Ate's Wedding

I'm really proud of my Ate.

That statement succinctly sums up my reaction to her wedding.

For the information of the general public, Eula Marie E. Bataller got married last October 20, 2012 in a wedding ceremony held at Our Lady of Fatima parish. It wasn't a lavish wedding (I was a lector for several weddings and I can say that with confidence) but it was complete. All the people that really mattered were there: family, friends, and God. Just like what my Ate wanted when she confided to me several months back.

Now, allow me to qualify why I'm so proud of my Ate.

First, she never broke my parents' trust. She and her fiance ultimately adhered to the saying, "Kasal sa, bago buntis", and proved, in these cynical times, that true love can really wait.

This might seem quite a mundane achievement to some but, for me, inundated lately with a lot of news of friends, relatives, and acquantainces getting pregnant out of wedlock, her wedding was a breath of fresh air.

Second, she saved for this event. Admittedly, putting up the money to hold a wedding was a joint effort between her and Tyrone (my brother-in-law's name), but still, she saved money. My ate, who is not exactly known as a saver, did something quite contrary to her established nature.

Third, she managed the wedding with full grace and poise. No frantic last-minute arrangements, no hang-ups, no stressed moments. Just her great smile. You could blame the wedding planner for this though. But for someone with no professional event planning skills to boast about, she did pull it off.

And did I mention she was other-worldly beautiful that day? 

Six Degrees Of Separation

Just want to get my facts straight.

I think I mumbled this up during my conversations in the office but I wasn't sure if I got it right. Basically, I tried to explain that each of us can be related, by way of actual relation or information, to just about anyone in the world through several people (I mentioned eight but the actual number is six).

I also think the Wikipedia article can do the explaining better:

Six degrees of separation is the idea that everyone is on average approximately six steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world, so that a chain of "a friend of a friend" statements can be made, on average, to connect any two people in six steps. It was originally set out by Frigyes Karinthy and popularized by a play written by John Guare.

Cool, isn't it? Nowadays, some are already stipulating that all of us can now be connected by just four degrees.

Gymming

Gymming is a term I got from Kit Loma. And yes. I'm still going to the gym. Alone.

I'm writing  this post because of some habits I've observed among the gym rats. Actually, I'm annoyed with these mannerisms but since I'm not the only one paying for the use of the gym, I have to put up with these annoyances every time I go. I'm writing this down because you, reader, might be guilty of one of these and it is my hope that, now being aware, you'll stop from getting on my nerve.

1.) Dropping the dumbbells - There's this guy who, after finishing his sets, drops his dumbbells. He doesn't gently put these on the floor. He drops them from several inches up. It's annoying because it's not necessary, it's loud, and he's clearly doing it to show off.

2.) Grunting - There's also this guy who does a lot of guttural noises whenever he does push-ups. Every time he does it, I roll my eyes and wish he'll just shut up. There's no need to advertise your macho effort or your distress.

3.) Staying Too Long In An Equipment - I also understand that you need time to recover after a grueling set but if you stay for five minutes, just sitting there on the workout bench, I'm going to ask myself why you're wasting my time. Sit somewhere else. I need to use the pull-up bar.

4.) Staring At Me - I'm not flattered whenever you do that. I'll just think of you as a closet gay guy looking at me. Creepy. Stare at someone else please.

Facial

Okay.

By the time you see me again, I'll have a scar slightly above my left eyebrow. Plus, some of my eyebrow hair shall be missing. I'll be Harry Potter except that my scar wasn't brought on by malevolent forces but only by a freak accident.

Still, I think I'm cool with that. It's going to add some character to my face (as if I needed another one) and it's going to be another topic during dinner which I can talk about when I'm with my friends ("How did you get that scar? What happened? Tralalalala...")

I'm just eternally grateful it didn't get my eye or teeth. Now, that would be a tragedy.

A Book?

I was thinking of having this blog published as a book in time for this blog's fifth year anniversary next year. It's going to be self-published and I got the idea while I was perusing through a bookstore and saw Jessica Zafra's Twisted, a series of books about her columns. 

It's interesting because I never thought I'd see myself still writing in this blog after three to four years. I've always thought blogging was going to be a pastime I'd grow out of as soon as I find something new to do.

So I'm publishing a book by next year and it's going to be a physical collection of everything I wrote in this blog. Maybe, ten or five copies are enough, just so I could have an archive of sorts if ever Google goes down and takes my blog along with it (the horror).