Michael Bolton.

so for the white elephant i ended up buying michael bolton's christmas cd and a 4-pack of mini sutter home wine bottles. it got a lukewarm reception when it was opened. i should've went with the tiger woods book.

i came away with some cheap canvas painting.

i never found out who submitted this painting to the exchange. there were 43 participants/gifts, and most of us are too embarrassed to fess up to what tacky shit we bought. it could've been homemade for all i know. how sad would that be if one of my co-workers was an undercover artist and the owner of their painting never knew they painted it? this is probably the only type of white elephant gift where you must know who gave it and what the story was behind it.

well, i guess the mystery of it will be what makes it interesting. i've got no knowledge or taste in art, so i can't really speak on it. and this thing is probably hideous to anyone with any artistic taste, but at least i'll get to wonder who and where the F it's from.

Notes from work today.

work hard, play hard.

no phrase better describes the advertising industry, especially the media department (although i'd like to note that i hardly do either, i can just see how it applies to the majority of people around me).

after listening to co-workers complain for months about salary and taking into consideration my own financial desires, i've decided to improve the accuracy of this description as it applies to my department:

work hard, play hard. pay's hard.

in other news, the media department is having a white elephant on wednesday. the gifts last year were horrendous. knowing that this time around, i'm extremely tempted to buy a tiger woods book. i found one today at borders. the title was 'follow the roar'.

i couldn't stop chuckling. but. i'm afraid i'll offend someone. so i'll go with something more neutral and generic. fits my personality at work more anyway.

Reasons why I love my girlfriend.

#004

she's kind of weird.

a big part of who i am is my randomness and appreciation for things being said and done that are normally out of place. and katrina can definitely keep up.

exhibit A: our epic dance battles in the car. when a hot song comes on, i like to sometimes impersonate white girls grinding or sneak a gay man's rodeo in here and there. and instead of looking at me disgusted, she'll battle back with some quirky moves of her own (although blended with her superior Team Millennia hip hop skills).

if she's not gonna be weird with me, i'm thankful that she can at least accept the solo weird habits i have. e.g. my dependence on wearing socks while at home. my abundance of gayness with other straight guys. eating the lettuce that's only supposed to be garnishments for our food at asian restaurants. and quoting black movies/tv episodes knowing full well that no one else in the conversation will understand my references.

but it's not a turn-off to her because she brings her own weird set of traits to the table. because i love her and never wish to embarrass her, i will not list any of them here. i'll just enjoy and accept them like she does mine, because i know these are habits and moments that only she and i will connect on.

so happy 3 years and 4 months to my little goofball. i love you!

Thank you, Tiger Woods.

for providing ample conversation material at company socials. i'd still be an awkward asian creep in the corner if i wasn't able to randomly say "i can't believe tiger woods" at any given moment of silence. it sure as hell beats commenting on the cold weather!

93 'Til Infinity.

for the 1st time in 16 years, all of nanay and tatay's children and grandchildren, with the addition of great grandchildren now, were in one place.

a lot has changed since 1993, when we all came together for their 50th golden anniversary celebration. the top of my head is now bald instead of bowled. we're older and (hopefully) wiser. and man, the babies. the great grandbabies are everywhere. little chubby-cheeked bundles of cuteness everywhere i looked on saturday.

but as far as i can tell, the family's stayed the same. just as we did 16 years ago, we laugh, we dance, and of course, many drink.

we've fought and struggled with each other along the way. but always, it comes back to laughing.

i can only hope nanay is pleased with how we've turned out. by the look of her smile and the sight of her walking and dancing like i haven't seen in years, i'd guess that she is. i've just got to remember every day moving forward that celebrating her life and tatay's doesn't stop there. the celebration must be in everything i do.

M.I.A.

this week i did what i've actually been telling myself to do since working after college:

stop getting distracted on the job.

that means fuck facebook. chill out on the charger news. and X out the aim.

i report to 3 different teams now. good for my reputation. bad for doing anything fun at work on my computer.

i never did TOO much online in the daytime anyway, so hopefully my friends and family won't miss me. i just don't want everybody to forget about me.

we'll see how long this lasts.

Kaboom. Guess who stepped in the room.

bad decision of the day: i wore a new pair of nikes to work. they were high tops and i was wearing low ankle socks, and the skin on my ankles was dry.

it's a terrible week to be half-black with an unusual first name. barack can't please anyone about the war in aghanistan. and tiger!? tiger woods y'all, it is not all good y'all.

can i keep this going?