Goddess, I Am.

No, once again, I have not donned my riding breeches and ridden off into the sunset, nor am I letting this blog die like so many others in the past. I simply have much of my time taken over by work – and life, in general – once again, so writing has been out of the question.

I won’t regale you with details of what I’ve been up to these past few weeks or so because I’m writing on borrowed time at the moment, so anyone who might be interested will have to make do with this very quick update.

1. I’ve quit my shitty job because I realized that I get paid for freelance work a lot better than writing a crummy book about government grants. My bosses weren’t too happy, and it was a mess for a while. Now that I think about, it still is a bit of a mess, but at least they’re not threatening to sue me anymore. Now, if only they’ll pay me my money really soon so we can all call it a day. . .

2. My sister, mum, and I have a new online venture. I did mention before that she (my sister) makes clothes, but now she has started to focus on swimwear. Her first few pieces are nothing short of fabulous (and I should know because I am quite partial to everything “beach-y”), and should be ready for sale any day now. That’s one of the great things about the Philippines – summer never ends, even in the middle of the typhoon season.

But I digress. Right now, we have a pretty impressive collection of gorgeous sandals, so pay us a visit at The Innuendo Shop and maybe pick up a pair – or two!

3. Alright, shameless plugging done. Moving on, May is an awesome month for movies, and I’m proud to say that I haven’t missed any of the blockbusters this month. I can’t help it!

X-Men Origins: Wolverine was pretty cool. I’s not my favorite, but it was extremely entertaining, especially Ryan Reynolds. And I love, love, LOVED the new Star Trek! One of my best friends is a certified Trekkie (she has the uniforms, wore Klingon ears, and even went to that sci-fi convention thingy in Germany last month), and I always poked fun at her. Though I probably won’t be joining her frenzy anytime soon (sorry, Kaye), I still think the J.J. Abrams “reboot” is the most entertaining film I’ve seen this year – so far! Let’s see if next week’s Terminator Salvation will surpass it. The critics have been mean, but I never listen to them, anyway. Besides, it’s Christian Bale, people!

I will probably get a lot of criticism for saying this, but I think the Angels and Demons movie was better than the book, ending-wise. Mind you, this isn’t something that I say very often because I LIVE for books! I love reading Dan Brown, but I did think the book was a bit over-the-top around the ending when the Camerlengo torched himself in front of all and sundry and people were all atwitter over such a “divine” phenomenon (can anyone say, “overkill”?). I’m so glad the movie made that whole bit more low-key. Most of the stuff in the book, particularly some of the history, were missing from the film, though, but that’s understandable and almost negligible.

I also loved that they made Langdon’s new adventure a sequel, instead of a prequel (unlike the book). Did anyone notice that he was no longer claustrophobic in the film? That’s a great touch – Sophie Christ (for lack of a better moniker) actually did successfully cure him (in the Da Vinci Code)! Another thing that I loved was how they kept the same haunting music by Hans Zimmer. It made this skeptic want to go back to church. Okay, not really. Oh, and it was filmed in Rome. I want to go to Rome so bad!!!

4. Speaking of Rome, I now have all seven books of Colleen McCullough’s Masters of Rome series! Weeeeeee! I had to order the missing second and third (The Grass Crown and Fortune’s Favorites, respectively) from a UK bookstore back in April, but thankfully, it made it here in good time AND I didn’t have to pay for stupid import taxes. Besides, I’m still in the middle of The First Man in Rome (the first book) – slow going because of all the stuff that I have to do. But I’m not complaining. The longer I can stay in Ancient Rome, the better.

5. In 20 days, we’re off to Boracay for our late honeymoon. I am absolutely giddy with excitement! Little sister is making my fabulous monokinis and bikinis as we speak! I am, after all, the (shamelessly) self-proclaimed image model for Innuendo. You hear that, little sister?

6. And another thing that’s getting me excited: I am this close to getting my 13-inch Macbook Aluminum! Yey! I intend to get it within the next couple of weeks or so. My mind’s all made up, yes, but I am still looking for the best deal possible. Being the skinflint that I am, I can’t help it!

7. Kris Allen won American Idol, just like I said he would. It just proves that the judges and producers could try to blatantly manipulate people to vote for overrated Adam Lambert with their simpering comments and lavish (over)productions for his performances all they want, but the best man will still win. I feel vindicated.

8. We’re doing great on the home front. We’re settled, comfortable, and very married. As always, we have our little dramas every now and again, but things get too boring otherwise! I am about to buy a cookbook and attempt to cook for my man beyond the usual fry-ups – a prospect that he dreads, and one that I am very much looking forward to, just to see the look on his face.

So that’s life for the new Mrs. Young. I hope to get back to my regular writing schedule within the next few days. Please, oh please, just let me survive this week without drowning in articles!

I honestly don’t know what I’ll do without online shopping. I discovered it fairly early back in the days when having a Pentium 3 computer was the height of cool and we had dial-up connection that worked slower than Nicole Scherzinger’s brain cells. I can still remember using my mum’s credit card (I had a supplementary account) to order silly things like signed posters of the Spice Girls and “authentic” katanas. Luckily for me, no one shipped to the Philippines back then, so not only did I save my mother a few hundred dollars, I probably saved myself from a lifetime of being grounded.

Fast forward to a few years later. People in the west have now realized that the Philippines actually has real people that use (gasp!) computers, so one can now buy just about anything under the sun as long as one is willing to pay for ridiculous shipping costs and customs charges and wait for weeks (sometimes even months) to get one’s parcel. This is how The Fiance gets his Blu-ray movies.

I must say I totally admire the man’s patience. I, for one, will be climbing the walls by the second day; hence, why I prefer to do my online shopping on some of the local websites. As long as I pay early in the day and bug the seller senseless to ship before the courier’s cut-off time, it’s guaranteed that I’ll get it bright and early the next day. (And mind you, I’ve only been let down a couple of times.)

How true is it, though, that folks in the U.S. are getting their stuff delivered within minutes? I saw this video promoting an online site with an overenthusiastic Howie Mandel and a very amused little old lady named – wait for it! – Gay.

So a strange man (Howie) knocks on Gay’s front door and she actually lets him in, use her computer to order a smoothie maker, and lie on her kitchen counter. Then somewhere between the actual sale and him admiring her light fixtures, someone’s at the door again with – you guessed it! – said smoothie maker. And it doesn’t end there. Gay, displaying the best of American hospitality, even makes him a smoothie on the spot!

Farfetched or not, I think the video shows exactly how endless the possibilities of online shopping are. Although The Fiance will probably still have to wait several days for his imported movies, I can at least expect the sewing machine I ordered on behalf of my sister to turn up within the hour.

It does, indeed, sound super cool – in theory. For all I know, it might only work with Howie hyperventilating in my kitchen. If that’s the case, I think I can wait a day or two.

Last week, The Fiance and I finally decided to have cable installed. After almost 20 months without honest-to-goodness prime time TV, I’m on way to having a viewing schedule that could possibly rival that of the Mona Lisa’s (except I’m the one gawking, not the one being gawked at, duh).

Truth be told, I’m not really much of a TV person. I’m not one who spends hours in front of the tube, channel surfing like there’s no tomorrow. But, for some strange reason, it was one of the things that I missed while I lived in Thailand (I couldn’t get a subscription for lack of a work permit), so when a pack of cable guys tried to get our entire neighborhood to sign up with Sky, we jumped on the opportunity.

So far, I’ve joined the throngs of people setting their Nooka watches (not that I have one) to watch the newest season of American Idol. I have also started catching up with Grey’s Anatomy. I’m avidly waiting for movies I missed on the cinema in HBO and Star Movies, and every so often I hope to catch a cheesy Tagalog movie or two (seriously), so I can nitpick until I’m hoarse.

Ahhhh… There’s nothing like the joy of mindless entertainment to look forward to after a long day at work.