A Passion for Fashion (Wars)

I'm a self-confessed Facebook junkie, who has probably tried one too many applications out there. Add the fact that it doesn't take a lot to hook me when it comes to virtual stuff (all it takes is a lot of color, relatable interest, and the promise of sheer and utter brainlessness, really), and my latest FB app obsession comes as no surprise at all. Called Fashion Wars, it's all about showdowns with other divas in the "fashion world." There are various ways to purchase goodies and properties, which in turn helps you generate more cash and climb up the fashion superstar ladder. It's such a girly app, I know, but then, my geek taste has always been extremely, shamefully so.

In the two to three weeks I've been playing FW, I can truly say it's been a great time-wasting boredom buster, and beyond it's seemingly superficial facade (okay, it really is superficial, I'm just trying to deepen things down a bit, haha!), it can remind you of quite a few things about people and life in general. Such as:

• Sometimes, you're really just doing your best with what you've been dealt with, and people still smack you down or bitchslap you. From out of nowhere.
• Or sometimes, you've been nothing but nice, compassionate, supportive, a great pal, etc., etc., and surprise, surprise, you're the one who ends up being collateral damage.
  
• And when people are nothing but unfair and/or downright mean, your first instinct is to fight back and give them a dose of their own medicine. But is it really worth the energy and other wasted resources? Maybe not. Honey, you got style. ;)
  
• On the brighter side, sometimes, former peeves end up turning into allies or pals. All it takes are two open-minded individuals and someone with enough humilty to reach out. Ah, the wonders of reaching out. :D
  
• Sometimes you prepare yourself for something better to come, and it never does. Or maybe, it just hasn't yet. Patience, patience, patience. :)
• One day, you'll be so far up and basking in brightness that all the inconveniences and unfairness you have had to deal with totally becomes insignificant and irrelevant. And all the negativity thrown your way will barely make a dent. Just make sure you are set to get there.

See, FW can be enlightening too! So give it a shot, girlies (dudes too, if you want, but then...)! And make sure to add me to your posse while you're at it. ;)

Happy Monday

And then it hit her. There were many ways to skin a cat (or KILL a cat, as someone she knew preferred to put it).

She could go the melodramatic route...

Or she could spark it up a little. And let it be what it should be - funny, feisty and unrelenting.

After all, she of all people should know, engineering futilities is soooo last year.

On White Flags

To do our jobs, we have to believe defeat is not an option. That no matter how sick our patients get, there's hope for them. But even when our hopes give way to reality and we finally have to surrender to the truth, it just means we've lost today's battle, not tomorrow's war. Here's the thing about surrender: once you do it, actually give in, you forget why you were even fighting in the first place.
~ Meredith Grey, Grey's Anatomy

1500

It's just a day.

It's no longer the day you spent a month protecting. It's no longer the day when everything else takes a backseat. It's no longer that day.

It's just a day. So suck it up.

The Silver Lining

I finally finished my first Cecelia Ahern novel! No, it's not P. S. I Love You (which is still sitting in my shelf waiting to be read after a gazillion months, oopsie). Since I already kinda knew how P. S. I Love You is gonna go (depending on how faithful the movie was to the book, hehe), I opted to read her third novel first, the one entitled If You Could See Me Now, mainly because of the mysterious plot summary.

The book is about this guy named Ivan who is only visible to a little boy named Luke and his mothering aunt Elizabeth. He is what our world would call an invisible friend, who by convention should only be seen by kids but incidentally is seen by Elizabeth as well. What follows is a love story of the childlike, fairy tale kind, but with a reasonable amount of realism blended in that it doesn't seem too incredulous.

The novel felt long that it took me more than a month and a half to finally finish it (no, I wasn't reading the whole time :P), and it only seemed to pick up steam towards the middle of the book. Nonetheless, I was very much curious about how Elizabeth and Ivan will handle their growing affection (read: L-O-V-E) for each other despite their impossible situation. Would it be like City of Angels, with Ivan choosing to embrace humanity over his immortal, invisible friend status? Or was he merely preparing Elizabeth for eventually ending up like him, an invisible friend too? Of course, these are the two most typical possibilities, and Cecelia Ahern is more than typical. Or rather, she was typical in more ways than one.

If you really wanna know...

She eventually wrapped up the story by bringing things back in perspective, and back to reality, with Ivan turning invisible again, leaving Elizabeth by herself. Which is in fact the most realistic progression of things. Nevertheless, losing someone is always a sad, seemingly unacceptable thing especially when things feel right, perfect and meant to be, only to be riddled with the impossible. While the book dedicated two paragraphs on the nature of heartbreak (that I'd rather not quote because while it's nice, it cannot rival Stephenie Meyer's New Moon heartbreak quote anyway), there was not that much focus on sadness but the silver lining of things. Because indeed, sometimes people come into our lives to serve a purpose, and it could be as simple as making us realize a thing or two about ourselves, or pinpoint a much needed change like a breath of fresh air or a splash of color. And we also need to appreciate that amidst the struggle to come to terms with our sadness.

Unfortunately, in some cases, the why does not often come as quickly or as clearly as it did with Elizabeth and Ivan. Sometimes, the best thing to hope for is that one day our dark cloud's silver lining becomes apparent. Or sometimes, as Ivan so simplistically put it, the silver lining are the people themselves.

...Read more

Pilot Alert: Cupid

At first glance, the new Cupid (a remake of the 1998 series staring Jeremy Piven), seemed to be this huge cliche of a show... After all, haven't we had enough of matchmakers claiming fame as modern-day Cupid?

But the show is about real Cupid being banished from Mt. Olympus and his ticket back is successfully helping a hundred couples find true love. Cupid, who calls himself Trevor Pierce, has some sort of definition of what qualifies as true love, but I'd rather not quote it. Ha!

I've always been fascinated by Greek mythology, so the whole scene where Trevor is being quizzed by Claire, the shrink assigned to his case, about the Greek gods and goddesses totally did it for me. In addition, Bobby Cannavale, who plays Cupid/Trevor, while not exactly swoon-worthy, has just enough cockiness and sense of humor to earn the part (he's perfect as a bartender too). I'm still 50-50 on Claire and her extremely lecturing self but I hope that tips to a thumbs up soon since she has a 99.99% chance of being Cupid's Psyche (.01% for a shocking twist).

Of course, each episode has novelty potential, as we watch Cupid scour to match 200 souls (or rather 198 souls ;D). I happen to like the story featured in the pilot, which while predictable was still cute, mostly because the Irish musician Dave was such a sweetie and a cutie. I just hope that from hereafter, they feature more original, creative stories - a tough challenge in a world where romantic cliches run rampant.

But a hundred or so dashes of hopeless romanticism? Sure, why not. ;) As long as they aren't tacky.