aguinaldo and in Tandang Sora. She also informed me that the company sold a truck (or a few trucks) and it was possible that it was that buyer who was responsible for the incident.  If this was the case, it's unfortunate for them because their company name is still printed on the vehicle.

Perfect Pairing: Laundry & Summer

Today, according to my weather app, we reached 34-35 deg celsius.  It was very hot.  And the heat suddenly got truly intense once we hit midday.  And for that I am thankful because I brought about two months worth of laundry and I wanted to get everything washed, dried and folded by the end of the day.  I didn't want to spend a lot of money on our corner laundromat for our bed linens to get cleaned, and drying them on our tiny balcony was simply not possible.

So I put all our dirty linens in a huge basket, loaded a new book on the kindle and went to my parents' to do the laundry.   I had a total of four loads, which would mean about half a day of washing machine time and more than 80 feet of clothes line space.  I was a bit worried about that because with two cars in the garage we only had about 30 ft available.  

And this was how hot it was.  On our second load, I had just ended the first rinse, when I asked Nards to check the condition of the first load we had pegged on the clothesline.   He announced that it was already dry and ready to be folded and put away.  Fantastic!   We were done, even before my Dad called us in for lunch.

I love summer!