Republican National Convention

So the Republicans are here. Hopefully my commute won't get any worse because of them, although that's probably a hope beyond possibility at this point. Found this on the New York Times. It was on one of the signs yesterday's protesters held up at the Anti-Bush March. Cute:

Eradicate Mad Cowboy Disease

ooh what fun

So. Went to a MoMa party thing today, which was cool. Nice exercise in artsy-fartsiness. Pictures to follow.

Pinoy food at Roosevelt after that. Then beer at my house. Talked about God, organized religion, porn, relationships, you know, the usual smorgasboard of inuman (drinking) topics. Also had a mala "heart to heart" conversation which I found strangely comforting, even though I wasn't the one who needed the comfort. Very reminiscent of Manila. So surreal in a way. I've almost forgotten how dramatic and angsty life (and love) can be.

I miss being a confidante. I miss how someone's guts can look spilled out on ashes and dead cigarettes, the blood diluted by just a little beer. I miss being an audience to someone else's drama. I miss "bonding" sessions. Americans don't really seem to believe in that particular kind of messy shit.

How is it that Pinoy guts always seem to be rawer, unadulterated? And life's pitfalls always seem more painful and deeply felt? Broken hearts are just a little bloodier, tortured souls are in just a little more intense kind of hell. It's almost automatic the way we transform into philosopher, psychic, and psychiatrist, all in one, with the presence of enough bottles of beer. We're all leads in a tragedy, it seems. Interesting. I'm biased, of course.

Oh yeah. Today is my blog's birthday. It's now 2 years old. Happy birthday warcar!

Boys Night Out... Sort of

John's going to be in DC the whole weekend. He left last night. So I'm flying solo for the next day and a half.

One whole week of work over! I survived! I still hate my job, but I think I'm slowly adjusting. I just have to keep reminding myself that this isn't going to be permanent -- it isn't even going to be long-term. It's only until my birthday, it's only until birthday...

Last night was fun. Headed into the city to drink with Odin and King in Odin's Soho apartment. The train ride there was an adventure in itself. The train I was on got stalled at the 42nd street stop and a swarm of cops came into the cars. The car I was on had some drug-related/terrorist whatever (they didn't really elaborate) so everyone in my car got questioned. Seems like New York's finest have been just a bit jittery lately. I bet it's because the Republicans are coming to town. They didn't really ask me anything, just the routine stuff -- me looking like my innocent self and all -- but I did meet the Assistant D.A. for narcotics and he even gave me his card, saying I should call him if I learn of anything or if I ever get into trouble, hehe.

Drank some beer and wine. Watched some of Odin's videos for school. Talked a lot about nothing in particular. Odin tried to give away his detergent and fabric softener, because apparently, he was too lazy to do his own laundry so he just paid the extra it cost to have his clothes "professionally washed". Talked about how classmates would call us Third World Royalty, or children of The Sultan, or some shit like that because we've never worked a day in our lives and we never really worry about finances (to the extent that they do, anyway). Got the munchies at around 2:30, so we heded out for pizza at Ben's. Stopped at Lion's Den to hear the Pearl Jam tribute band playing there. It was late enough that they weren't charging a cover anymore.

It was kind of funny how people were trying to sell us drugs as we walked along the streets around NYU. We would be strolling along, minding our own business, and then some random guy in our vicinity would mutter "hash? hash?" under his breath. Of course they always say it low enough that if you don't know what to listen for you'll never hear it. I mean, on my own, I never would have guessed what he was saying (I'm already half-deaf, ask John). I probably would've just assumed he was some crazy mental institution escapee who was dumped in New York by the higher powers because, well, what better city for him to blend into? Neuroses and psychoses are a dime a dozen here. No one will ever notice. Budget cut problem solved.

It was pretty uneventful after that. Went home, went to sleep.

I'm hungry. I'm gonna make me lunch now.

New Job Angst

So I hate my job. I hate it with a passion.

John's right. I want to be a housewife without the housewife chores.

Actually, what I want is to just write and read and then write some more. I don't
like being bored witless every single day. I don't like pretending I'm busy so I can falsely justify the money they're paying me. I don't like being chained to a desk especially when most of the time the only job I seem to be doing is deceiving people into thinking there is an actual job to be done in the first place.

Plus my work is so UNINSPIRING I'm afraid I'll forget how to write. It's happening already. I hate the stink of stagnation and I hate that I always catch a whiff of it at my desk.

Get me out of here.


PS-
I've decided to set a timeline for myself. I'm going to keep this job until my birthday (January 30). That should give me a good 6 months of editorial experience, which isn't much I know, but at least it's a start. Plus I still have to go back to school anyway (Yay, I have a valid excuse!), so that works out.

First days and all that

First Day Blues

Goodbye daytime TV. Hello, sucky daily commute.

First day at work was relatively painless, figuratively speaking. I can't speak literally because my feet are absolutely killing me -- my soon-to-be everyday journey into the Financial District of Manhattan calls for lots of walking. But as of now, that and boredom are the only things to complain about. There wasn't much for me to do yet, so it was mostly just taking calls, staring at the computer, editing stuff that's already been edited, more staring at the computer. Office answer to everything: Just look busy.

I wish I could get a job I can really get into. I don't think this job's going to be that hard. I was looking at the other editorial assistants and watching them work; it all seems pretty straightforward. Get transcripts of interviews, proofread, edit in the house style, send. It'll probably get busier in the coming days/weeks/months, so maybe I should just enjoy this little lull in the office.

Our CFO, who's also our editor-in-chief, runs a pretty tight ship. Punctuality is a neccesity and no one ever takes personal calls, not in my department at least. Occasionally he'll ask various people in the staff to see him in his office to talk about articles, layout designs, etc. These are the dreaded, tension-filled moments -- he tells them whether a story idea sucked or if a layout design is retarded. It's just like all those newspaper/magazine offices you see in the movies. He yells too, I hear, although I haven't really heard him do that yet.

I don't think working a 9-5 is right for me, but I'll stay with this for as long as I can, even just for the experience. I gotta be ready for when my dream job comes knocking, after all.

Here are some links on the free ipods, by the way, just in case you're interested in reading about what other people have to say. John found them and I figured I should share them with you guys. Click here and here.

An Aside, if there ever was one...

Fleeting thought I caught before going to sleep.

I like riding trains.

I can openly watch people live out various particular moments of their lives, the train's arrangement itself is quiet encouragement. I see a girlfriend leaning against a boyfriend, a daughter holding a father's hand, a young man deep in his own thoughts. In that particular moment, I am a part of their reality. Unrecognized, insignificant, but part nonetheless. And then, out of nowhere, a woman laughs. She catches my attention, I turn, I crane my neck a little. For that brief shining moment, she is the center of my world. Her laugh is all I hear, her mouth upturned, her eyes shining, she is all I see. That second of my life was devoted entirely to watching her, to her. It's a gift she will never be aware of, a gift I will most likely forget as soon as it is over.

So many women, so many little moments, so many seconds of my life given to so many strangers. It almost seems like they're still lingering in some recess of my mind. They should be familiar, shouldn't they? Somehow? Just the shadow of recognition, hovering above conscious thought.

Good night.

The Deluge: And so it begins

And so it begins. I can already feel the slow start of a metamorphosis into a more productively practical clone of myself. Launching version 8.3: The Industrious Worker (codename: office slave).

Soon I shall be a certified, fully-functioning, tax-paying member of society. Soon I will develop an immunity against chronic bouts of tamaritis (ta-ma-ry-tis, noun, the state of being tamad). Soon I will stop "inadvertently misplacing" (aka "carelessly losing") things every fifteenth minute. Soon I will even shine my shoes.

Today I actually accomplished every single thing I planned to do, at the exact time I wanted them done. No procrastinations, no bargaining with the alarm clock, no coffee breaks in between.

1. I finally got my Learner's Permit from the DMV. Yes, we all know I already know how to drive. The thing is in NY, if you have a foreign license and you want to convert it to a local one, well, you can't. You have to go through the whole process like you've never stepped on the accelerator in your life.

And I really do need a State ID. They ask for it everywhere - banks, bars, jobs. Everywhere.

2. Openned an ING account. (I used my new handy-dandy state ID number ofcourse). It's the online bank that lets you save big time. I think you get a 2.1% interest on your money every month.

3. Ordered a box of checks. I was running out.

4. Went shopping for my entrance into the Corporate Dimension. Hear the yuppies roar.

My oh my oh my. When I start ranting and raving about stocks and financial reports, you have my permission to bash my head in.

The Little Disturbances of Man and other matters...

Sometimes it unnerves me that I can be so weighed down by extremely trivial things: that I bought jeans a size too big (they fit me well, but I can't help thinking a smaller pair would fit infinitely better), the seamstress made mistakes in hemming, the shoe store doesn't carry the shoes I want in my size...

Little things that I forget quickly, only to come back when I have nothing else to think about. When I'm too tired to write or when my eyes begin to hurt from reading. Or when I'm in the bathroom, taking a long hot shower. Like they've been nibbling away at my brain all this time, and they scurry away when the light of conscious thought shines on their faces. Except their really still there, nibbling away in some other darker place.

Don't look for a reason in this post. There isn't any.

nav bar

Had to tweak the template to make room for the new navigation bar blogger put on its blogs. Am I the only one who finds it annoying? Oh well.

blog-surfing and boredom.

This one from Jeline:

10 Years Ago, I...
1. went to my first real concert
2. found my first best friend
3. went on a mango juice and chocolate square diet for lunch

5 Years Ago, I...
1. found my way into Ateneo
2. got my first car
3. had no idea what I was going to do with my life

3 Years Ago, I...
1. was inundated with self-discovery
2. was planning my domination of the world
3. moved into the "Leche" Flat

A Year Ago, I...
1. met John
2. got published in New York
3. began writing my novel (although I didn't know it was a novel yet at that time)

This Year, I...
1. went to the Dominican Republic
2. became a US permanent resident
3. discovered my novel (too weird to explain)

Yesterday, I...
1. got my first real job
2. put on my first real suit
3. celebrated with a good Indian dinner

Today, I...
1. painted in the backyard with John
2. got hoisted over a shoulder with my butt in the air
3. made bacon and eggs for breakfast

Tomorrow I will...
1. start building my corporate wardrobe
2. finish Joyce Carol Oates' Childwold
3. make John make chicken for dinner

Employment and such matters

So, congratulations to me. I finally got a job. Whoop Dee Doo.

I was having a mini-debate about this whole job-hulabaloo with myself last night. I tossed and turned until 3:45 am because of this job, actually. No more long days dedicated solely to my imagination. No more impromptu trips to the library and the book store. No more endless hours of getting a metaphor just right. Time to join the corporate herd -- at least long enough for me to figure out what the next step is going to be.

So no, I'm not that excited about it. I sort of knew I was going to get it (my ESP on overdrive again, I guess), and I was sort of hoping they wouldn't give it to me, because I knew that if I got the offer, I won't be able to turn it down. Money is money after all. And money pays the rent. And I'm not a kid anymore. And it's about time I do the adult thing. (It was quite a heated one-person debate, might I add).

And so, four hours after my interview, my new, err, boss, gave me a call to tell me they want me onboard.

So what's this job, exactly? Well, I'm going to be an Editorial Assistant for a magazine, which in itself seems pretty interesting and not at all evil. But now hear this. The magazine is a Financial Magazine called "The Wall Street Reporter". My tasks will primarily be transcribing interviews, proofreading articles about stocks and international quotes, manning the phone lines, and liaising with various cuts of the power suit. And since they're located in the Financial District, I also have to deal with everything that implies: a dress code, a VERY structured way of doing things, and a dearth of, well, everything I'm used to.

I'm consoling myself with the thought that exposure to this environment can potentially give birth to another layer of subplots and charater sketches to my novel-in-progress. (It's not working.)

But, there is a silver lining to this dark cloud. There's the fact that I will, indeed, have a steady source of income. There's the realization that I'm NOT unemployable. And there's the chance for me to explore other avenues of possibility. Who knows, I might even grow to like this notion of actually earning my keep.

Weirder things have happened.

Lunch again

I'm rediscovering my camera, so I'm going to be a little image-heavy in the next few days. And my latest culinary creation (aka John's lunch):


It's Thai-inspired. Chicken with peanut sauce. It's my take on the satay. I was going to use bamboo skewers and grill them, but that would have taken too much work. So I just modified the marinade and fried the morsels of chicken breast. The peanut sauce is a modern variation of the traditional Thai satay accompaniment. It's pretty good. I had to drive to the grocery amidst the rain and all the thunder and lightning to get all the ingredients, but I think it was worth it.

Sunday

Picture of Saba's birthday dinner last Sunday.



That's me in the black tank and skirt.

Another ANANYA

JADED by ANANYA (Care of Joy. Salamat.)

Too many times our pride controls us
Too many times we hesitate
During these moments souls are stolen
Our precious destiny is made to wait
* Years go by, we break into a million pieces
Do you wonder why, its empty in your eyes
Walk away from your disguise, into the night
Find your place, it’s a starlit sky and your heart's not blind
The world is not unkind
If you believe your angel’s watching
Don’t be afraid to soar too high
Oh, it never was a sin to forge your own wings
Your strength will cradle you to paradise (*, 2nd stanza)
** Years go by, we break into a million pieces
do you wonder why, its empty in your eyes
A lifetime’s passed you by
I hold the fragile remnants of your eyes
Do you wonder why
Its empty

Nothing really

Finally got my social security card today. Will be applying for a driver's license soon. Probably this week.

Oh, and look at the nice lunch I made for John:



It's my take on Japanese-style bracciole, served on a bed of rice with a side of tomatoes, dark cabbage, and white mushrooms, smothered in garlic and a secret sauce I picked up from my sushi man at the Fish Market (modified, of course).

Look ma, I can make real food!

Aguirre Twins

Conjoined Filipino Twins, Carl and Clarence Aguirre, separated in New York.

Before separation:

After separation:

"He was the youngest [on record] to enter law school when he did, so it's not unreasonable to believe he's the youngest to graduate," Harvard spokesperson Michael Rodman told the Inquirer.

He is talking about Philippine-born Kiwi Alejandro Camara who graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School age 19. He finished an undergraduate course in computer science and mathematics at 16. He did that by achieveing record shattering scores on his aptitude test and skipping high school altogether. Read more bout him here.

NO!

How sad. The free IPOD people just took out the ebay offer. Kaput. And I only neeed ONE more signup! Grrrrrr!!!!

free ipod

This, boys and girls, is the free ipod an aquaintance of mine received about a week ago. I had to rub out what was written on the envelope for my own selfish reasons.


BTW, they're now giving away the newer 20 GB ipods. Remember, it's not enough that you sign up. You have to ACTUALLY COMPLETE AN OFFER too. As I said, ebay is the easiest one. No credit cards needed, just sign up using an official email address. You can use the one they gave you at school (me@nyu.edu), an email from an internet service provider (aol, roadrunner, earthlink, etc), email from work (you@procterandgamble.com), email from a private domain name (you@warcar.tk) anything like that. Again, if you don't have that kind of email, email me and I'll give you one. AND please DON'T FORGET TO SIGN UP THROUGH THEIR LINK. OTHERWISE YOU WILL NOT BE CREDITED.

All the other offers will require a credit card (even if it initially says that it doesn't). And you have to BID on something as well -- YOU DON'T HAVE TO WIN. Ebay offer won't last long, boys and girls. Act now. Sign up for a free ipod.

I want a free IPOD too. Don't you?

Katsudon Epiphanies

I made tori-katsudon. The real stuff, breaded chicken cut up lengthwise, rice, egg, the special secret sauce, all from scratch. I also made a beef teriyaki-ish dish with a side of tomatoes, onions and other veggies. John's even starting to throw in requests (chicken francese, the aforementioned katsudon, chilean seabass), as if in affirmation of my newly-discovered, self-proclaimed culinary prowess.

I've carved out a space for myself in the kitchen and I didn't even notice. It was a surprise when I realized I was the sole authority on the wheraboouts of most of our kitchen utensils. It was a surprise when I was overtaken by an intense urge to multiply our stock of pots and pans. It was a surprise when I felt genuine distress at the grease and grime that clung stubbornly to stove faces, vent crevices, and cracks in the walls.

It was a surprise because I always fancied my self a kind of gypsy. A person displaced. Wanda, the wanderer, the ephemeral, the homeless. Seeing my feet beat a path around fridges and counters and ranges and grills makes me feel so much more grounded. So much more solid and permanent. So much more rooted.

Somehow, in all the searching and the wandering, the universe saw it fit to land me in a kitchen. In a four-walled house. Without thought of where the stars will take me next. I've almost forgotten that the stars were even taking me anywhere.

I don't know if this is just another port of call or a more permanent space. Not yet. I do know though, that it has its own addictive charm. And I'm starting to not get surprised by my kitchen anymore.

Ipod

GET YOURSELF AN IPOD, FAST EASY AND FREE. HONEST.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to get an ipod for free. We all know about the pyramid-get-this-free-if-you-send-us-your-friends schemes. But listen, this one was proven to work. Honest. I did my research, boys and girls, and this is no lie. I've been seeing all these blogs with pictures of their new ipods and their shining, smiling faces. It's almost irritating.

So I figure we should cash in on this thing now. Let's get an ipod. A LOT of people have already gotten theirs. It's OUR TURN. Plus it's really easy and it's really fast. A few moments of your time, boys and girls, is all it takes. Just click on this link: http://www.freeiPods.com/default.aspx?referer=7640335.

You will be taken to a page with some offers. Just complete any one of them. The easiest offer to complete is EBAY. All you need to sign up for ebay without any credit card info is an official email address: school, work, aol, roadrunner, anything that isn't free (no yahoos, gmails, hotmails, etc). If you don't have one, email me and I'll hook you up. Bid on something, (Remember, you DON'T have to win), and wala, offer completed. Easy as pie. You can do this in 3 mins. I know because I've done it in less. (And so has John, BTW). Then just follow my lead and ask five of your nearest and dearest to do the same, and your free ipod is practically in the mail. The only thing is it's only one order per household and one account per IP address, so you really need your friends to get in on the game.

Again, if you don't have an "paid address" like you@nyu.edu or you@kaplan.com, just email me and I'll give you one from my own domain - free. (I'm making this a no-brainer, folks!)

So to recap my easy three step process:
Step 1: click on this link: http://www.freeiPods.com/default.aspx?referer=7640335
Step 2: Complete any offer. Again the easiest is to just sign up for ebay with your "official" email addy.
Step 3: Make five other people do what you just did.

Then you'll be on your way to a BRAND NEW ipod at ABSOLTELY NO EXPENSE TO you! No credit cards, no cancellations, no shipping fees. When I get mine, I'll put up pictures and proof so you'll be the first to know.

You can sit there and while away 3 minutes doing nothing, or you can be getting yourself an ipod. Free, boys and girls. And if you've got the friends on the ready you can have this done in a an hour. Seriously. I'm on my way to get mine... how about you? You've got absolutely nothing to lose and a NEW NEW NEW ipod to gain. Don't be the loser who had to pay when everyone else got theirs for nothing.

UPDATE: Just need 2 more.

Nothing really

Bought another five books from the bookstore near John's workplace. I'm three-quarters of the way through the second. Some of these babies are pretty darn good.

I like the literary freedom that comes with secondhand books. You get them really cheap (less than a dollar per!) so you can just grab anything that tickles your fancy. I can buy novels I probably wouldn't buy otherwise, without a second thought. I can let my tastes drift around various subject matters, genres, treatments. I can buy books just because the title sounds deliciously mysterious, or the cover just looks so enticing. I don't have to agonize about picking one over the other because getting both will screw up my lunch budget. Brand new titles are just too much of a luxury for a struggling, unemployed, wannabe writer like me ... I just can't afford to buy a dozen books every 2 weeks at over $15 a pop AND still eat, pay my rent, etc.

So yes, I'm a happy duck. A total of 10 books in 2 weeks is pretty damn good. Bliss.


Well, as near to bliss as possible, anyway. My social security card was "inadvertently lost in transit". A new one should come soon though, hopefully by week's end, so that sin't really a problem. The problem, my pretties, is that my job search has come up absolutely empty. Just a month or so ago I was getting pretty good leads, but I kept on running into glitches with the immigration process so I decided to wait until everything was ironed out. Now, however, all I'm getting are rejection letters! Ugh.

I'm also trying to write some articles to submit, but I keep on getting distracted. I start a paragraph but I lose my train of thought midway, and I have to start all over again. The problem with being a writer is that writing is a very internal job. It's just you, the computer, and the ever-looming deadline.