Unnecessary Opinion

I often find myself reminiscing about the old days.

Those days when we get to eat out and go on spontaneous road trips every week. The time when we don't celebrate special occasions over food deliveries. The time when we conveniently fake fever to have an excuse for skipping work. Or those days when I can just hug and kiss my husband every time he comes home. Sigh.

I can't believe the Pre-covid Era was already 400 years ago.

A lot of things evolved since then—including my tolerance for things that make me cringe. Of course, when you are isolated, it's no longer a surprise how one soul can be engulfed into this strangely gratifying dark side of the internet even if it offers a ton of cringefest. 

Apparently, my time for the internet ballooned and this is how I see social media platforms in 2021:

Number 3

I have been solo-parenting for almost a week now. 

And that's because our cat, Appa, bit Jan on his left leg. While Jan thinks the biting was an accident, I think otherwise. That cat has been plotting to kill me since day one but was miserably unsuccessful so it decided to take it on the husband who has a softer spot for animals than I do.

We have been bitten by the same cat a thousand times. So why is it suddenly a big deal? Jan's leg got infected that it rendered him useless—at a time when I needed him most. SMH. He had high fever, his entire leg got red and swollen, and he couldn't walk. Yes, it was that bad. Judging from the grimace on his face every time he moves a muscle, I could say it's another near-death experience, probably worse than his man flus. But you know what's worst? I had to get my lazy ass up and do everything. 

Nobody Wins on the Internet

I was mindlessly scrolling Facebook, when this appeared on my feed:

Doesn't it creep you out when Facebook is making weird and sometimes disturbing assumptions about you? It's as if Facebook is telling me, "Hey, here's some beautiful shit we thought you would like."

Is Butter a Carb?

Two things.

One. I am addicted to rolled oats soaked in plain Greek yogurt and cinnamon.

I prepared one for the bunso but he doesn't seem to show interest in it. It was so good that I had to ask the husband to buy more for my own consumption. Whatever I eat, the baby eats anyway. 

Two. I am on a diet.

"Yay, Math!" Said No One Ever

Every day I wake up feeling like those Instagram moms who seem to have figured out motherhood only to become borderline psychotic when faced with Rhett's homework.

Of all the evil that's happening in the world, Math is probably the worst. I have been stumped multiple times by elementary Math since Rhett started his online classes six weeks ago. Apparently, I am a moron when it comes to basic Math (read: I pull out a calculator to equations like 5+3). 

Sup?

Sometimes, I amaze myself with my adulting, considering that my hormones are still on overdrive. You see, I have written a complaint—after making countless of calls and follow-ups on not having an internet connection for almost two months—in the most diplomatic way. For someone whose life depends heavily on memes and cat videos, I would have gone batshit. (Who wouldn't?) 

But there are far more upsetting things than that. Like how the baby can sleep through a thunderstorm but awakens the moment I tiptoe my way out of the room or the husband's utterly useless nipples.

Waiting

I cannot keep a job for more than 3 years and I do not know if that is a good or bad thing. Hopping from one job to another in a short span of time does not leave a good impression to most employers here. But my career has plateaued. If I am no longer growing and not getting any closer to my career goals, then it's love, peace, and chicken grease.

I told Jan I am quitting my job that has become tedious and repetitive. I probably might be jobless for a year, too. And he's okay with it. But that doesn't mean I will be entering the noble but cumbersome world of housewifery. I detest household chores and I will never be good at cooking. And no, I won't be practicing the art of idleness as I would have always wanted (this quarantine has definitely gotten me lazy being lazy). I am going to take care of a big baby, and be a hands on mom to two adorable boys and a blue-eyed furball who has not succeeded in killing me yet. I will also master a new programming language in between.

That was the plan.

How My Weekends Go During Quarantine

Welcome to my new normal.

7:00 am. As much as I want to sleep in during weekend, my body refuses to wake up at the alarm that is set at 8. I automatically open Facebook and aimlessly scroll through the posts. As it inevitably explodes with posts from political analyst wannabes, I am starting to think that the outdoors I avoided like plague isn't all that bad. I suddenly miss driving though the traffic and mentally cursing idiots on the road, crowded malls, and long queues in public comfort rooms.

Where Have All My Biscuits Gone?

It's been what? day 14? 15? of community quarantine and at this point, even those who are so used to staying at home or maybe even the introverts who have been trained for this their entire life already feel uneasy. I thought the quarantine would be no different for me, but honestly, it is.

First, my all-expense paid trip to Vietnam was cancelled. Second, I just had a haircut and I will never get the chance to show off my Dora the Explorer fringe in public. So before this gets long enough for me to cut again, I'll share this now while I still don't look like Spock.

Of COVID-19, Social Distancing, and Getting Hospitalized

Now tell me what are the odds of getting stung by a honeybee inside our home while lounging on our bed? I've been stung by bees and wasps countless of times. The most it gave me was an annoying localized itchiness and swelling. This time is a different story.

Something Fishy

I never really liked fishes as pet. They are high maintenance, boring, and incapable of human interaction (duh). Not to mention, I can barely keep one alive for more than three days. But here I am, mindlessly watching our fishes swim for hours.

These were actually my uncle's gift for Rhett. But I was the one who got too excited to decorate the aquarium. After coming home from Gen San with our new fishes and live aquatic plants in tow, we immediately bought a 14-gallon fish tank, accessories, and dechlorinator. And voila! A new stress reliever.

We got swordtails, angelfish, and guppies. That's about everything I know for now. But I'm browsing the internet for care sheets because I don't want to see one go belly up too soon.

Whitening

I couldn’t think of a better title but after posting my skincare routine, I was asked to try a line of whitening products in exchange for a promotion or a review. I politely declined. For the record, I have nothing against whitening products and people who want to whiten their skin. Do whatever makes you happy.

As for me, I've already seen myself in my ghostly form. All thanks to my mom's phone that seem to shoot photos with a hundred layers of filters on by default.

But nah.

I still prefer my brown skin color over white for 2 reasons:

When You Got Bangs Like Dora

I just wish I have the makeup artist skills so I can transform my face into something better and more tolerable to look at every time I get fed up with my face that's as bland as the miso soup I made so I can leave my hair alone. Because, well, haircuts cannot be undone.

You know how I get perpetually bored with my looks that I would cut my hair on my own from time to time.

So, I'm On the News

The last time my name was printed on a local newspaper was in high school (about 16 years ago) when my football team won against a college team and the two scorers' names were mentioned. That was a huge deal back then.

Right now, where the generation is more fragile than a snowflake, the least you would want is attention from people you do not know. This blog has gone viral once. With at least 27,000 shares, the post has gotten at least a hundred thousand hits per day. And even with it being a considerably good read, I've received grave threats more than once.

What a Weekend!

I got hives and the itch is really killing me. But I'd take the hives any day than spend 15 minutes in Facebook where my blood pressure can shoot up to an alarming level from all those political posts on my feed today.

But before the hypertension turns into brain cancer because I can't seem to get myself off Facebook, I'll share with you the weekend that has really been crazy.

I was invited to a La Germania roadshow last Saturday and in the middle of our activity, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake shook our city. The event had to be discontinued and we were all asked to evacuate the mall.

Hair We Go Again

Hello everyone! I haven’t updated in two weeks, which is not very like me. I've attempted to write sensible and relevant entries twice and on both times, I didn't get to hit the Publish button. None of it was good enough. I try to balance my entries between relevant and nonsensical write ups. But I'm on a writing slump.

So maybe today, I'll just talk about my short hair because blogging about things that do not help the society in any way sure as hell beats scrolling down Facebook aimlessly for hours (I'll leave Facebook one day and move to Reddit, I promise).

I was born with a naturally straight, super fine, no volume hair. And for three years, I've been cutting my own hair because it didn't matter if I looked shaggy or not. Sometimes, I wish I had that grunge hair or I can pull off that messy bun. But my hair simply just untangles and tames itself before I could even say "comb".

I never really had a bad hair day until I saw this:

Of Birthdays and Attention Whoring

It's my birthday and I plan on not doing anything today. Blogging is not even on today's agenda but I feel a dire need to share this because I have never looked this good.

This app is crazy.

But of course, you know what's really underneath the filter.

Back then, I thought duck faces were the worst thing that could ever happen on the internet, until the dog filters got out of hand. If I ever I saw you on the internet with a cat or puppy ears, you were automatically sorted into Class B Attention Whore category (Class A is for those who show boobies captioned with deep, irrelevant quotes).

It's Corny but Hell Yeah

One thing I hate about driving is getting through traffic. So I rely on music to stretch my patience and keep my cool. Right now, if there's one thing I get excited about driving, it's going to be this:
 

90s boy bands on my playlist FTW!

I'm afraid the regulars that have been on my playlist since forever  - you know, Queen, Keane, Air Supply, Mr. Big, Better Than Ezra, Blind Melon, Gin Blossoms, Tonic, even Jack Johnson, and all other bands that are "cool" ('cause I'm pa-cool like that) - will have to take the backseat until I get over this recurring jologs phase. And I say that with no shame. But until then, Jan will have to survive the torment of being ear-raped every time my jams come on. Haha!

I Love Math

My 3rd year high school Math teacher forced me to join our school's Math Olympics for two reasons:

1. I detest Math and/because I'm bad at it.
2. And he knows it.

Right after the competition, when I went up the stage, the faculty head who pinned the gold medal on me uttered, "Congratulations, future Engineer!"

Hurr Hurr. Eeeh. I Here. Daylight No See.

You know what's funny?

It's when you know you can write a 2-page, single-spaced in-depth analysis of the space-time continuum with your eyes closed but you have to turn to Google to help you compose a single line on how to accept an invitation.

This is not my first time to be invited to such events.