practicing good citizenry

any good citizen would not waver with his national responsibility to pay his taxes accordingly. i never really cared about taxes even when i started working. that's until i was deducted a relatively BIG amount, then i researched. apparently, tax deductions depend on the salary range you received for a particular cutoff. basically, the higher the salary, the bigger the tax. and it so happened that it's our "bonus" month so the huge withholding tax cannot be helped.

for employees, it may not be a hard thing to file for tax returns. usually, the company will do it for you and will just deduct it from your allowance. but for self-employed people or for those in the company in charge of managing tax returns for its employees, it may come off as a big pain in the ass. there are a lot of things to learn about taxes and it's very important to be well acquainted with them. after all, your money is being used as a vital part of nation building so better know the ins and outs of taxation. if you want to learn more about the seemingly dragging but ultimately necessary world of taxes, you can read more information here.

luckily, one doesn't need to look further in order to find help in organizing tax related forms and issues. there are various consulting firms out there ready to take in any of your questions. but for the lazier (or more resourceful) ones, the internet is overflowing with guide to taxes, you just have to know what you're looking for.

alas. don't forget that however big it may be, our taxes are part of what builds our nation and it is our utmost responsibility to pay them well.

obligatory (post-)vday post haha

akala ko non di na ko magkaka-boyfriend. pag 20 ka na tapos wala pang nanliligaw/nagpaparamdam sayo kahit isa, magtataka ka na. haharap ka sa salamin at tatanungin mo sarili mo, "pangit ba ko?!", pupunta ka sa nanay mo at huhugot ka ng confidence, tapos luluhod ka kay Lord na bigyan ka ng isang meaningful na love life. at dahil choosy ka pa, gagawa ka ng checklist. eto nga pala yung ideal guy ko, written on august 2009 in a private journal kasi secret lang namin yun ni Lord. pero nung Feb 2010, pinost ko na rin. baka kamo may interesado. HAHA

akalain mo nung august 2010, may close friend akong napilit kong umamin sakin. chos. at dahil na-shock ako, isang buong taon ko syang iniwasan. galing no. yung kaisa-isang taong confirmed na may gusto sakin, tinulak ko papalayo. ganyan tayong mga gerlies eh, ang arte. pero naman, pag nasa faculty room lang kasi yung tatay mo, at estudyante pa nya yung frinend-zone mo, aba shempre kelangan magpaka-virtuous kuno. HAHA

it took a year for the awkwardness to die down. after non, dahil feeling ko safe na, wala na, babayoo na, unti-unting bumalik ang dati naming turingan bilang magkaibigan. HAHA pero hindi talaga exactly bumalik. matagal kasi ako ma-ilang. mga years haha. pero in fairness nung akala ko wala na, meron pa pala. this time, i received my first ever "formal" confession, complete with the ever awkward cheeseburger from mcdo. from there i knew i had to give him a chance. kasi in fairness antagal na pala nyang kinikimkim yung pagibig nya sakin. chos. at unti unti na ring nahuhulog ang loob ko sa kanya. oha. hindi naman ako nagkamali. pinagdasal ko naman to at alam kong may purpose si Lord sa kaganapang iyon. di naglaon, naging kami. my first (confirmed) admirer, first suitor and my first boyfriend. epic 20! and the rest is His story. <3

one certain monthsary (actually hindi ako sure kung kelan haha), he gave me a piece of paper with a checklist of all the things i wrote on my Ideal Guy post. i had the chance to go through the list once more, and only then did i realize that he's all i ever asked for. and along with that realization is a revelation that God has actually provided everything I need even BEFORE i asked for it. diba sabi nga sa Mat 7:7... Ask and it shall be given unto you..

indeed. nakakatawa lang na nasa harap mo na pala yung taong para sayo, kung san san pa ko sumisilip... sa kabilang classroom, sa library, sa basketball court, sa NRMF, sa UPLB... dito ko narealize yung essence ng isang part ng Mat 7:7... seek and you shall find. not because you are seeking for something means you will find the actual thing... minsan iba yung makikita mo. sa lahat ng lugar na nag-"seek" ako, isa lang ang na-find ko... they're not for me. HEHE

kaya naman for everything you've done for me, thank you jeckie!
for waking me up every 5am so we could devo together, thank you!
for encouraging me to keep a more personal relationship with the Lord, thank you!
for inspiring me to worry less, and quit being judgmental, thank you!
for saying i'm beautiful, thank you!
for coming over at 5am to bring me my favorite breakfast... thank you!
and most specially...
for keeping our relationship virtuous and God-centered, thank you is not enough. :)

i love you! yeyy! >XD

AoG!

went to watch AoG with saycee, dan, RA (you are dearly missed!!!), sean, chii and wax and and... yeah. >XD the reason? well apart from reuniting with my friends, and wanting to see the people there, i really came to cheer for my bet padua! oh you bet. and yey he won 1st runner up. my boyfriend is so gonna kill me for this so i'm putting the rest under the cut hehe

i don't even care now it's probably too obvious anyway. besides, i'm out hiding in makati! shameless post?hey but i'm happy! hahaha you know those major crush moments i had back in fern? yun yon. haha 

tomorrow is valentines and i've got so much work to do! Lord thank you so much for this day! 

heyyy jeckie and i are gonna skate on saturday! exciting! bwahaha >XD

Red Cross Million Volunteer Run 2

February 10, 2013
5K run to Quirino Grandstand

heeeyyy it's my first time to join a fun run! and i did it because it was cheap hahaha you'll hardly get a cheap run like this (at least for 'the' runners hehe). it was fun! mainly because i'm with my friends so there's the free transpo, the laughtrips and blah. i miss those days. hayy.

hmm, the race wasn't so organized in my opinion. the worst thing was that they made the route straight and not a circuit so it's like after reaching the 5k finish line, you have to walk/run 5k back to get to your cars which are parked on the starting point. so much hassle. haha and it didn't feel like 5k too. i remember practicing for this on the treadmill and it usually takes me 1 hour to reach the 5k mark, and thats like 4.5k brisk walk + 500m run haha during the run i like walked 90% of the time and... basta... it didn't feel that far to me. haha

and also, it's so easy to join the race even without paying! just wear a red shirt or buy a singlet anywhere and  run! there were no race bibs or whatever and at the finish line it's so easy to get a certificate. seriously, i even got to ask for 3 extra copies. they were that loose. hehe

anyway, not bad for my first time though i really got a super bad headache after and it stayed until the next morning so i had to take half a day off to rest. sobrang ewan. haha >XD

oh, daniel matsunaga was there! plus a couple of super models who were only there for display. really, they're running with a super fit singlet and boxers. so infuriating. what the hell are you there for? they could've at least invited derek ramsay or drew arellano or or... uhm daniel padilla hihi ... or angel locsin or reema chanco... you know, people who actually run or at least know a sport. hay. haha

but for the fun and company, it's a very good experience! >:D

The Invisible War

i was browsing the net searching for good movies to download and read about this movie called The Invisible War. i was intrigued cos it was listed on the top 100 movies of 2011 on rotten tomatoes. reading on, i learned that it was a documentary film exposing the ugly truth about the condition of a considerable fraction of women serving in the US military, and the uglier truth about how the authorities respond to it. 

there were no re-enactments, just a pure coverage of interviews and blah and a whole lot of appalling stats that would surely rattle anyone's mind. in the film i learned that women soldiers are more likely to die being raped by her fellow soldiers and commanders than from an open fire. and up until now, no justice was served right for the few survivors who chose to file a report against their perpetrators. why? because the military is governed by a justice system entirely different from civilians, and complaints like this go through their very own chain of command. in short, the justice they're seeking for must come from the same people who abused them. and it's the very reason why these cases all end up being swept under the rug.

idunno, i was bothered! things like these easily get to me. imagine these women who spent years training in full force and discipline, all in the hopes of being a soldier in order to serve their country with honor, only to get their dreams crushed by the very nation they serve. what a disgrace. this is crazy, if this is happening in the US, what more in other countries? grarrr

pending blog posts

why do i feel like i'm missing a lot here now? i miss not having a hold on my thoughts. you know, thinking of something and blogging asap about it. i'm a forgetful person and my blog has served me well as a remembrall of the many emotions and ideas i have spontaneously dumped over time. i still get a lot of those must-blog-about-this-asap moments but for the most part these days, they're always put on hold. and for the indefinite time they remain unexpressed, my interest dies, my mojo leaves. for me that's a sad thing. i don't usually care if i write stupidly or blog about nonsense cos in the first place i'm not writing for anyone. i just want this blog to remain alive and personal and, and, spontaneous! recently... my blogging life has become so... lame. sooo lame that i'm writing down a list of my pending blog posts:

1. losing my "me" time

this is the drama i miss doing so much. held in draft for about a month now

2. Lenovo P700 review

srsly, by the time i get to this. the unit's already phased out haha

3. LoadXtreme (VMobile) versus LoadCentral (Uniwiz)

i'm planning a complete unbiased comparison of the two, being someone who has tried both. >:)

4. Les Miserables "reaction post" cos i aint a movie critic 

5. LoadCentral retailers guide

i wanna make my own FAQ of some sort specifically catering to MY retailers. not that they're growing steadily in numbers but because i'd like to keep an archive of information they could refer to (instead of emailing them hehe)

i also want to organize my blog, like re-categorize my artworks and put a submenu for "Works" like Blog/Web Design, Digital, Drawings, Promotional and blah. hay i really really don't know how to make time for this.

turtle power!

i used to watch this when i was a kid! leo, mikey, donnie and raph; four fictional pizza loving anthropomorphic creatures named after popular renaissance artists, trained in the art of ninjutsu by their mutant rat sensei called Splinter, living in the storm sewers of New York City and battling crime and evil... that's the teenage mutant ninja turtles for you! As a child, every cartoon i watch was taken seriously. every battle stressed me, every villain unnerved me, and every victory was heaved with a sigh of relief! this was no different, i watched this along with my other childhood "friends", the power rangers, 5 man, jet man, masked rider and they never failed to entertain me. haha

it's not surprising to note though that ninja turtles started out as a comic book before hitting international fame and being adapted to different media streams and other forms of merchandise. the very first tmnt comic was published by Mirage Studios in 1984. with the team's effort in expanding their merchandise opportunities, they went from comic books, to action figures, toys, animated series, live action series and even film features! these turtles have truly marked this world! and even until now, their ongoing animated series from nickelodeon is continuously garnering positive feedback from its usual fans and of course, the kids!

turtle power! >XD