The World According to JT Ü

Senator Barack Obama was officially declared as the first African-American President of the United States history. He is the country's 44th President.

All my friends who voted went for Obama.

He faced thousands of his supporters in Chicago's Grant Park and declared, "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where anything is possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer."

This is definitely YOUR victory, Congratulations America! :)



Picture credits and courtesy to http://msnbc.msn.com and Scott Olson/Getty Images.

I have been at my busiest ever during the month of October. Too busy that I wasn't even able to post anything about my birthday! I myself can't even believe that.

But please, allow me to do a quick recap. :)

I am now officially 28 years old! And I am loving it! There's something about turning a year older that makes you feel better, it's as if you're instantly wiser. LOL.

I loved my quiet birthday celebration during the eve of October 23rd. My bestest (if there's actually such a word) friend/sistah Roger's gift to me was dinner at Le Souffle Rockwell. It was divine! The place is always beautiful, I absolutely love the pool and I think the food and their quality of service is superb.

Check out the photos of the place and the sweet surprise that they pulled off to greet me. I actually blew a birthday candle this year and I made a wish!





Ofcourse I'm not telling you what I wished for! ;)

Oh and yeah, Happy Halloween too! I will post some of my favorite photos from the Halloween craze at work! :)

Have a sweet November people! :)

P.S
A big shout out of thanks to those who remembered to greet me during my birthday! You guys are the best! Hugs! :)

Dating 101: The 7 Biggest Misuses of Texting
By David Wygant
Special to Yahoo! Personals Updated: Sep 12, 2008





For those of you who use text messaging as a form of communication with someone you're dating, whether you have a BlackBerry or an Apple iPhone, text messaging is the most abused and misinterpreted form of communication out there.


There are some things for which text messaging is great. It's great for confirming things ("See you tonight at 7:00 at Joe's Restaurant.") It's great as a good night kiss ("Did you get home safely?"). It's great to reconfirm things ("What time are we meeting on Sunday? Let me know.") It's great for when you want to lob in a quick message to someone when they can't talk on the phone ("Can't wait to see you tonight.")


Texting is all about short conversations, and can be useful and fun in the dating context. Texting used in certain other ways, however, gets ugly within the dating context -- and can really get you into trouble. Some of these uses should be avoided because they can cause unintended misunderstandings, while others are simply bad manners or outright rude!


So, here are seven of the biggest misuses of texting that you should avoid in the dating context:


1. Save the Jokes. One drawback of texting (as with any written form of communication) is that it is sometimes difficult to convey the tone of what you write. Words are often misinterpreted. You can text somebody something that you think is a joke, and they don't read it that way. This will get you into trouble, because they may never call you back and give you the opportunity to straighten out the misunderstanding. So if you want to tell someone you're dating a joke, it's best to save it and tell it to them in person.


2. Texting is Not Intended to Cancel a Date. If you don't want to see somebody again, you need to call them and cancel the plans.


Texting is the chicken way to blow someone off, whether you ever intended to see them again or not. Texting is not an excuse to be rude. Be a grown-up and pick up the phone.


3. Don't Ask Someone Out via Text Message. Women especially can't stand when a guy asks them out via text messaging. Every woman I've spoken to thinks that when a guy asks them out via text message, that he really is not that interested in them. They all wish a guy would just pick up the phone. Guys, if you're interested then be a man and just pick up the phone! Granted, some women will say yes to a text date, but they will always prefer if you call them.


4. Avoid the 'Morning After' Text. If you had a great date with someone the night before, don't text the person the minute you get up the next morning. Wait a few hours. Let the post-date recap settle down on both sides. Give someone a little time to think about you. There's no harm in waiting a few hours, especially after a first date. You don't want to look over-anxious.


5. Keep the Texting to a Minimum. Once you've texted back and forth a few times, and unless one of you is in a Turkish prison being tortured by a not-so-friendly cell mate, you need to pick up the phone and have a real conversation. You will not discover whether you share a true connection with someone by conversing with them via text message. Also, as two adults, you need to have an actual voice-to-voice conversation. So go ahead and exchange a few texts, but then get yourself on the phone!


6. You May Not Get an Answer. Just because you texted someone, doesn't mean they're going to respond. This is another issue with using text messaging as your main communication method -- especially in the dating context. You're texting back and forth with someone, then you send something to them and they don't respond. They may have gotten on the phone. They may have fallen asleep. They may have gone into a meeting. Because texting is so impersonal, though, you don't know what happened to them.


7. You Are Left Wondering. Let's say you texted someone on a Tuesday, they responded to your text, you texted them again and... now it's Friday and they still haven't texted back. What does someone do in that situation? They may not be keeping a text count like you are. They may have forgotten to text you back because they got on a long phone call or got caught up in some work, and your text may have gotten lost. Let me ask you a question? Do you answer every email that comes in... or does one sometimes get buried and go unanswered? If you haven't heard from someone in a few days, pick up the phone and call them. You never know what they're response is going to be. Most of the time you're going to be pleasantly surprised, but all of the time you're going to get your answer. That's what dating is all about... getting answers. Plus, you won't drive yourself and your friends crazy wondering.


There's a lot of misinterpretation that can happen via text messaging. Understanding all of the seven reasons above will help you navigate the fun side of texting in dating, while helping you avoid the bad side of texting in dating.


Texting is a great way have a little verbal flirting to stay connected in someone's life. It's not a replacement for a phone conversation. So if you're hoarding your cell phone minutes, I suggest you contact your provider and get some more minutes. Start having conversations again instead of hiding behind text messaging!

"Inside each and every one of us is our one, true authentic swing. Something we were born with. Something that's ours and ours alone. Something that can't be learned. Something that's got to be remembered." - The Legend of Baggervance

Just resurrected from a 4-day death by Smart Bro broadband.

Sucks!

Seriously.

A Dog's Purpose (from a 6-year-old)

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little boy Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.

As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker 's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.

The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker's passing, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, 'I know why.'

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation.

He said, 'People are born so that they can learn how to live a good Life: like loving everybody all the time, and being nice, right?' The Six-year-old continued, 'Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long.'

I work hard. I mean really work hard. I'm talking about crazy 12 hour days that can stretch to the entire week. And while I feel the need to get a full body massage as the week ends, it makes me happy to note that the week is almost over and I can have a 48 hour downtime to do whatever I want, however I want it.

This past weekend was a particularly enjoyable one. My good friend Roger, who is like a family to me, and I were at Greenbelt and we planned to get a good dinner and watch a movie. We went to CYMA, a greek restaurant and aside from their famous and notable "Opa!" performance especially during the flaming cheese act, nothing beats the quality of food and service that we experienced there. We had some beef in tomato sauce and olive oil and lobsters. Yummmmmm! I felt the need to compliment it with a glass of red wine. Ahhh, life is good, thanks to a good bottle of wine. :)

We then headed off to catch the last full show of the movie Eagle Eye. While I am not a major Action movie fanatic, we both decided we should watch this to experience what people have been talking about. True enough, Shia and Michelle were very good in this movie. It's about a special, let's say "intelligent" project and the story is written very good, and director's execution of the film is very impressive. I was in awe. I don't think I have been THAT impressed in my life, considering it was an Action Movie. Later on, while checking the film credits, I found out that it was a Steven Spielberg production. What can we say to that? :)

So earlier today, I planned on doing some grown-up responsibilities, paying bills, getting some grocery supplies, the works. I also brought Pugsly, my dog, to Animal House for grooming. I was enjoying my grocery shopping when an unknown mobile number was suddenly calling me. When I answered, I found out that it was Pugsly's Doctor on the other line. She told me that there was a situation and that Pugsly's grooming would have to be moved to next week since he was suddenly having a hard time breathing, his temperature rose and he was close to having hypothermia. The poor guy. I was so worried and afraid of what would happen to him that within 30 minutes I was back to pick him up already. He was prescribed a new brand of food targeted for what his Doctor said could be the problem, Obesity. He needs to lose at least 5 kilos, that's a minimum of 10 pounds. His food is now measured and he needs to exercise more. I felt sorry for him especially now that the Doctor said he can't be stressed and he needs to stay indoors for the moment. But I am glad that he is okay now.

Pugsly isn't just a pet to me, cliche as it sounds, this guy is like my bestfriend and my family. I've often told myself that if I decide to move out of the country, he is going with me. He is that important to me. Just like the friends who I treasure the most. Just like the people who I love.

No matter how busy my life gets to be, I know at the end of the day which ones matters most to me.

October is my favorite time of the year. First and foremost of course is because it's my birth month and with that, it involves dinner, drinks, celebration, gifts, love, thoughtfulness. This is the month when I truly feel like all the people in the world who love and care for me, love me 10 times more! :)

Late evening of October first, I received a text message from my Dad saying, "Beginning today until your birthday, I will be texting you daily some things that you probably don't know when you were growing up.."

He then proceeds to send me his first text, "You were my first child. My eldest and youngest at the time. The first one I carried in my arms."

Incredibly moving.

So to my Dad, (who sometimes reads my blog) thank you for doing this for me this year. I got the second one last night but I'd really like to treasure it and keep it to myself.

That means I'd still get 20 more. :)

Charice Pempengco is making Filipinos around the world very proud of her talent. Watch and be amazed. :)

Work has been especially busy but I love it. I just make sure I treat myself out to what I deserve during the weekend. :)

Just got home from Greenbelt. Had a wonderful dinner with one of my best friends in the world at our favorite filipino restaurant, Sentro. We super love their corned beef sinigang, garlicky adobo and rated GG (that's fried galunggong fish fillets) with rice. :)

Then off to a movie, we chose to watch My Bestfriend's Girlfriend starring Kate Hudson, Dane Cook and Jason Biggs. It was pretty funny.

After the movie, we went to Seattle's Best to enjoy their hot white mocha with a slice of tiramisu cake. Sinfully delicious! We spent almost an hour finalizing our Thailand trip. So yeah Phuket is definitely now included in our agenda. Hooray! I am soooo excited to hit the beaches of Phuket! :)

We all need to sit back, and relax during the weekend. I'm planning to go to the spa tomorrow. :)

Hope you can do the same! :)