The Pharmacy(TM)

*** User KILLJOY logged on/Thurs 18Nov04 10:57pm ***

KILLJOY> Anyone home?

ROCKBABY> Yo.

*** User LUNCHMATE logged on/Thurs 18Nov04 11:02pm ***

ROCKBABY> Hey Lunch. How was Cambodia?

LUNCHMATE> Cambodia turned to Hongkong.

ROCKBABY> How was Hongkong?

LUNCHMATE> Didn’t go. Schedule’s turned to crap lately. The office let me go a week too late.

ROCKBABY> Tell me about it. I’m stuck for the rest of the year. No holidays for this one.

KILLJOY> Am at my last few days of holiday myself.

LUNCHMATE> That’s life in the rat race dudes. Hey rock, thanks for the invite last time. How was the gig?

ROCKBABY> We sort of filled the entire bar. Mostly young crowd. Nothing stirs the blood like the sight of red hot yuppies–all younger than you.

LUNCHMATE> Glad to hear. KJ, hows the truth about cats and dogs?

KILLJOY> We’ve set our sights elsewhere. The office-flame wasn’t panning out too well. No loss. Or rather, cut-loss.

LUNCHMATE> Can the loser talk man. Is elsewhere worth your time?

KILLJOY> Been out a number. Generally pleasant. I’m pleasantly surprised actually.

ROCKBABY> Clinical as a dentist’s ass… Contemplate murder over a cup of tea why don’t you?

KILLJOY> Who says I haven’t? Hey Lunch, shame about Hongkong man. Weather is pretty peachy this time of year. Conducive.

LUNCHMATE> Yup, got the big "L" stamped on my butt for the remainder of the year. Anyways, catch you guys soon. Rock, that next gig?

ROCKBABY> Will let you guys know soon. Bring this dentist with you. Maybe elsewhere is interested too?

KILLJOY> Har. But a curious thought. We’ll see.

LUNCHMATE> =) KJ’s caught the tripwire. Bye guys!

ROCKBABY> Bye lunch. Buy KJ.

KILLJOY> Bye!

*** User LUNCHMATE logged off/Thurs 18Nov04 11:38pm ***
*** User KILLJOY logged off/Thurs 18Nov04 11:38pm ***
*** User ROCKBABY logged off/Thurs 18Nov04 11:39pm ***

Just saw the movie "The Incredibles" recently.

Growing up a TV and movie-buff, one of the startling realisations you get is that real life isn’t as clear cut as the movies. You grow up expecting to see heroes and villains but instead find the world populated with spectators and bystanders. Then you look closer and actually find some of those heroes and villains you were looking for but in the guise of "ordinary" folks.

But we’ve all heard stories of regular joes going the extra mile to do some good and accomplish astonishing feats (e.g. raising a family, starting a business empire, writing a bestseller, starting a revolution, etc.). When you meet these superstars, you find that despite their larger-than-life reputations, they are actually just like you and me.

(Case in point: saw Juday recently on one movie date. Turns out, she watches movies too.)

What strikes you later as an adult is that the converse is also true: the bad villains you were looking for (the type you’d expect to commit the worst things) are just like you and me too. They don’t look, talk, or walk any different. They read the same books, listen to the same music, and go to the same schools as you and I. Many of them are healthy, productive members of society–and subject to the same pains, pleasures, and feelings as any of us.

Killers, deceivers, violators, transgressors–all the dark side of human nature, are still very much human.

Most people would not be prepared to accept this fact. And in fact, many rebel against it so much, that they shut off and blindly condemn and condone. We refuse to look at a mirror and admit that we have seen the enemy, and it is us.

Then the jaded: what now separates the line between good and evil? How does one judge say, one who takes one life to save another, or for that matter, allows another to die rather than live an unbearable existence? Just two of many countless instances where our very own notion of morality breaks down.

Outside the movies, there are no good and evil in this world. There are only the human, the inhuman, and those who try their best to live the only way they know how.

I breezed by the Living Asia channel last night and saw a cute quote during an info-mercial about a beach. Just out of curiosity, I searched the web today and found three versions of that Confucian-profundity I saw (shown as follows in the order that I found them):

"It doesn’t matter how slow you walk, as long as you keep moving."
"It doesn’t matter how slow you go, as long as you do not stop."
"It doesn’t matter how slow you walk, as long as you reach your destination."

Thought about it a bit, and it seems to me that one is an encouragement, one is a threat, and one is command. Although part of me thinks that the true sense of whatever the great philosopher meant might have been lost in the translation of it (context is a tricky thing, after all)–I get two thoughts from this experience:

1. Movement, or motion, must have been a big thing in the ancient world.
2. Communication, depends as much on the sender as the receiver.

Crazy thoughts huh? Well, considering that I’ve just started my long-desired (and in my opinion, deserved) vacation just this week, I’m allowing my mind a few days to snap out of it’s default mode. Working in risk management and the endless falacies that it entails (for a living, we try to make patterns out of nothing you see) I’m wont to think that after nearly year of statistical hell, my brain’s synapses might still be firing even at a thought as mundane as reading a mis-translated quote by Confucius on a beach channel.

Oops, did I say mis-translated? How would I even know? Qualified, statistically-backed assumptions? Hopefully not. The last think I want to do right now is qualify anything. Anyway, I would probably give it some more thought and then see. Until then, I’ll be catchin some Zs.

Who I want to Meet:

It’s 1:54am as I begin typing this note and part of me wonders why I seem bent on a coming up with a description now–not exactly optimal decision science (my only other option being sleep).

So, things being the way they are, I guess the likely answer would be–anyone who would rather not suffer the insanity of sleep (or pretending to, for that matter) at this ungodly hour.

Interesting personalities preferred (the ones perfect for late-night chit chat), and especially movie-buffs (as it would be a perfect way to spend these late hours), story-buffs, and travel-buffs.

To elaborate on that last bit, anyone who wouldn’t mind travelling around the night city at 2am .

I wouldn’t mind doing the actual driving too, you know.

*** User KILLJOY logged on/Thurs 23Sep04 12:51am ***

KILLJOY>Anyone home?

LUNCHMATE>Me here.

KILLJOY>How are you lunch?

LUNCHMATE>Just fine. Been here for a couple of minutes. You?

KILLJOY>Just got home. Traffic’s been bad. As usual. You doing?

LUNCHMATE>Just checking mail. Nothing new. Some friend-folks planning for a trip to cambodia. Backpacking stuff.

KILLJOY>Sounds like fun.

LUNCHMATE>Except.

KILLJOY>Except?

LUNCHMATE>They’re getting pretty good at deciding nothing. Long story. How’s life?

KILLJOY>Got really slammed today.

LUNCHMATE>Meaning?

KILLJOY>Just decided that I really like her, but somehow can’t ask her out.

LUNCHMATE>This same girl? So what’s keeping?

KILLJOY>Office stuff. Never shit where you eat. The inevitable gossip’s killing the romance.

LUNCHMATE>I never figured you for the romantic type. You’re a deep one, but not too deep I hope. Bury you in if you are.

KILLJOY>Feels like it sometimes. Can’t move. Too much work to care, I guess.

LUNCHMATE>That’s all I needed to hear: ‘I guess’. You’re not serious. Save you and her the trouble. Buy a dog instead.

KILLJOY>Got a dog. He’s eloping with the cat.

LUNCHMATE>Lucky cat.

KILLJOY>Lucky dog. Anyway, catch you later. Tell me about cambodia sometime. Bye!

LUNCHMATE>Sure. If it happens. Bye!

*** User KILLJOY logged off/Thurs 23Sep04 1:02am ***

He clicks on the calculator accidentally, twice, before he manages to switch on the notepad. He pauses for a brief moment to gather his thoughts–which are at the moment, a swirling hodge-podge of random thoughts.

He glances around at his room, currently a mess (like so many parts of his life). Another brief pause, then he begins to write:

"Change is good. Not always pleasant, not always expected, not always welcome–but always good. I use the term ‘good’ here, not in the moral or ethical sense (since that debate will never be satisfied)–perhaps ‘beneficial’ is a better term.

I speak of change because at the moment, I am at the verge of a very striking one…"

He stops again after typing those last few words. And against better judgement, he decides not to erase them from his notepad entry. He was always such a formal writer–he smiles at the thought. It’s consistent with his image–near everyone around him considers him to be a serious type. Consistency is a serious attribute and it satisfies his sensibilities to be consistent.

There he went again…. He laughs at the thought. Actually, his life is far from consistent. Interesting would have been a better word (like the chinese proverb).

At this point he suddenly decides that his life should be more than about better words to describe itself. So he stops, and before he switches off his computer, realises that in thinking about what to write, he had inadvertently written everything that he had thought.

Now that’s something pleasant? Unexpected? Welcome?

Change is good.

Who I Want To Meet:

Someone with an odd occupation–like:

1. Bingo Number Caller
2. Condom Tester
3. Coffin Maker
4. Odor Sniffer
5. Hand Model (or for that matter… foot model)

etc. etc. etc.

There’s always something to be said about human intuition — the gut feel. You see, I never trusted intuition… too flawed to be reliable. I think the stronger people believe in something, the less likely it is to be of any worth to me. Unfortunately, this has made me quite cynical lately.

Because you can never figure out the madness in most people: they prefer a sure small gain over the prospect of a better gain; or shun a sure small loss over the prospect of an even larger loss.

Which is why:

you stay that (one more) extra hour for that paycheck, but insist it’s really the work.

you take that one exciting night with your lover, but insist that you still love your boring husband or wife.

you take that complicated detour, and insist that getting to your destination 5 minutes earlier was worth the hassle.

you eschew people who made it big in showbiz, in sports, a gameshow, inheritance, or a raffle, and insist that 100 years of hard work to achieve the same is more satisfying.

you quit your job because you couldn’t stand the environment anymore and could never find your calling in that company, but insist that it was still a fair and equitable employer and reminisce about the times you spent there.

(for the business graduates) you swore you would never accept a sales position, even in a nice, reputable company, and insist that the humongous perks and commissions their salesmen receive isn’t worth the hassle.

(again, for the business graduates) you always insisted back in school that you’d be in a corporate ’something’ (corporate law, corporate banking, corporate research, corporate marketing), without knowing the hell you were talking about, and insist that retail is the pits.

you buy a cellphone for from a spiffy dealer, and insist that you could never pay 50% less and lose the 6-month warrantly on service.

your first investment is in whole-life insurance, where you give up a portion of your first income on a million-to-one bet that you might die, in order to financially protect the members of your family, who probably aren’t even your dependents.

you would always think of yourself as either the hero or the victim, never as the unassuming joe observer-usisero in the background.

you always judge people by the road that lies before them, not by the road that lies behind them.

you remember that one occasion you suffered, rather than the numerous times you had it good.

you insist that when you’ve suffered quite enough, there’s no way to go but up.

Who I’d Want To Meet:

Actually, been meeting a number of "interesting" people lately.

There’s this girl (a banker) who, a little worse for wear because of several beers and vodka, insists on lecturing this guy (a debt collector), who’s even more drunk than she was, on the basics of bank lending and credit policy. You can imagine how interesting that conversation went.

Had some discharged battery incidents lately–owing to my carelessness of leaving car lights on. Fortunately, you can have a brand new battery delivered right at your location anytime, anywhere. The delivery dude doubles as a mechanic and would replace your dead battery free of charge. He cracks silly green jokes while working.

Need I say more? If you’re more interesting than the above examples, I’d love to meet you!

Sometime last year, the following algorithm was pointed out to me:

Total set:
1 day = 24 hours = 100%

Less:
Avg. total time:
asleep = 8 hours = 33.34%
in traffic (driving/commute) = 2 hours = 8.34%
freshening up (am/pm) = 2 hours = 8.34%
eating (bfst/lnch/dner) = 3 hours = 12.5%
at work = 8 hours = 33.34%

Total Deductions = 23 hours = 95.84%

Remaining set = 1 hour = 4.16%

One realises how easy it is to live such a mundane life if one is not careful.

The implications vary from person to person: for instance, I see more and more people eating less and less (unfortunately only to eat even more eventually) while others fall into that easy temptation to blame their job for their lack of life (conversely they also blame life for their lack of money).

And, although I have not met a person who readily admits disregarding personal hygiene, I have a few suspects.

As for me, I rarely sleep nowadays.

Who I Want to Meet:

Got a riddle for anyone who cares to read:

Imagine two people, separated by a distance. (Not that hard for most people). Then imagine: for one of them to reach the other, he/she must first cross half the distance between them, right? Now, to cross the other half, he/she must then cross half of the remaining distance, right?

Now, if you think about it, one can actually spend forever crossing half the remaining distance to another person, for you can infinitely divide any distance by half.

How is it then possible for any two people to meet? If you know the answer (witty or otherwise), zap me a message. I’d love to meet you. =)

Actually, I had a revelation lately.

"The best way to predict your future is to create it."

I thought I’d been living a reactive life for the most part: you know, go where the wind blows kind of stuff. Never realised that I’m just the product of the choices I’ve made. There are no true victims in this world. There are just the bitter and the sweet.

As with all revelations–mine is a bit convuluted as you can probably tell. But I’ll just end this description with two more quotes:

"What won’t kill you makes you stronger."

and slightly connected: (From the Matrix Reloaded)

"I remember that I stand before you, not because of the path that lies before me–but because of the path that lies behind me… and after a century of war, I remember that which matters most: we are still here!"

This is a temporary insanity.

Who I Want to Meet:

You! If you’re someone who enjoys the journey as much as the destination.

You think it’s that easy? Some people don’t even want to go on a trip in the first place.

Gonna be a little theoretical nowadays:

Game theory, (John Nash in a Beautiful Mind?) debunks Adam Smith’s "Invisible Hand" which states that if everyone works for their own benefit, everyone benefits as a result.

Like consider two capital criminals nabbed by the NBI on circumstantial evidence: both are given the same offer–if one admits to being in the crime with the other person, one is given amnesty while the other is dealt the death penalty. In the scenario, if either caves to the offer, the net result is worse (both will be sentenced, having admitted the crime). However, if both of them deny the crime, they both walk.

Or, like in the movie, consider a scenario where there are four guys looking for a date. In comes five girls: a blonde and four brunettes. If according to Adam Smith, all of the guys go for the blonde–they first cancel each other out, then if they go for the brunettes after, none of them get any either (since no girl, brunette or otherwise, wants to be a second choice). However, if they all go for the brunettes at the onset (meaning, not exactly the optimal decision, but the one accomodating to all), they all get laid.

Not that I’m promoting capital crime and promiscuity. Simply put, I’m starting to be a believer in "win-win".

Who I Want to Meet:

Haha… now that you think about it–a brunette! And an NBI agent! (You’ll never know when that will be handy.)

Also, I want to meet someone with an Ice Monster franchise. There are NO Ice Monsters in Quezon City and Marikina. I may have found my calling.

If these books exist, they would be nice to have:

"Dencio’s Cookbook"
"Play Pop on Piano and Guitar in 3 Days"
"Roget’s Multilingual Thesaurus" (English-Filipino-Mandarin-French-Spanish edition)
"The Out of Bed Look: A Guide to Hair"
"Quotable Quotes"
"Taking Care of Your Mercedes Benz"
"Life of The Party: 500 Anecdotes to Spice Up Your Evenings" (English and Filipino)
"Mix Cocktails and Shooters"
"The Win-Win Situation"
"Getting Rid of Awkward Moments"
"Fashionography I: Shirts and Jackets and Sweaters"
"Updated Gimikeros Guide to Bars, Restos, and other Happening Places" (Metro Manila and Cebu edition)
"Dimsum"
"100 Exciting Ways to Lose Money"
"101 Boring Ways to Make Money"
"102 Boring Ways to Make Money Work For You"
"Baking Basics"
"Flowers!"
"Beanbag and the Bachelor’s Pad: Interior Design Basics"
"The Only Real Diet Book"
"Street Atlas: Major World Cities"
"The Book of Names"
"What is Nouveau?"
"Scents and Sensibility: Cologne to Perfume and Everything In Between"
"Fashionography II: Belts and Pants"
"The Celebrity Almanac: 500BC to Present"
"The Right Gift"
"Corn Ice: The New Mais Con Hielo–A Commentary on Ice Monster"
"Use Your Intuition"
"Do Something New Everyday"
"Packaging Yourself"
"Power Workouts"
"A Guide to Shopoholics"
"Magic Sing-a-long Song Book" (comes with magic mic)
"The Dance Book: History and Method (From Ballet to Ballroom, Rave to HipHop)"
"Self-Defense 101"
"Fashionography III: Shoes and Sandals"
"Asian Hotspots: Lan Kwai Fong to Boat Quay to Phat Pong"
"Stargazer’s Guide to Constellations"
"The Things People Do"
"Windowshopping"
"The Spa and Salon Manual"
"Finding Contentment"
"Gadget Magazine"

and of course:

"How to Tell a Girl You See Everyday How Much You Like Her Without Freaking Her Out And Hopefully Learn That She Likes You In Return As If It Were Fate That You Met"