Wifely Steps

It’s been a long week.

TGIF. Have a great weekend everyone!

After H picked me up from my new hairstyle appointment:

Me: “What do you think?”
H: “It’s nice!”
Me: “Nice?! It’s ugly ‘no. Oh no, I’m so ugly. I hate it.”
H: “No, baby. It’s nice.”
Me: “You’re just saying that.”
H: (laughs) “No I’m not.”
Me: “Okay, if you can describe me with my new hair in one word, how’d you describe it?”
H: “Pretty!”
Me: “Awwww.”
H: (smiles)
Me: “Okay, what was the first thing you thought of when you saw me with my new hair while I was being blow-dried?”
H: (without hesitation) “Oh no! She’s notyet done?!”

Toink! Thank goodness we’re both patient with each other.

I don’t have a proper pic with my new hair yet so this’ll have to do. There are some red and brown highlights somewhere there, just couldn’t capture it in the pic. That’s how my hair looks properly styled. Today it’s just a big brown mess. Will. master. styling. it. I seriously considered having it chopped off up to my ear, then realized it’ll grow back down to my shoulders anyway. Ah the perils of stubborn hair. But I love the new style. I find it refreshing.

After last night’s dinner, H said, “I have a surprise for you! Close your eyes!” Yey! I immediately stopped walking and closed my eyes (never mind if it was in the middle of a busy mall). Then he put this in my hands:

Yey! Love, love, love. ♥ Sweet and… nice.

Today I’m feeling special. How are you feeling today?

When was the last time you went for a physical exam? Tomorrow I have mine. I’d say I’m not worried, but then I’d be lying. It’s the whole shebang — blood test, sugar, cholesterol, eye refraction, pap smear, etal. And I have to ask this: Ladies, when was the last time you went for a pap smear? I know it’s uncomfortable and a hassle, but you have to get tested.

I finally got my hair cut! It’s shoulder length now with some layers. I also got some brown highlights. Loving it! The only hassle thing is I can’t style it the way my hairdresser did. Isn’t that always the darn case?! Now my hair is all over the place. I have yet to master the art of styling shoulder length hair.

What are you up to this weekend?

When I learned about The Sims 2 Apartment Life a few months ago, I almost fell of my seat. I was so darn excited. According to various sites, new features include:
- a reputation meter
- new character types (bohemians, sports fans, techies)
- being able to visit neighbors’ homes
- apartments and townhouses
- new interactions (”Kiss Kiss Darling” is one)
- toddlers can interact with each other (”Huddle”)
- new objects and tools (finally, spiral staircases for The Sims 2, a vending machine, etc.)
- astrology as a new career path
- new NPCs (non-playing characters) like a landlord and butler
- new life skills (like “Couple Counseling” or “Lifelong Happiness”) that you can learn from the bookshelf
- Witches (like Werewolves from Pets, Zombies from University, Vampires from Nightlife, Plant Sims from Seasons, etc.).

The most interesting thing about this is getting your Sims to live in an apartment with other families. While several families can live in a building, you can only control one household at a time. I’m super excited about this because I like building homes for my Sims apartment-style. I also have stories for my Sims — after graduating from University, they go to the city (Nightlife EP) to rent a home and find jobs. When they’re more stable and their families (if any) are growing bigger, they move to the suburbs (Pleasantville, Verona, Riverblossom Hills or Desiderata Valley). I like the scenery of those suburbian neighborhoods, especially Desiderata. But I like the downtown setting too because there are a lot of fun community lots. It’s easier to load too when your Sims live within downtown and go to those lots.

While it’s the newest expansion pack, could Apartment Life also be the final EP in The Sims 2 series? I’m not quite ready for The Sims 3 yet (see official The Sims 3 trailer here), so I think I’ll be sticking to The Sims 2 for a long time. Then again, you never know. For now I can’t wait to move my Sim into an apartment and get a roommate via the paper’s ads, mingle with her neighbors by the apartment mailboxes, try a career in Astrology and learn how to breakdance in the park. Maybe I’ll turn her into a white witch too.

The Sims 2 Apartment Life will be in stores at the end of August 2008.

Anyone know if there’s a Plurkaholics Anonymous?

I wrote about Plurk a few weeks ago saying I sensed an addiction coming. 22 days later, I can confirm that I have indeed caught the bug Plurkus Addiktus. Here’s why I’m so fond of Plurk:

1. The magic Triple S interaction - Short, Sweet and Sustained. Because of the limited number of characters in each Plurk (an entry or reply), you’re challenged to make your thoughts as succinct as possible. Brevity is wit, goes Polonius in Hamlet. That’s very true in the Plurk world. I find that quickfire questions and answers engage the users more, which then give way to even more interaction among Plurkers.

2. Quality conversations, building friendships. Because of more interaction brought about by what I called the Triple S thing, there are more opportunities to build conversations with fellow Plurkers. In building conversations, you find those who share little bits of your interests and passions. It’s a very interesting dynamic.

3. Karma and That Darn Arrow. I would be lying if I said my Plurk Karma didn’t matter. I don’t have a full definition of what Plurk Karma is, but I have seen that the more karma points you have, the more features are unlocked for you. It just whets your appetite. But frankly, it’s not the karma points but that darn arrow that makes me go “What happened?!”. It’s an amusing game of solitaire each Plurker plays.

4. Quick Q&A’s. One great thing about Plurk is that you see replies to your entries easily. If you have a question, shoot it out and you’ll see the replies beneath it later on. No need to go to another part of the site to check if anyone has answered your question. It’s easy for those who ask and those who answer.

5. Great place for idea sharing. Kaoko asked once, would you rather be eaten or drank? The answers were amusing! (I said I’d be an amuse bouche — to keep them wanting more. Haha! Thanks to Top Chef for educating me on what an amuse bouche is.) Or If you were ice cream, what flavor would you be and why? Great venue for brainstorming actually. There are also lot of requests for dinner place suggestions, hair style tips, vacations, etc. and the fun is in the sharing of thoughts and answers.

Net, I love the sense of community Plurk fosters. It’s microblogging with a tighter community. Maybe I’ll hold off on joining Plurkaholics Anonymous first. I’m still enjoying it a lot and don’t want to be cured of the addiction yet. If you want to be Plurk friends, this is my place in the Plurk world. Shall I see you there?

Wouldn’t it be interesting to see how Twilight could be presented as an Asian film or Asianovela? This little piece on YouTube allows us to take a peek into that possibility! I loved the characters, especially Rosalie and Alice.

I think an Asian Twilight film would totally kick ass.

This entry is brought to you by the number 4.

Feist’s song “1234″ is easy on the ears and I love love love it. And now I love it to the fourth power with this new rendition, sung with some Sesame Street characters.

“1, 2, 3, 4 monsters rocking ‘cross the floor…”

Sing it with your kids!

Welcome to my Birthday Contest!

I’m celebrating my birthday on July 30th. That’s next week! To add to the celebration, I’m holding a contest right here so put on those party hats!

I’ve been sharing these birthday balloons the past two years, and I’ve loved all the replies. Let’s take it a notch higher this time and make it a contest. Here’s how we celebrate:

Pick a balloon. Now imagine that you’re flying into the blue horizon with that balloon in hand. Whoosh! Isn’t that fun? I’m following you, holding on to my gold balloon.

You have to tell the balloon where to take us. We are celebrating my birthday together and it’s up to you to choose where we are celebrating my 31st year. You have to pick an interesting place otherwise the balloons won’t move. They’re kinda picky like that.

Leave your answers in the comments section of this entry. Only ONE answer per person is allowed. Deadline is on July 30th, 11.59 PM, Manila time. From there I will choose my top 10 favorite replies. My criteria? Creativity and personal appeal. Hey, it’s my birthday right? Then I’ll use Randomizer to pick the winning answer and announce the winner on July 31st. Please leave a valid e-mail address so I know how to get in touch with you if you win!

The prize is a one-year Flickr Pro account or a $25 Amazon gift card. Winner gets to choose.

So… where do we go for my birthday?

The game is easy! I will ask a question. The first person who comments will answer my question, and will leave a question for the next person to answer. This next person will answer that question, and leave a question for the next next person to answer. I am sure you get it!

To make things more fun, the questions have to reflect the chosen theme. For example, if the theme is MAGAZINES, all questions should relate to that topic. What do you do with back issues? What magazines do you subscribe to? As much as possible, let’s not repeat the questions for added fun! You are also welcome to play more than once.

Let’s call in our favorites for the 28th weekend soiree!

The theme: PLAYING FAVORITES

My question for Person #1: What is your favorite way of pigging out? :p