A Self-Assured Criminal

For the past weeks my family had consumed this wine. It was a simple, red wine. My brother was the one who first brought it home. He also did all the buying since he was the only one who knew where to get it.
One time, my father told me to get it. So I went with my brother. He told me to bring the bottle with me to make it cheaper. With the bottle in my hand, we rode a motorcycle to the place.

Once we got there, my brother dropped me off because he had to draw some money.
I watched him go, and then walked lightly to the place. I hummed and swung the bottle back and forth. Some people looked at me, but I didn’t care. I approached a guy who was sitting next to a few empty bottles. I showed my bottle and said to him, “I want to buy this… wine please.”

He gave me a funny look than check my bottle. “I’m sorry,” he said. “This one’s out, the cops confiscated all of them yesterday.”
I could feel my heart stop beating.
“What?” I said. “Cops? Confiscated? You mean these things are illegal?”
No wonder everyone was looking at me!
So I hid the bottle in my arms and went straight home.

"Don’t be so humble - you are not that great."

- Golda Meir, to a visiting diplomat

Haywired Circadian Part Deux

Remember what I said about haywired circadian? I said that one way to get through it is to hold your sleep until it is the appropriate time.
Well, I forgot to mention something else. It’s gonna be a lot worse before it gets better.

Yesterday morning, I tried to stay awake when I was supposed to sleep (I used to sleep as dawn broke). And I managed to do that.
By night, just like everyone else, I began to feel sleepy. So I went to bed and fell asleep soon right after.
Hooray! Everything’s back to normal right?
Well it didn't.
I slept as if I hadn’t for two days. I woke up at 11 am, even worse than before.
And I thought I would get up in the morning just like everyone else.
Thank God, my clinic doesn’t start before 1 pm. I got prepped quickly, and went to work.

I’m going to bed after this. Let’s see how it turns out tomorrow.

Not a Martian nor Venusian

Have you read Mars and Venus Together Forever: A Practical Guide to Creating Lasting Intimacy? It’s a book from John Gray, PhD.
I haven’t read it either actually. I just found it on my cousin’s bookshelf one day and strolled through its pages quickly.
I thought it would be all about Men-Women jokes. Well, not jokes, just funny Men-Women facts.

But I was wrong. It is a book about marriage; how to succeed one considering that men and women are so different in nature that they may have come from different planets.
Basically it tells men to be more sensitive, and women to be more… well, INsensitive; and voila, a good marriage.

I’m not going to talk about it. I just want to say that it made me realize something. In the book, men are all macho, logical, and incapable of feelings; while women are all about feelings.
I can’t say I can connect with that. Based on the book, I’m neither a man, nor a woman.
I think I’m quite logical, but some events make me cry. Hell, some movies make me cry. I hate dressing up but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate beauty (in fact, I can see beauty from the most mundane things). I watch Hikaru Koto (an AV Idol/porn actress) and Before Sunrise (a low-budget flick). I read about serial killers and how to make your own Christmas cards. I even like to talk about boobs AND feelings.
So what does it make me? A Martian? A Venusian? Is it important?

Maybe not. But now I know why I always fall for tough girls.

The Figure

A friend of mine works in a 24 hour-clinic not far from campus. It’s a small clinic, and the building has four stories. All medical practice is done on the fourth floor, while the third floor is used as the office.

Next to the office there’s a small room with a bed and a TV set in it. The room was meant to be used by doctors who work night shifts. It is seldom used though, since the floor is believed to be haunted. There are a lot of ghost stories surrounding it. They usually involve an apparition; a dark figure, that shows up walking around the floor at night.

One day, my friend was on her night shift. As others, she never steps on the floor at night, but that night she had to. She had got to pick up something in the room. So she carefully took the stairs and paced down.
Once she got on the floor, she quickly entered the room, took what she needed, and went out. Nothing happened.
She was half her way back to the stairs when she noticed that the office door was open. She should’ve left anyway, but did something she wasn’t supposed to. She looked through the cleft the open door had created.
And inside, there’s this figure, standing still, facing her.

She was shocked to death; her body froze, and almost screamed. The ghost was there!
But then she quickly realized that the figure was just her own reflection. It turned out she was looking at a mirror inside the office!

What a relief.

Maybe all the stories about a ghost, a figure, wandering around the floor were merely an exaggeration, right?
Well anyway, the next day she found out the office had no mirrors.

A Talented Ninja

I believe I'd make a good ninja.

Because everyone hardly notices me.

I don't know why, it's like I have no aura of presence or something. No significant quality or radiance, perhaps?
Couldn't remember just how many times I was thought absent from college or work.

It's fine. I kinda like it since I'm myself a bit schizophrenic.

One problem though. I hate to take buses. I have a different effect on bus conductors. It seems that my aura is enough for them to notice me, but not enough to remember that I have paid my fare. I've lost count on how many taps I get on my shoulder every time, just to hear that same old statement.
"Money, please."

By the Way

Julie Delpy in Before Sunrise

-The Most Beautiful Woman in the World-