Proj 70 of 365 - a shoe story

07.08.09

i was feeling really uneasy, unable to wink myself to sleep. it was around midnight and here i was perturbed, very uncomfortable like i always am when i wanted to do something.

it has to be done, here and now.

i opened my closet, took out all my shoes from their boxes and arranged them in a huge circle on the floor. one by one, until each and every box was emptied and their contents laid on the bottom.

i then took a picture of all my shoes arranged in a neat, perfect circle. but that picture, i realized in the end, wouldn’t be shared else i will be teased on my attempt on being imeldific. or shamed because, i don’t have that many shoes compared to her. i mean, no one else could possibly surpass her vast collection.

then i took a snapshot of every pair. i was always wanting to organize the shoe boxes by putting pictures of what’s inside. convenient and easy. i had unlabelled boxes, plus, my old pictures on the boxes badly need replacements as accumulated dust and paper tears and folds are here and there.

then i came with my pair of glads, gladiator flats.

i got this pair in HK while on vacation with the family late last year. it was love at first sight. it fit perfectly, it was in, and it was a unique find! my sister, who shared the same shoe love with me, also got herself a pair of the same glads in a different size.

we couldn’t contain ourselves at the remaining days of the trip, or at least I couldn’t. i kept on planning outfits to go with the new pair. when i shopped, i looked for items i could wear together with the new acquisition. i wanted to go home to try out stuff in my closet if it’d go well with pair. yes, a pair of shoes can make you gaga.

after seemingly a while, it was time to go home. yaey, i’ll soon strut my stuff with my gladiators!

never tired of shopping, hitting the mall was one of the things we did when we came back. i was satisfied to see that though a few gladiators have been popping out in the stores, mine was unique - the style, cut, color, quality isn‘t available yet.

imagine how i felt when staring in front of my eyes, was the exact style, cut, color and quality - a clone, a sister. and yes, there was a bunch of them in stock!

“oh, it’s not unique anymore. at least, mine was a steal.”, i consoled myself. i made another mistake by turning the shoe over and not resisting to glance at the price tag. the clone, err, sister gladiator, costs a few hundreds less!

ouch.

Proj 69 of 365 - come hither

07.04.09

in front of us, an array of uber delish desserts was in plain sight. to the one with the sweet tooth, it was beckoning to be tasted, relished and savored.

but i was too busy clanking with my laptop to notice and take notice of the delightful temptation in front of me.

out of theblue, he thought out loud, “i want to eat a cake.”

surprised, since he was never the one to crave for something sweet, my attention now shifted to the enticing thought at hand. “what’s it gonna be?”

“i can’t make up my mind”, he replied. as an afterthought, “i know you love blueberry cheesecake and cheesecakes in general, but you know i’m not a fan.”

bummer.

but i can always compromise, after all, a chocoholic can almost never run out of cake options.

i looked at the display, inspecting each cake and imagining what each would taste like.

chocolate -oooh, so decadent and sinfully sweet.

blueberry cheesecake - stop looking longingly at it, commanded myself to myself.

triple chocolate - triple the chocolatey fun!

mocha - of soft-melts-in-your-mouth chiffon with a hint of tangy coffee.

i offered him my top choices, omitting the cheesecake of course.

he battled with his mind for a bit, but was unable to come up with anything. to add to the dilemma, he piped in, “oreos and cream cheesecake maybe interesting, but i dunno, it’s still cheesecake.”

but if I can’t have my blueberry cheesecake, no one can have cheesecake. (evil laugh). “no cheesecake.”, i smiled.

“triple chocolate maybe too much”, he countered. mentally, i scrapped chocolate heaven off the list. now we have two options. two life changing options.

“either would be fine, I guess. your call.”, he supposed.

not wanting to make the decision myself mainly because i can’t decide, I opposed, “nah, i dunno too. you choose, you wanted to eat cake in the first place.”

on and on the thought of mocha versus chocolate was running in my head - but it was just so hard. because if i would’ve made up my mind, i would’ve declared whether i was much of a caffeine-addict than a chocolate-freak, or vice versa.

in the end, we just finished our coffee and pushed the temptation off our heads.

Proj 68 of 365 - moments like this

(06.28.09)

sometimes it feels like we’ve been programmed to put on a face when we know someone’s watching. a smiling, happy face at that.

moments like this, when we're caught off-guard, when we smile without knowledge or care that someone's looking or not, radiating the happiness we feel down inside - NOW, that's special.

Proj 67 of 365 - the final bow

(06.26.09)

creativity comes in many forms and the possibilities are definitely endless – all it takes is a bit of ingenuity, originality, inspiration and you’ve got your masterpiece. there is nothing you can’t do even if all you have is some masking tape and carpet.

this sight surprised us all when we came into the office.

inspired by MJ’s untimely demise, three officemates have knowingly or unknowingly created a tribute of some sorts to the king of pop.

“the final bow”, i’d like to think.

Proj 66 of 365 - the fight

(06.25.09)
at first glance, the pink rubbery baller band just might as well be anything. it can be a child’s accessory or something picked out from the accessory shop.

but this band’s special since this reminds me of the fight I’m currently in.

almost a week ago, i embarked on my fight which just started as my first of a series of three. i came out the first time with a needle mark, a sore arm, a bandaid and the pink baller band as trophies of my battle.

the fight against cervical cancer is definitely on.

*cervical cancer, according to statistics, is second to breast cancer as the “killers” in women. as nothing can be done to prevented breast cancer, women can now safeguard themselves against cervical cancer with immunization against the HPV, the virus which causes the dreaded cancer.

Proj 65 of 365 - moving out

(06.19.09)

i come to work everyday, sitting on the same cubicle straight out of college.

it was at the center of everything, just as i liked it – right at the middle of office chitchat and just ‘round the corner for afternoon snacks.

and now, it's pretty amazing to think that everything that makes my cube what it is can be contained in just a few boxes – memorabilia, office supplies, trinkets, and those little things. all my accumulated stuff in what seems like so many years can just be dumped in just so few containers.

and yet, by the end of the day, there was no goodbye ceremonies nor there was any ritual. i was pretty much excited to be in my new cubicle in our new building and too tired and sore from the packing to feel sentimental.

and so, for the last time, just like any other day, i walked out of the cubicle I’ve been working for the past 4+ years.

Proj 64 of 365 - coffin boxes

(06.18.09)

as so often-times heard: “someone’s trash can still be someone else’s treasure”.

with this train of thought on my mind, i say:

“someone’s old printer boxes maybe someone else’s coffin.” :D

*marvin so gamely played dead (without anyone even asking him to) and i couldn’t resist taking a shot.