Back from a long hiatus

The long silence is finally over. I have been willing myself to write several times over but somehow the itch has piped down to an urge too gentle to mind. The needle of the compass in my life right now is very much focused on law school and things arent running smoothly for me this time. I guess the reason why I deliberately fail to write is because on some obscure level, I want to deny the stress and frustration that the semester has brought upon me. It seemed like ever since the school year began I had quite a series of unfortunate events. It felt like everything wasnt going my way and no matter how I concentrate on willing the universe to conspire with me, the stars just wont align in my favor. At some point, I was convinced that I was suffering from a mild clinical depression. My jovial and outgoing nature hides all that and i think no one even noticed. I think thats a good thing.

art illustration by Sharon Tancredi

I got so hooked on The O.C.. Addicted even. I haven't followed this series when it was still airing a few years back. My good friend, Albert recommended it to me and soon enough it served as my escape route. The plot and most of the characters brought back familiar feelings during those times when everything was so carefree and nothing really serious occupied my mind. Life is much too easier when you are just in the background, watching. But of course, nothing beats reality. Its a lot more riveting than any TV series. After watching an episode or two, I go back to the real world and face the demands of the path that I chose. There has been too much pressure and every subject this sem poses a possibility of a failure. Despite that, I am still very optimistic about everything. Things will go my way all in good time. With a bit of a sugar rush and a lot of caffeine, Im good to go!

After finding out that I have been living with a lesbian couple a couple of months ago, I suddenly found myself living alone in my apartment. My housemates moved out yesterday after surprising me about it. Now I have to find someone else to share half of the rent pronto! I cant believe their audacity to just surprise me like that. They shouldve given me prior notice. Now I have to think about a remedy for this too. As if my academic burden isnt enough to fill my mind.

Guy fashion

If I were a guy, I wonder what my everyday fashion would be..
Id probably be one of those guys who dress casually. I would wear a cool super hero or music artist shirt or my favorite movie shirt. I guess Id be one of those guys who wear statement shirts, but no rude or perverted statements for me though. Ill match it down with a faded or a washed-out pair of jeans. Ill have chucks or maybe addidas sneaks for shoes. I wont put gel on my hair but it would always look clean and soft. :D Maybe Ill be lugging a big knapsack or a sling bag too. And occasionally, a cool cap to match the outfit.

If I were a guy (ria), Im sure Im super hot too!

"The summer of 2008"

(sounds like a cheesy romantic memory. hehehe)

Here's a few of the characters I played this summer:

"Quasi-lawyer"
For six weeks, I slaved my summer away at the Office of the Solicitor General preparing several pleadings and other legal work.


"Amazon fighter"
After a few mild injuries and a lot of wasted time, I have now mastered the skill of fighting the fierce amazon women during rush hour at the MRT.


"Frustrated event/outing organizer"
My desperate attempt to revive and restore the enthusiasm of the block for a summer outing was put to naught as their efforts of making it happen were already thrown out the window ever since our block got dissolved. sigh.


"Singer/performer"
It's the first time in eons since I got to play the guitar again and sing in front of a big audience. I performed "Runaway" by the Corrs with a violin accompaniment by Ax Daliva during our Division's presentation at the OSG. Before this, I was also forced to sing ("Especially For You", MYMP version) in front of the medium detention inmates of the Bilibid Prison when we went there as a part of our OSG activities. Needless to say, my performance earned me several flowers from the inmates. Now, my co-interns call me "kilabot ng Bilibid"! TOINK! nyahaha!


"Parkour traceuse"
It happened one thunderstorm-y summer night. I was cooking dinner when I realized I need to call someone who should be calling me by then but since he isn't, I got all riled up especially when I found out that I no longer have any prepaid credits to make a call. So, in my irrational state of madness, I grabbed my purse and stormed out of the apartment to load up my phone at the nearby store. Just when the door shuts, I realize I did not bring the key with me. So there I was locked out of my apartment in the heavy downpour with nothing on but a flimsy tank top and a tiny pair of shorts. Because the stove is on and I'm freezing, I desperately thought of a way to get back in fast. My sister wont arrive till about 4 hours and the housemates arrive much later than that. I thought of an excellent plan, Ill go to the next apartment unit and asked if I could pass through it and climb the wall connecting our laundry areas that will bring me back inside my unit. The clueless guy in the next apartment simply had no choice of course, unless he wants the whole complex to catch on fire. So I traversed the 6 feet wall, soaking wet, wearing my almost see through tank top and teeny weenie shorts! So embarrassing but I have no choice either! When I got to the top of the wall, I crouched there for a few seconds trying to position myself for the most pain-free fall. Fortunately I landed without any injuries! I must have a feline quality in me. Or maybe, I'm spider woman!

"Impromptu BarOps volunteer"
Thanks to Mr Ho's coaxing, I am now part of the Linkages team of the BarOps committee. I had such a great time at our team building outing at this Dinosaur Garden Resort in Bulacan. At first I was hesitant to go because I'm not sure if I know anyone there apart from Aaron but as it turned out, I made friends with a lot of people and got closer to several acquaintances.

"Crazy embassy party girl"
I am not a bar person at all but after our night out at the Fort, I think I'm gonna be! Kidding!!!!!
Sorry but I wont be spilling the beans here. hahahaha. Lets just say I was wildly inebriated and did a few foolish things. ;) It was super fun!

Now, I want to become a lawyer even more!

""Who's the judge?"
"The judge is God!"

"Why is he God?"
"Because he decides who wins or loses, not my opponent!"

"Who is your opponent?"
"He doesn't exist!"

"Why does he not exist?"
"Because he is merely a dissenting voice to the truth I speak!""

- from The Great Debaters



I can't recall the last movie which left me truly uplifted, inspired, and at the same time intellectually stimulated in the end since "The Great Debaters". Its powerful cast and excellent script made this film a top-notch drama. Starred and directed by Denzel Washington, this movie is loosely based upon the story of Professor Melvin Tolson who coached and led the Wiley College Debate Team in the year 1935 to an almost undefeated season and ultimately challenging and winning over the national champions from Harvard which was an incredible feat for an all-black college back then.

As the team moves toward its goal, it faces several challenges down the road including issues of sexism, an arrest and union busting, Jim Crow laws and rituals, driving through a lynch mob, a love triangle, jealousy, and a nationwide radio broadcast. Also embedded in the plot is the story of ambition, justice, equality, love, and friendship.

Watching this film made me ruminate on those segregation and disfranchisement cases Ive read in my Constitutional Law class during my freshman year in law school. This includes the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson which held that segregation laws are constitutional thereby coining the absurd phrase "separate but equal". In 1954, however, the landmark decision of the US Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education overturned the earlier rulings including the Plessy Decision by declaring that state laws establishing separate public schools for black students denied them equal educational opportunities. The court stated that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal and racial segregation was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution.

This movie is definitely worth watching as it appeals to the emotions as well as the intellect. It's a pity it wasn't shown in our local cinemas.

"You're a philosopher? Where's your sponge?"

-quote from "Small Gods" by Terry Pratchett

Stories from the Greek classical world has it that philosophers got their profound knowledge of the universe, man, and nature by contemplating these issues while taking baths. They would douse themselves with bubbles of soap until a light bulb starts to fire up their brains and have that "Eureka!" moment. Such a thought came to my mind when El gave me this traditional, pure, Greek Olive-oil soap that his friend got him from Greece.

Okay, I have to go now and do some musings about the cosmos and man's place in it while I lather myself with Traditional, Pure, Greek Olive-oil soap. hehehe :P

Fully Booked

Most of my OSG money went to books. Not law books though! I had the best time shopping at Fully booked and bought five books! Money spent on books is money spent well for me. Its quite an irony though that Im already an incoming third year in law school and I own not a single law book! I survived still:)

10 things I will miss from my OSG internship

1. ate nancy's morning greeting
"good morning miss philippines!" or "good morning miss universe!" or "good morning miss beautiful!" never fails!
haha, i love ate nancy!











2. ate purits' cooking
yep, she's the senior state solicitor's secretary-slash-resident chef of Araneta Diviison. She cooks kick-ass meals for us!














3. my UST girls- grace, jen, and kat
ill miss all the fun times with these girls. good company plus lots of chikas!











4. the Gregorio Araneta Division people
ASG Edith Dizon, Atty Tom, Atty Larry, Atty Hazel, Atty Princess, Atty Pearl, Atty Mercy,Atty Len, the secretaries: Ate Purits, Ate Laissa, Ate Michelle, Ate Joey, Ate Nancy, Ate Vicky, Ric.











5. merienda/lunch treats (plus surprises from atty tom)
kaya masaya sa division namin!







6. my co-interns
of course this experience would not be half as fun without my wacky co-interns from UP, Ateneo, San Beda, FEU-La Salle, and UST Law.
















7. chris-mon moments
hehehe...peace chris!









8. ride home and kulitan with aaron
Ive been hitching my way home with aaron in his vios the whole internship so i have to say that im gonna miss all the talk and the occassional drama in transit. so aaron, the heavy traffic seems tolerable when you have someone to banter huh?!






9. my cubicle
where I do my stuff- work related or otherwise. hehehe











10. and of course, allowance!!!!



...and here are the 10 things i will NOT miss:

1. waking up early
2. squirming my way in one of those jam packed MRT trains
3. riding the wrong bus. grrrr.
4. my land dispute case. good riddance to it!
5. fastfood. so sick. ugh!
6. accomplishment reports
7. traffic
8. timecard and bundy clock
9. waiting for the the elevator
10. walking in a pair of 3 inch heeled power shoes

All in a day's work!

I was running late for work today and when I arrived at the office at past 9 o'clock, a hearty breakfast was already waiting for me. Ate Purits cooked creamy chicken sopas for everyone! When lunch came, another treat awaited us. This time from Atty Tom. We had pork sinigang and fried fish. There was a lot so I invited my blockmates Chris, Aaron, and Raymond to eat lunch at my division. With a little prodding, they accepted my invitation. Merienda was taken cared of by Jen. Since her internship ends today, she treated us a with yummy pancit malabon and puto kutsinta. We invited our co-interns to join us and turned the conference room into a party place! After eating and entertaining our co-interns from the other divisions, Ric brought out a big bottle of vodka and mixed it up with Sprite. They've been practicing for their Soulja Boy dance number for monday's flag ceremony presentation.
It's already 5 o'clock and its time for logging out but my food treat day isn't over yet! Atty Jon of Chris' division invited me and Chris for dinner, his treat of course! He took us at Italiani's at Greenbelt 2 and there we had Sicilian chicken salad, seafood pasta, Margaretta pizza, and refillable iced teas! I was so full, I can hardly laugh with ease at atty jon's anecdotes about the OSG. We were finished at around 930. After which I took the MRT and went home. A few minutes after I got home, El visited and brought me a caramel cappuccino coffee and nutty chocolate donut from Dunkin Donuts.
What a day! Arrived late, did no work, ate a lot of free food, and even got tipsy! The best part is that we interns got our allowance today! That's the best treat of all! hahaha

Superb fun with your console?

After that Sony PlayStation 2 ad (with that guy and his seemingly emerging cock which turned out to be just his thumb) was banned from French television back in 2002, here comes another ad for PS3 with the same "concept". Can anyone enlighten me? I dont get it. Why would his pennis become his thumb? Does this say if you play too much playstation junk your wang evolves into a thumb? I don't play any PS games so I don't get the message of this ad, assuming it has any in particular. The ad agency that's responsible for this is TBWA of Vienna, Austria. I guess Austria banned this one too. I'm just not sure how this could appeal to its market, which are mostly kids and young male adults. Wouldn't it be tasteless?

Do gamers really get this ad? Inside joke or something? Please explain.

How 'bout you, would you give this ad a thumbs up? pun intended.

Summer fling?!

Okay, everyone's all talk about finding a summer fling so I got to thinking of finding one for myself too. TOINK! Hahahaha! Just kidding.

Chuck Bass of Gossip Girl is uber-HOT! An obnoxious, confident, straight-up asshole with daddy's credit card. Love him? hate him? hate to love him?


My IDEAL physical standards: tall and moreno. Maybe someone like Borgy Manotoc? uh-huh...Hmm, I guess his brother will do. (kidding, mike!)


Panic! at the Disco's "Lying is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off" keeps spinning on my head. tsk, tsk,tsk......

"Let's get these teen hearts beating faster, faster!"


The days just keep on getting better and better. Maybe I should find a soundtrack for my summer. Something to remember this by. *grins*

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In other news, Ellen DeGeneres and her long time partner Portia de Rossi will soon be tying the knot now that the California Supreme Court has legalized same-sex marriage.
Ahhh...times are changing, humans are evolving.

California Chief Justice Ron George said in the written opinion. "Limiting the designation of marriage to a union 'between a man and a woman' is unconstitutional and must be stricken from the statute," The ruling added that all California couples had a "basic civil right" to marry "without regard to their sexual orientation".

This isn't the first time though that a US state dumped the ban against gay marriages. Before this SC decision, the state of Massachusetts allowed gay marriage and California, New Jersey and Vermont have legislation which grants same-sex partners many of the same legal rights as married couples.

Good job Supreme court folks!