10:02 PM | | Posted by Clare Henney

I knew that I was doing it completely wrong but I did it anyway.

I went on a self-imposed liquid diet today.  It was on a whim and I didn’t really do any research on it.  All I did was decide that I would not eat anything solid and that I’d stay away from soda.

This morning I had my coffee and then some soup.  This was followed by even more soup for lunch and 250 ml of juice.  By the time the day was over I felt weak already because I wasn’t used to eating so little when I had a packed work day.  Someone needs to remind me to do this when all I have to do is sit at home all day. This “diet” lasted until 6PM, when I gave in to have a small portion of light pasta that my sister made.  Hopefully that didn’t waste the entire day’s efforts.  At the very least I have stuck to my minimum calorie intake for the day so I think that’s good.

I plan on doing this all over again tomorrow.  Hopefully I won’t faint on anyone or anything like that.  I don’t recommend this to anyone, it’s just something I feel like doing and I’m pretty sure you need a doctor to make sure you do it right.  

I’ve read a lot about how liquid diets can help with weight loss.  I just hope that this will help me lose some of the weight that just keeps hanging there and refuses to let go.

If anyone out there knows more about liquid diets than I do please feel free to share your experiences and tips on it!

12:00 PM | | Posted by Clare Henney

I am so excited about this one! I was a fan of the cartoon when I was a little girl and I was very happy to find out that there was going to be a movie version that had animation mixed with real-life characters. I think this is going to be a fun movie to watch, especially if it’s in 3D.

It stars Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother, Doogie Howser, MD) along with a star-studded cast voicing the animated characters, led by Katy Perry as Smurfette.

According to IMDB, in this movie the Smurfs are chased out of their village and the magical world and end up in New York and they are trying to find their way home as the evil wizard Gargamel tracks them down.  

Apart from the previously mentioned members of the cast, the movie also features the voices of SNL actors Kenan Thompson, BJ Novak and Fred Armisen. Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader host Jeff Foxworthy gives his voice to one of the Smurfs, along with George Lopez, Alan Cumming and Wolfgang Puck (yes, THE Wolfgang Puck). Sofia Vergara is in the movie as well, along with Jayma Mays from Glee.

The movie will be shown in August 2011 in the US. Hmmm, I wonder when this will be shown here in the Philippines? Can’t wait!

12:00 PM | | Posted by Clare Henney

My superior has eyebrows.

No, wait.  Let me rephrase that:  My superior has penciled-in eyebrows.  Too penciled in for her own good.  I want to run through her brow line off with facial wipes.  Every single time I have to look at her I have to mentally concentrate on a serious topic to stop me from staring at her eyebrows.  Think Austin Powers in Gold Member when he had that mole dilemma, only I still manage enough self-control not to say or do anything obvious.

Half a day to go.  All I can think of here in my little corner of the office are ideas on how to subtly tell my superior that darkly penciled brows are never going to be good to look at — unless you are really going for the Frieda Kahlo look.  Dark brows that don’t even slightly match your hair color on a barely powdered and pale face does not a stylish look make, especially for someone gunning to be the head honcho of a small corporation.

Those eyebrows are driving me crazy — it’s like they were penciled in with eyeliner and not a brow pencil.  I think that makeup manufacturers should make a clear distinction between the two so that people won’t make a mistake on where to use them. 

My goodness, every time I look at them I see something new.  Reminds me of how people tend to picture all sorts of shapes and figures when they stare up at the clouds.  Right now they seem like two chocolate hills.  This morning they looked like the top arches of the McDonald’s logo.  I feel bad about thinking this way but I just can’t help it.

I think we need a seminar on the proper application of makeup here at the office.  If people are going to put on makeup, they have to at least do it right or not do it at all.

11:05 PM | | Posted by Clare Henney

The latest commercials that have been coming out featuring popular celebrities have me chuckling and wondering how much they were paid to make ads like that.  I mean, they do have images to protect and they’re just made to look really funny in the commercials…the only valid reason I could think of for them to allow this to happen would be a very sizable amount money for the endorsement. Take Sharon Cuneta for example.  Most (if not all) of the people who have seen the ad were surprised that she agreed to do an ad like this:
Next up, Congresswoman Lucy Torres-Gomez.  The latest detergent commercial reminds me of the movie Ember, just with a funny looking appearance by the beautiful legislator/celebrity in ridiculous sunglasses.  The one shown here is a different version but with a similar concept.  I think the intent and the idea was good but for her stature, I don’t think she should have done this. Quite the step down from the commercial that brought her and her husband together if you ask me. Lately, after watching the latest matches of the Azkals, I discovered this new commercial featuring the Younghusband brothers and the rest of the Azkals from Silver Swan. “Eating with your hands, ew, so primitive!”  That and the part where the Azkals pretend to be surprised with the way Phil was eating were hilarious when I first watched it.  Can’t blame the guys for striking the iron while it’s hot as the saying goes but I think the Cortal commercial was the more decent one compared to this. Let’s not forget the commercial featuring James Younghusband.  All I could think of when I was watching this was how they got him to agree to doing this considering how reserved this guy seems to be.
I really hope these celebrities were paid well for these ads. I think they’re hilarious and have recall but I am not quite sure if this actually HELPS them in terms of public image, you know what I mean?

12:00 PM | | Posted by Clare Henney

I was talking to my mother and my cousin today and they were talking about how Safeguard soap has a guy’s scent.  I was very surprised about that because I’ve been using Safeguard for years and I never really thought that it smelled like a guy — then again I am single and do not come in close proximity of the male species enough to smell them so who am I to say that it doesn’t? Yes, Safeguard is not the most feminine/girly type of soap out there but I have been a loyal user for more than a decade now. I know it’s not sexy for a grown woman to be using such a generic-type of soap but I’ve always been very OC about germs and such that I have stuck to Safeguard because it makes me feel really clean after using it.  I don’t even use the scented ones — just the white and the extra-strength (?) one in the dark blue box. After my mom and my cousin’s comments about the scent of this soap being manly I’m now left to wonder if I have been smelling like a guy all these years.  If I have been, that’s not good! Anyone out there care to comment on Safeguard’s scent?

Photo Source:  Jaya Intl.

12:00 PM | | Posted by Clare Henney

I just don’t understand it. In the past four years that I have lived in the neighborhood that we do now, I have been baffled by the concept of people singing on a videoke DURING a wake. Being from a provincial town I’m not at all surprised that wakes are held at the homes of the deceased. I’m not even surprised that there are people who gamble during these things. What really gets to me is all this videoke singing. Imagine this: your dearly departed inside the house and in a coffin. Outside, people are gambling at one table and there are visitors on another making small talk. AND, right smack by the front door, there is a videoke machine with people gathered around while someone sings an uncomfortably enthusiastic version of Totoy Bibo. Just this year, two people have died right next door (both were old and sick, no epidemic to worry about) and on both occasions, there has been a videoke machine that is constantly being used to “entertain” the guests up to the wee hours of the morning. Tough part is, my bedroom window is the one closest to their home, so I get the same amount of “entertainment.” It drives me crazy but what can I do? Everyone here seems to think this is a normal thing so there isn’t anyone to actually complain to.

I just don’t get how you could let people sing and have fun while you’re in mourning. I know some people say you shouldn’t be sad when someone dies because they move on to a better place but this is just ridiculous and goes too far. I don’t think anyone can blame me for wondering especially when you hear whoever is singing asking people to clap for them. Don’t even get me started on how insensitive it is for the neighbors to have the videoke on at full blast until 3 AM every single day of the usually two-week wake.

I have had enough various versions of We are the World, Nilunok ko Ang Lahat, Totoy Bibo and all those other Pinoy jukebox songs. I know Makati has rules on this already. I wish our town could catch up.

11:31 PM | | Posted by Clare Henney

I refuse to use the word cougar because I remember that Demi Moore once said she was too young to be called one.  And I think it was another celebrity older than me who said that she preferred the term puma (I think it was Eva Longoria).

When the Jonas Brothers came out and my niece became completely gaga for them, the first one I noticed was Nick Jonas.  He seemed to be the most talented of the three and after watching him in several interviews, he just seems to be such a mature young man.  I remember saying that if there’s any one of the Jo Bros I can go out with it would be Nick but then at my age that probably won’t happen — or would it?

I recently found out that Nick is dating Aussie singer Delta Goodrem.  He’s 18, she’s 26!  I know, that’s still a bit far from my age but STILL — he is dating and OLDER woman!  Woohoo for all the pumas of the world! Being single at this age has lessened my chances of finding a man in the same age bracket who is still single — which is why many single women in their 30s end up dating younger guys.  I wouldn’t mind dating a younger guy as long as he’s mature enough and won’t mind dating someone older than him. Nick, if you ever break up with Delta, I’m just here OK?

Photo Source:  Just Jared Jr.

12:00 PM | | Posted by Clare Henney

A reality-based spinoff of the popular TV show, The Glee Project is a reality competition where 12 contenders go through various singing, dancing and acting workshops to eventually become the winner — who will be a part of the next season’s cast. To be honest, I don’t really follow the show religiously.  I check it out and if it catches my interest I’d watch the whole thing. If not I just switch the channel.  For the most part I didn’t care for the start of the show because I didn’t like some of the contenders but now that they are down to five, it has gotten interesting.  You can tell that the remaining contestants are really feeling the pressure now and that they’re taking their performances up a notch or two to make sure they stand out and make it till the end of the show.  At this point it’s still anyone’s game and you can see that they are trying their best to be the perfect fit for the show.

One contestant who caught my eye from the start was Cameron Mitchell.  It was his voice that stuck out for me from the very beginning.  When he stood up for what he believed in as a Christian, I also admired him for that.  I like that he had the strength of character to give up all the fame and fortune that came with the competition because he wanted to take a stand and not go against what he believed in.   It’s too bad that he left the show considering how much Ryan Murphy likes him but I believe that this kid has a promising future after the show.  He’s got the voice, he’s got the talent in songwriting and he has character.  I’m sure we’ll all hear from him again in the near future.

Who do I think will win this? I’m not sure.  I just know I don’t want Alex or Lyndsay to win.  They have the tendency to overact and that irritates me.  Samuel could win because he’s completely different from the pack and just has this confidence and intensity that would be good for Glee. Damian’s also interesting (in the “new Finn” sort of way as Ryan Murphy put it) but Hannah is promising too.  I’d be happy with any of the three.  I’m not as emotionally invested in these kids as I used to when I used to watch earlier seasons of American Idol. Do any of you watch The Glee Project?  What do you think?

Photo Source:  Brain Sugar, Broadway World

12:30 PM | | Posted by Clare Henney

If I could do anything else with my life right now I would like to be a writer.  I would like to write books like Meg Cabot and Nicholas Sparks and see them become movies or TV shows in the future.  I would like to stay in the comfort of my home wearing my most worn-out, most comfortable clothes while I write my literary babies.  I would like to work on my own time and not feel the stress of the 8 to 5 workday that I have right now.

Whenever I see the characters Richard Castle and Temperance Brennan on TV talk about their books, I feel a bit of envy because I want to do that.  I want to be like that.  I have no intention of writing to win awards, to be thought of as profound or whatever…I just want to do what I love and get paid to do it.

Yes, I have a good-paying job right now and it pays the bills.  I may have a stable and high enough standing in the workplace and people may think highly of my work but it just doesn’t feel enough because this isn’t what I dreamed of doing for the rest of my life.  Just because I can do the job well that doesn’t mean that I love it.

If I can have the opportunity to do so, I’d love to take a break from work and take some time away to be able to write.  Some place where the office can’t call and where work and home responsibilities won’t take me away from my goal of writing something good.

I hope that one day I can get away from this rat race and just write.  I hope one day it won’t be just some alternate universe in my brain that lets me do that. I’d be really happy if I can come out with a best-selling book one day.  That would be a bigger achievement to me anything else I’ve ever done.