First of all, belated happy Easter everyone! Here’s to rebirth and new beginnings! It’s also getting quite hot, and with school out for most students, there’s simply no denying summer’s here. Of course, for working people like me, this mostly means I have to deal with more heat and humidity going to work—but the sun’s always welcome!
Summer vacation used to be long stretches of lazy days for me. I would spend mornings watching TV, and afternoon ‘till dusk playing with my friends in the street. Now that I’ve been officially an adult for a decade, and I’m not getting long summer vacations anymore, I can only fantasize what I would do if I had two and a half months to squander away!
• I would catch up on my reading. I probably have a thousand books on my reading list. Hundreds of them are on my bookshelf. I’ll finally force myself into reading Love in the Time of Cholera, since I’ll have time to cry my heart out and recuperate.
• I would catch up on my movie-watching. First, I would comb through video stores and get VCD copies of Filipino indie films I missed. Why VCD? For local films I want to watch, I only buy VCDs because DVDs are too expensive, and I don’t want to buy pirated copies.
• I would sleep, sleep, sleep. When I was young, my mother and my yayas would make us take noontime naps—something I totally resented back then, and something I wish I could still do now! I would sleep for 48 hours straight, if I could.
• I would take long road trips—get on a bus, and head for somewhere. I think it’s a cheaper and more intimate way to travel. Plus, it will help me catch up on my reading.
• I would go on a detox diet. It’s not as easy when you have regular working hours. I’ve heard the raw food diet is good for the body.
• Lastly, I wouldn’t waste so much time in front of the TV!
Enjoy your summer break, everyone!
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You think she speaks bad English
Still on Bb. Pilipinas-World Janina San Miguel, there was a very funny forward that went around the email circuit. I think it came from writer Rody Vera. He compiled comments posted online about Janina’s, er, unforgettable final interview.
Errors not mine, from hereon. My favorite it the last one!
1. “THE BLAME WILL GOES TO THE ORGANIZERS..SA SCREENING PA LANG DAPAT DI NA YUN NAKAPASOK..BKIT KC DI MGA ARTISTA INI ENCOURAGE NILA SUMALI? MGA MODEL? DAPAT KC KAHIT DI TAGA GMA PINASALI NILA. GANUN BA SILA MAG SCREENED? DIOS KO SA TAGAL KO NA NANOOD NG BEAUTY PAGEANT ITO NA ATA ANG PINAKA WORST AS IN ITO TALAGA..HIMALA NA LANG ANG PAG ASA NG MGA YUN!”
2. “i dont think this is funny. guys let us not be so self-righteius.”
3. “ang galing ni janina i guest she deserve that.”
4. “Poor Janina, the nation almost hates your triumphant. You don’t deserve the title. Sheila is correct you’re better to go back in elementary school for remedial class, surely you will learn and could able to speak English fluently and correctly. Please, don’t be arrogant next time if someone is asking you simply, by the time the host asked you, how do you feel tonight, you’re just only answering, ‘No, I’m not pressure’ is that a correct answer. how dare you... All i can say, you should learn more in English language, read English reading materials and practice your pronunciation.”
5. “i think she do not deserve to be bb.pilipinas world. even a grade one student know simple subject-verb agreement. plus, being a mass communication major, she must know the right pronounciation of words. she kept apologizing about her nervouseness...”
Email me your comments at alricardo@yahoo.com. You can also visit my blog at http://althearicardo.blogspot.com.