This was definitely uncalled for

Published on March 5, 2010 in Personal. 2 Comments


Has anyone ever died of extreme pressure during his/her first ever job interview? I think it is highly possible. But thank goodness, I’m still alive and am typing right now, trying to share with you my horrific experience the other day. Also, I don’t think I’m that good of a person to die so early. LOL

So anyway, like I said, I went to my first ever job interview the other day and without even knowing that I was going to be interviewed. It was originally just a presentation regarding something we were asked to do. But for some reason, they interviewed me on the spot, right then and there. And, well, do I even have to say this? It didn’t go so well! In fact, in my personal point of view (or IMHO, as they would say), it was an utter DISASTER. They said they’d call in two weeks to let me know if I’m in or not. Who the hell am I kidding? I’m not going to wait two weeks to hear from them what I already know. I’m so not in!

Let me fill you in as I know I’m being a bit vague (as always) on some integral details. The questions they asked were all regarding their company, what they’ve done, and etcetera. In short, things I should have known or researched about beforehand seeing as I’m applying to work for them in the first place. But because I didn’t, I humiliated myself and possibly my school (this is a different story, oh my, because I am such an idiot). Seriously, it’s like I fell flat on my face, stood up, and stayed to see them all laughing at my sad, sad, sorry ass. So yes, that call in two weeks’ time won’t be anything good, I am a hundred percent sure. Wanna bet on it? I was so nervous that I even mentioned the wrong movie title (one of them asked me what movie made me cry, but was a disgrace in general – I immediately thought of The Tollbooth. But the only reason that movie made me cry was because it sucked so much. He wrote it down, and might research about it. I hope he doesn’t try to watch it – for his sake).

I am much more of a disgrace than that movie, The Tollbooth. I seriously am! I will never be able to forget about this.

I am going to rise above all this soon-ish. It just sucks though because that was a really good job and I really wanted it. Just thinking about the opportunity I wasted because of a stupid interview that I failed to prepare for makes me want to slice myself into pieces and throw myself into some obscure, grassy place with cows and chickens to feast on my cholesterol-infested flesh. ARRRRRRR! (That’s a mad sort of scream, but in pirate tongue.)

Well, that was fast

Published on February 24, 2010 in Books. 2 Comments


(I wrote this the day before, but I wasn’t able to publish it online because we didn’t have internet!)

Today, I finished “A Convergence of Birds”, book #4 on my book list. I’m not going to lie about the fact that I did skip a few pieces (mostly poems) because I’m not really the poetic type. Some of the stories as well were kind of hard to digest and I tried real hard to get through each and every one of them. It can’t be helped, however, to just simply not be able to comprehend one or two stories if you’re a dimwit like me.

Out of all the ones I did read, my favorites are Barry Lopez’s “Emory Bear Hands’ Birds”, Robert Coover’s “The Grand Hotels” and Jonathan Safran Foer’s “If The Aging Magician Should Begin to Believe”. I don’t have any favorite poems because like I said, I’m really not much of poetry reader.

The three stories I mentioned really touched me in different, unusual ways. Especially the last one. I’ve never felt so profoundly sad and sympathetic after reading a short story. Somehow, I felt the pain that the magician was going through. It was as if I could see the sadness in his eyes. I felt sympathy for everything he lost – love, time, control. Does every aging man go through a phase like this – doubting his whole life’s purpose or, even worse, considering his impending death as some sort of salvation? It’s sad that a man of his age could feel so lonely and so unfulfilled. He weeps after every show. Somehow, I couldn’t get this off my mind. The image of an aging magician, alone in the world, who can’t even afford to get his tuxedo fixed let alone buy a new one.. If I were in the right frame of mind, I would have cried reading this. I’ve always had a soft spot for old people and this story nearly killed me.

“The Grand Hotels”, on the other hand, was really beautifully strange. Out of all the hotels he mentioned, I liked “The Grand Hotel Penny Arcade”. I guess, it’s because it’s the one I could picture the most in my head. Don’t get me wrong, all of them were so beautifully describe that you could just imagine every detail, even the strangest ones. On the other hand, “The Grand Hotel Nymphlight” is probably the one I wouldn’t visit.

I’d like to say more about all these wonderful stories, but it just isn’t any good when someone else is describing it to you and telling you which stories they hold most dear to them. I might have said too much about “If The Aging Magician Should Begin to Believe”, but I really couldn’t help it.

Of course, these stories would not have been possible if it weren’t for the wonderful and unique bird boxes of Joseph Cornell. His life is just as interesting and intriguing as his works of art and all these stories that they inspired.

I really feel a bit tongue-tied after just finishing this book a few minutes ago. I just had to write about it immediately, but I realized it’s not that good of an idea. I’m still pretty overwhelmed and quite affected.

*jumps up and down*

Okay, there you go. Off to book #5 – “The Lazarus Project” by Aleksandar Hemon.

I truly hate politics and bad weather

Published on February 21, 2010 in Books, General, Photography and Travels. 2 Comments

My two-day trip to Tagaytay was a mixture of so many unexpected things. The most prominent one, no doubt, was the presence of two politicians and two wannabes who have so kindly graced everyone with their plastic smiles and cringe-worthy public speeches. The most ridiculous of them all was the one who barely spoke and when she did, she hardly made any sense. First, she said that the night wasn’t for campaigning, but rather for entertainment. But then, she went on blabbing about her achievements that no one in the room really cared about (judging by the awkward silence throughout her self-gratifying speech) and then moving on to her history in politics. It was an utter borefest, honestly. Thank heavens she stopped after about 10-15 minutes (of my life that I’ll never ever get back).

The room lightened up when she prepared to sing a famous song of hers (okay, fine, she’s a singer). But, dear, you can’t sing your way to the senate (okay, another clue right there). She sang about three songs and even did a horrid duet with the other politician in the room who she kept referring to as “Mr. Vice President”. Seriously, you two, get real. The duet was a real disaster, in my humble opinion. “Mr. Vice President” didn’t really know the words to the song and looked positively dazed the whole time. It was a terrible and somewhat hilarious sight.

Anyway, funny politicians aside, the trip was a pleasant one. The sight was definitely amazing, but the weather was terrible during the day. It was extremely hot in some areas, while cold in some. At night, however, the weather was really cold and nice. It made walking along the hotel’s garden so relaxing and kind of soothing as well. And while I enjoyed my stay there and would definitely go back, I doubt I’d stay there for more than two days. There’s not much to see and do, really, apart from the usual souvenir shopping and the obligatory stop at Mushroom Burger.

By the way, I finished book # 3 (pictured above) today and have started on book # 4 which is A Convergence of Birds. “The Mysterious Benedict Society” deserves a separate entry and I will get to that later when I’m not so tired/lazy. I have this to say, however: I love Constance Contraire! I’m more than sure now that she’s my favorite character from the book. I know that its a series, but my priority is the book list right now. Maybe I should add book 2 & 3 to the list…