Erika, Margaret, Good & Bad News

Monday again!! The day of the week when I feel the laziest. As in. Several bad news came today:

1. My nephew Moi caught dengue. My bro said he got it in school. Just this morning, his sister Mai was tested positive for dengue too.

2. My pink frosted bracelets were broken. I took them out of my wrist when I freshened up after lunch and they slid down the tissue dispenser where I put them for a while. Just one big clink and I saw parts of the bracelets all over the floor. Too bad.

3. Tita Dina of PIASI passed away. I was so mean pa coz I thought "nawala na sya", means natanggal sya sa work. Only when Noime said that she died, I felt so shocked. We never became close, I only got to spend two months with her during my internship. They say she's cranky daw, which she is, kinda, but she has a very jolly personality din.

4. I have a meeting with the Consul General tomorrow with the website team. See, it's my laziness and procrastination finally taking a toll on me. I am still swamped with work and this project I volunteered to work on (but have not done since) is finally haunting me. Tamad, tamad, tamad kasi eh.

5. My savings are depleting. Sobrang gastos ko lately. To think I don't have a family to support. I only have myself. I give my Mom money but I never learned to manage my money well. Basta.

6. My singaw hurts. Tss, what's singaw in English? Lipsore? Ewan. Basta it hurts when I eat. It became like that when I bit my lip last Friday. Sakit, sobra. But it didn't stop me from eating a lot. At least, I am gauging my tolerance for pain. Tipong tulo na luha mo when a single morsel of any food touches it, pero sige pa rin. Weeehee.

But more good news came my way too. Blessings in different forms and sizes which make me realize that life ain't really bad.

1. I finished a lot of work today. No further elaboration. Baka maubos ang blog space.

2. I am slowly adjusting to my "Me, Myself and I" mode. It's good, really.

3. As of this typing, Moi's platelets are okay. No need for a blood transfusion.

4. I finished my weekly review. Don't ask for what.

5. I gave my birthday gift to Eiselle. She loved it so much.

6. We will have an increase in pay! It will take effect on the 28th of November. After the bonus na pero at least, di ba?

7. And our year-end bonus is just 22 days away. May OT pay din dun. Woohoo!! Although as they say, parang dadaan lang sa hands mo ang bonus, but hell, it won't hurt to splurge naman di ba? I can finally pay my debt (to Mom--I only borrow money from Mom...mas flexible ang payment schemes!! Minsan pwede pang totally forgotten na lang!!), buy that book cabinet I've been eyeing for months (it's huge! Para matahimik na mga books ko sa iisang storage lang!), save a portion for books (a portion daw o) and another portion for my Divisoria indulgences, DVDs included (Hi, Edu!). Syempre, save a portion too, for the rainy day. Plus, Christmas is approaching, hirap pag alang moolah sa Pasko.

8. I have three new second-hand books.

And from that last item, I will tell you that in part, I buy books because of the cover. True! I also buy if I sampled one's work and I enjoyed it...ayun, tuloy tuloy na (perfect example is Carl Hiaasen. But he's good naman). There are times naman na series kasi...even though I have no idea if the series is good or not. Example is the Stephanie Plum mystery adventures by Janet Evanovich. I found the titles fun, i.e "One for the Money:", "Two For The Dough", "Three To Get Deadly" until "Ten Big Ones". Another one is the Mission Earth series of L.Ron Hubbard. Prior to that, I bought his Battlefield Earth, whose movie version I didn't like. I still haven't given up on the truth that the book is always better than the movie version. And oh, I have not read any Plum or Mission Earth book. I wish I could find time. I'm trying to but have not been successful. Anyway, still on the let's-buy-all-the-books-of-this-author trip I have, I bought 3 books just before I got home. I've said here before that I bought Erica Jong's Fear of Fifty. I saw her prior book, Fear of Flying for a very cheap price. I pride Jong to be so witty and sarcastic. I just browsed Fear of Fifty and I know I am going to enjoy her writing.

Next is Margaret Atwood's. As you know, I've been wanting to get a copy of Oryx & Crake. Nakakalat lang sya sa National but I have not bought it kasi there are more important things to spend my money with. Luckily, I found two of her books prior to Oryx. I started one of them while munching french fries and both of them seem interesting. One is The Edible Woman, written on, take note, 1969:

Her name is Marian. She's a very proper young woman. The only man she sleeps with is the one she's going to marry. The only thing she wants from her work is to leave it as soon as possible. The only future she has to look forward to is the same kind that all her friends have settled for...tied to a home and children. Then something happens. It begins with a sexual encounter as exhilarating as it is unexpected. And it keeps getting wilder and wilder.

Another one, which I started, is Atwood's acclaimed The Handmaid's Tale. So interesting, it goes:

In the world of the near future, who will control women's bodies?

Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are only valued if their ovaries are viable.

Offred can remember the days before, when she lived and made love with her husband Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now....

Gee. books. At sleepy na ako. Hohum.