I found this P50 facial mask from Watson’s and I must say that I am having fun with it. First, I think it’s a great product. It’s supposed to give moisture and improve the texture of your skin, and I think it will work nicely, if only I can follow the instructions and use one everyday for 6 days. Anyway, it’s not a natural acne treatment, but has this agar-like substance that’s quite cool to the skin. I think I’m buying a few more of those next time.

When the storm Basyang (Conson) hit Manila a couple of days ago, I was at the office, trying my best to finish my work so I can go home before the conditions worsen. Alas, I was not able to. I was there when the howling winds started to bring fear into my and all the other people’s consciousness. I decided to stay the night, and continue working, as it seems that it’s the safer alternative than to brave the rains and the nasty winds. That could have been disastrous. Good thing that for the past few months, I had been taking my vitamins quite religiously. I’m not a fan of no sleep, but when the situation calls for it … then I have no choice.

Together with a few colleagues who got “stranded,” we decided to go home when everything’s peaceful, which is actually far into the next morning. Looking at the fallen trees, the fallen billboards, and the pieces of glass and metals on the streets as we made our way home, we knew we made the right decision to hide from Basyang in the confines of our workplace.

Again, can I just say that I love Ebay? I love shopping online. I didn’t used to because being where I am, where such things are not really the norm, I was one of the more paranoid ones. Especially when I see the big transactions such as auto sales, house and lot, and even wholesale and stuff.

My biggest apprehension before comes from the fact that you’ll have to pay first, let go of your money, without knowing if the person on the receiving end will really send your stuff. Eventually, I learned how to spot non-legitimate ones. Although I must say anyone can be duped anytime. But I’ve sold quite a number of items myself, which was even fun besides being profitable, and have bought quite a lot, too. I even ventured into one of those COD on meet up arrangement, and all’s well. I do recommend it.

I #0-something friend of mine was urging me to buy this product – a face lifting cream that’s supposed to make you look 15 years younger. I don’t know if I’ll be thankful or insulted. What do you think? Before I was able to open my mouth, came more product testimonials: “Look at me, nobody thinks I’m in my #0s.” Gulp.  All I want is something for the dark circles around the eyes.

That sound you (I) hear is not the vuvuzela. Although World Cup enthusiasts are probably loving that name – it even topped Justin Bieber on trending topics in Twitter – my ears are stinging from the sound of media attack against Roger Federer. It’s worse than a stainless steel drum just because I lack sleep and woke up to harsh write ups and comments.

Sure, Federer was surly, and bitter, and sarcastic, and maybe even self-delusional in his post-game presser after losing his quarterfinal match yesterday. But I’d give the guy a break. It’s, what, a few minutes after a very disappointing loss for him. He shouldn’t have spoken his mind, especially because he was wrong. It maybe was an uncharacteristic loss of cool and class, but don’t bury him like he’s not done anything good all these years. Oh, well. That’s the price of excellence, I guess. You lose it, you (superficially) lose everything.

Even if you know squat about tennis, you probably have heard from the news how one match at the ongoing Wimbledon tournament in London has gone for 3 days – 11 hours and 5 minutes – with a final scoreline of 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68.

70-68! That deserves to be in bold, large, large font if only I know how to manipulate this html thing. John Isner won the match of the tournament against Nicolas Mahut (because unless Federer and Nadal can stage something magical, if they both reach the final, nothing will beat this one). I say give these guys bow ties and celebrate their effort at the Champions Dinner at the end of the fortnight.

I do believe nothing like that will happen again, at least not in the next hundred years. Simply unbelievable.

Ok, so I just woke up and I HAD to look at the mirror to see my puffy face. That’s sooo discouraging. Where are those weight loss products when you need them?

So, just like any normal person would do, I went straight for my laptop to check my e-mails and then my Facebook and Twitter pages. Hah! I got a new message from a friend asking me about badminton, so I guess that’s the last push I need to decide that today is definitely going to be badminton day. At least tonight. No work, no chores can stop me. Pretty please.

There’s this Patty Griffin song that really grabbed a hold of me. It’s called Up to the Mountain. American Idol fans would most recently recognize this song from Crystal Bowersox’s finale performance. Others will more fondly remember this rendition, which is actually what drove me to look for everything than Patty Griffin has ever recorded.

Lyrics:

I went up to the mountain
Because you asked me to
Up over the clouds
To where the sky was blue
I could see all around me
Everywhere
I could see all around me
Everywhere

Sometimes I feel like
I’ve never been nothing but tired
And I’ll be walking
Till the day I expire
Sometimes I lay down
No more can I do
But then I go on again
Because you ask me to

Some days I look down
Afraid I will fall
And though the sun shines
I see nothing at all
Then I hear your sweet voice, oh
Oh, come and then go, come and then go
Telling me softly
You love me so

The peaceful valley
Just over the mountain
The peaceful valley
Few come to know
I may never get there
Ever in this lifetime
But sooner or later
It’s there I will go
Sooner or later
It’s there I will go

I think it’s one of the most beautiful songs ever written. But I do get to think that with every song that I love. Anyway, it’s apparently written as a tribute for Martin Luther King, but those lyrics can resonate to different people in many different ways. Patty Griffin is an amazing singer-songwriter. (I linked Kelly’s version because she’s an amazing interpreter of songs). If it doesn’t sound so sad, I’ll make it a ring tone. Which will make me sadder because I only get phone calls from those disability insurance agents these days.

“I hate photoshoots. It’s like you’re there all day and you end up with four pictures that you use for everything.”

Hahaha! I love this girl. What she said about the red carpet walk is pretty darn true, it’s amusing to hear it from a star herself.  One other thing that sets Kelly Clarkson apart from most wannabe singers, besides her having a one-of-kind truly awesome voice, is her insistence to stay normal and not be “tainted” by Hollywood. Sure, we want our stars all glittery and elegant and nice to look at (because that’s their job), and we have movie stars for that, but sometimes having these down-to-earth types is all the more refreshing. So rock on, KC. And she doesn’t really need those apidexin reviews people are talking about.

I just downloaded Glee’s vol. 3 album (not sure if this is just a fan compilation; the album may not have been released yet), and for some reason I always skip Olivia Newton John and Jane Lynch’s song Physical. I’m not dissing it, and I don’t have anything against it, but I must admit the music video concept during the show’s episode is quite funny.

Which reminds me that I ‘m supposed to rant here about missing my badminton games last night. I had too much to do and attend to, I had to give up the only thing I’m looking forward to every weekend. Sure is the fastest way to burn fat, if you do it consistently.