The universe and a dead girl

That picture up there is apparently the universe in full. I can't help but be reminded of Orion's Belt. And yes, I am aware that he was talking about a galaxy and not the universe.

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I've been feeling a little down on myself lately, which I guess is odd since everybody around me has been nothing but supportive of the boring sideshow that I call my life. This past week I've felt nothing but trepidation and anxiety over the smallest of things.

Hopefully, a short break from work will help fix things, because I will be taking one next month. I still haven't fixed the particulars, but I'm thinking of maybe going somewhere outside of the city for a few days. That plan, however, is heavily dependent on how much money I have. Here's hoping that I get the chance to escape.

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Child plays dead on Google Street View, horrifies a nation.

Just as most of the commenters pointed out, why didn't the guys inside the Google car get out and check if the kid was still breathing or something? I mean, she wasn't really dead, but what if she was?

A lesson in humility

The calendar on my laptop tells me that it's been a month since I last blogged, and I can't really offer a decent excuse as to why that is. Work? Real life? My unfortunate dependency on Twitter? I'll use whatever reason is acceptable.

My life, so far, seems to be in the doldrums, as always seem to happen halfway along the year. My life isn't bad but it isn't spectacular either. It's more of a "meh" edging precariously towards a "bleugh".

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One meme that has been making the rounds lately is the I Write Like... quiz, which analyzes your writing and compares you to brilliant writers or Stephenie Meyer. Of course I had to take the test.

First, I put in a sample blog post of mine, specifically The Pee Lady, and hoped for the best.

I got this result.

I write like
Cory Doctorow

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

In case you don't know who Cory Doctorow is, check him out here.

Of course I was emboldened by such a favorable result. I had to do this with everything else I've written. I. HAD. TO.

I first put in my short story Night Out, which was the first time my fiction ever got awarded anything.

While waiting for the results to appear I was quietly thinking "Good golly gosh, I wonder which writer I idolize will I end up being compared to?" Then I got this.

I write like
Dan Brown

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

I think I had a stroke or something, because for a few moments I could not move except to open and close my mouth like a goldfish. I consoled myself by thinking that this was when I was just starting out and probably reflected how green I was back then.

So I put in two more stories, Writer's Block and Absolution, hoping for better results.

I write like
Dan Brown

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

I GOT THIS. BOTH. TIMES.

I was inconsolable for a few minutes. Was this karmic payback for being a snob at the call center I used to work at? Back then, I would read Vonnegut during breaks, and when somebody with a Dan Brown book in hand approached me asking "You read books?" I would reply with "Yes, but not Dan Brown."

Thoroughly humbled, I entered Nazareno. It's never been my favorite work, and I always thought of it as foolish, childish, and contrived. Which was why I was surprised with the results.

I write like
William Gibson

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

I had to do a Wiki search on William Gibson just to find out who he is! (The "noir prophet" of cyberpunk, it appears.)

But I did feel a little better then. That's an improvement, right? So I put in Sameness.

I write like
Stephen King

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

IMMENSE SIGH OF RELIEF. I haven't really read any Stephen King, but surely his international appeal must mean he's doing something right. Right?

Finally, I put in Vignettes, an unfinished story that I wrote late in 2005 and uploaded to Fictionpress.com just now so I could link you guys to it.

I write like
Vladimir Nabokov

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

FINALLY. I will never discriminate someone based on their reading choices ever again.

Me and the big V

Every once in a while I find myself caught in a discussion about my lack of sexual experience, and last Friday at the office was one such day. Granted, the discussion veered that way because I wouldn't drop another discussion about somebody else's reproductive organs, so I guess I had it coming.

The discussion last Friday was a little different, though, because my officemates seem intent on helping me lose my V card than even some of my closest friends. I don't know if they're serious, but they seem to have arranged something for me later on this week. I hope they're just kidding.

I know I always say that people -- girls especially -- shouldn't care about what other people will think if they find out they're still virgins, and I still stand by that. I don't care what other people think about the fact that I'm in my 20s and still a virgin.

What I am worried about is that I feel like it underscores how hard it is for me to trust other people. I believe that you only do it with someone you love and trust, and since I like to think I'm surrounded by trustworthy people, I must be the one failing to communicate.

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The fact that you can now get gay married in Iceland, along with the uniformly favorable remarks about the country in Gawker's notoriously snarky comment section, make me want to move there.

A little something something

Yes, I am still alive. I am constantly on Twitter, but I just haven't found the energy or the inclination to come up with an actual blog post. It takes too much work and actual brains to come up with something halfway coherent.

A lot of stuff's been going on. For one, I have once again become a victim of the unwashed masses. This is the second time in the space of six months. And I think the fourth or fifth time since I started working. I keep on wondering why I always end up being the target of these things when I look about as presentable as a hobo.

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Moves like a butterly, stings like a bee.

Remember the Star Wars kid? There's a video reminder above if you don't. After that video got posted on the Internet, he "dropped out of high school, was diagnosed with depression, and became an in-patient at a psychiatric ward for kids. His family then sued the families of the classmates who leaked his video for $250,000."

Well, he's studying to be a lawyer now.


Hopefully he'll live this down.

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Let us all mourn the passing of an incredibly sexy firefighter.

Chillin'

Chaos Rings

I know that I've got a few gamers on my f-list, most of whom are SquareEnix fans, so I'm pretty sure they know about Chaos Rings, which is a SquareEnix exclusive for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

Having played Final Fantasy from its SNES days to Final Fantasy IX (I only stopped playing because I couldn't find a good enough emulator), I was immediately interested in this game. The price tag was a little off-putting at first, but then I realized that I've bought games for my Wii that cost twice as much. And I certainly can't carry around my Wii like I can do with my iPod Touch.

I've only just begun playing, but so far I've been having a great time. It reminds me a lot of Final Fantasy VIII, and so far it has been running smoothly. It certainly looks like I will once again have another reason for not getting any work done here in the house or at the office.

In somewhat related news, here's a history of gay rights in video games.

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There's a series of books that's going to come out set in "Modelland", which is described as a place

"where 'Intoxibellas' are trained. Intoxibellas are drop-dead beautiful, kick-butt fierce and, yeah, maybe they have some powers too."

If you haven't figured out by now who is going to write this future classic, then there is no hope for you. Or maybe you could just find out who it is over here.

I can't wait to get my hands on this thing, if you know what I mean.

The day after

Show me your dirty fingers!

Thankfully, I didn't have a hard time voting yesterday. Me and my family arrived really early, so the lines were still orderly and the heat was not as suffocating. It took me about 10 minutes in line and less than five minutes actually shading the circles. When the PCOS machine successfully read my ballot I actually said "YAY!"

All in all, I think the automated elections went pretty well. Hearing the results a day after the elections* are held is going to take some getting used to, but it's an adjustment that I'm willing to work on.

* To non-Filipino readers: It used to take a WEEK (or more) before a winner could be declared.

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The Rentboy

The other news story that I really, really love is the tale of "The Right Wing Christian and his Rentboy", which is getting even more coverage as "Lucien" has come out and shared his story with media outlets.

Here he is on Anderson Cooper 360, talking about how he was paid $75 an hour (Really? That low?) to "spend eight hours a day and eat two meals with Rekers a day".

Interesting sidenote that Gawker points out:

"Lucien" told blogger Joe My God that "Well, I do have to get up early for an interview. You know that guy, the gay reporter on TV?" Yesterday Lucien was on Anderson "That gay reporter" Cooper's show.

"Lucien" also says that Rekers told him that he has already hired rentboys before.

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I wanna have me some Swiss...cheese. Ehem.

Switzerland just held its annual Mr. Switzerland competition. I will now look forward to this every year as if it were Christmas.

This heat is getting to me

As most of my f-list is in the same boat as I am, I am pretty sure that I don't need to expound on how utterly uncomfortable the temperature is right now. I feel like every inch of my body is sweating, which really isn't all that unlikely.

At least I can be thankful that the campaign period has already stopped -- there are no more roving vehicles blaring stupid campaign jungles making an already bad day even worse. It feels like my neighborhood has not been this quiet for a very long time.

I only have two candidates left on my shortlist for President, but up until now I am still completely undecided. Here's to hoping that I will get an epiphany at the voting precinct tomorrow and hopefully cast a vote for the best leader our country can have under these circumstances.

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Here's a few more updates on George Rekers, the Christian right leader who was caught with a rent boy while returning home from vacation.

THe rentboy, whose real name is apparently Jo Vanni Roman (Did he come from a different solar system?), says that Rekers favored the "long stroke". What is the "long stroke", you ask? Let me quote Mr. Roman.

"...a complicated caress "across his penis, thigh... and his anus over the butt cheeks," as the escort puts it. "Rekers liked to be rubbed down there," he says."

This would be mildly arousing if Rekers didn't look like this. And wasn't a hypocritical homophobe.

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Finally, for those interested, here's Gawker's how-to guide to hiring a rent boy.