Before Midnight.

Yesterday, I watched Before Midnight in the Rave Milford. It was Tuesday so it was just $5 which was a pretty good deal. It was also the last time I could watch because the next few days will be busy and I’m flying out to Pleasanton on Sunday morning. Even without company — I was the only person in the theater literally — I enjoyed myself being engrossed with the movie.

I am just in love with this movie. I did not feel mushy about it because my mind was just swimming with amazing insights about love, romance, marriage and life. It’s one of those movies that you just want to talk about because there are tons of things that you pick up — whether you agree to them or not.

Similar to Before Sunset, you see what age/maturity does to you and how you see the world. It’s funny that Celine pointed out how people do not change from how they were during their 20 something selves, but truly, they have evolved as well as new challenges and priorities came into life. And the common thing that grounds them? Love. The movie captures the past, present and to some extent, the future. It’s a brilliant movie and I can’t wait to have all 3 movies in DVD when it comes out.

PS: I really want a Celine/Jessie relationship! All the craziness and shit. But you take it as it is. LOVE!

Life Hack: Fake It Until You Become It.

I was watching some TEDTalk Life Hacks (thank you Netflix!) earlier and one of the quotes that really stuck with me was, “fake it until you become it.” The context of that statement is that there are certain actions that we do that shows strength or weakness. By doing these strength nonverbal actions, you gain more confidence, and you are perceived to be more powerful by other people. And, if you show these weak nonverbal actions, people tend to belittle you and the same goes with yourself.

So what you should do is to try and do more of those those strength nonverbal actions to be more successful in dealing with people and yourself. This helps in dealing with stressful situations. The quote comes in when the speaker advised that you do not have to be that person, but you can act like that person. But, as you continue to do it again and again and again, you actually become it and you eventually change. I think it’s very good advice and I will probably apply it in my life. Tiny tweaks can be big changes. Let’s see how it goes.

There’s A Fine, Fine Line

I first watched Avenue Q back in the Philippines and I think it’s one of the few plays/musicals that really stuck with me. I’d even say it’s my ultimate favorite musical of all time — I’m hearing strong gasps from purists!

Here’s one of my favorite songs in Avenue Q. As a side note, I’d say how true this is. This is the ultimate Friendship Zone song… not a good place to be.

Break it.

I’ve been huddled in my apartment working since yesterday but decided to head out to the nearest Starbucks to continue working. I was starting to get cabin fever at home and felt that the change of scenery can do me good.

I’m actually feeling so much better now and I can easily focused on my work. Sometimes, you just need to break your routine. :)

Saturday

I finished Dan Brown’s Inferno earlier before heading to the gym. I really enjoyed reading this. This is so much better than his last book, The Lost Symbol. After reading it, I really do not get the hoopla when the Philippines got a mention in the book. As what Dan Brown said, the book is fiction. And, there is also context on why Manila got branded as the gates of hell. Read it to actually know why because it made sense.

I finally got to play volleyball in LA Fitness earlier. JT, one of the guys I played with in Corryville, mentioned that there’s also some play on Thursdays and Saturdays. I don’t know if I could do the Thursday because of Pacific Time work, but Saturday seems to be the most accessible one. :-) The play was competitive enough and the court was pretty nice as well. So, it was not bad at all. The guys playing were pretty good so it was good competitive volleyball. I think I’m going to make this something regular. I. Like. It.

For the rest of my Saturday, I need to finally finish my chores at home. I still have food in the fridge so I will just be staying in. I also got Wrath of the Titans from the library. I’m all set for Saturday. :-)

0230AM reading

I hate it when my body rebels against me. Last night, instead of going to the gym for my regular Thursday workout, I fell asleep. :-( That meant that I slept early, and woke up really early too — 2:30 AM. So what do you do at that time? I ended up reading Dan Brown’s Inferno. I was able to read half of the book when I started to feel more tired than usual at 6:00 AM. The book actually excited me and it made me want to just visit Florence and visit all these interesting places that Brown described. I’ll probably try to finish the book tonight or tomorrow. I still need to wrap up some emails and then head to Corryville for some volleyball. Tomorrow, I might try the LA Fitness open play that JT mentioned. Let’s see! :)

PS: Cheers to the weekend!

June Goals!

I just realized that it’s already almost the end of the first half of the year while doing my monthly update of my personal goal sheet. Unfortunately, I have not been making progress in most of my targets. :-( Financially, I’m 30% off track because of impulsive purchases and unplanned expenses (Kitchenaid, Parents, etc). Fitness-wise, even if my volleyball has improved especially with hitting and blocking, I lost weight again. I am now down to 135.4 lbs. I think the stomach bug I caught a week ago zeroed all the progress I made in terms of healthy muscle gain.  

Of course, there are also good news other than my better volleyball game. I was able to travel to Seattle for a vacation! I have business trips to the Bay Area so I do not think I’ll have any big problems with racking up more vacation trips or down times. :-) Career-wise, I’m back in Project Management and I received good work news as well that pleasantly surprised me. I just need to focus more in finishing up my PDUs for my PMP certification (30/60 done) and I have a year to go to complete this.

All in all, it’s a mixed bag but it’s good to be aware so I can do something about it.