Venus & Joel Getaways: 3rd Year Anniversary Edition

It’s not very often that Joel & I get to go on vacation on our own. The number 1 reason for that is that we always want to take Joaqui with us.

If you had a kid as cute as this, wouldn’t you want to bring him everywhere, too?

But this time, since it’s our anniversary, we figured we’d have some alone time. We chose to spend our day in Batangas na lang so Joaqui could go to his Lolo naman for vacation. We went to Nayomi Sanctuary Resort and boy, the place did not disappoint.

From the lovely view to great service to the super yummy food, this’d be the place to go for a quick getaway from the Metro’s toxicity.

So, You Want To Try Watercolor/Brush Calligraphy?

If you spend as much time on Instagram and Pinterest as much as I do, you’ve probably already come across a few beautiful watercolor art or calligraphy here and there. I’ve always admired people who can turn words into visual art so, the jack of all trades that I am, I told myself, “Maybe I can do that, too!”

And here are some of the tips I can give you guys if you want to try it, too.

The Man-Made Wonder that is the Boar-Bristle Brush

Now, if you know me personally, you probably know that my hair is untame-able. For hair that never experienced any kind of treatment, just the occassional blow out, it’s a mess. But you know, I’m probably the most oblivious person you’d ever meet.

You see, I was raised by television. I grew up watching animé and there, no matter what you do, your hair will always stay the same. Whether you’re working your ass off to gather the seven warriors of the Suzaku clan whilst fighting of the evil but incredibly charismatic Nakago or simply shouting your lungs off to cheer for Rukawa, your hair always looked awesome. Miaka had a lot of misfortunes and most of them involving her getting thrown into the ground, the wall, all over the place, but her buns never got messed up. And if they did, they did so in a fabulous way.

And then came the real world shows, particularly, Gossip Girl. If you have watched even just a single episode of this show, you’d understand where my ridiculously unrealistic expectations about hair are coming from: Serena van der Woodsen.

Somehow, spending enough time obsessing about this goddess made me think that if her hair was that good, how bad could mine get?

See, this is the messiest that it got. She was supposedly so drunk that she couldn’t remember seeing Dan for the first time????? THAT’S HER DRUNK HAIR AND FACE

Do you see?? Do you see how television ruins people????? I somehow got into thinking that if my hair was decent enough when I left the house, it would stay that way. And I. I. I spent the last 20 years parading my grossly frizzy hair around like an idiot.

It wasn’t until recently that I became TRULY conscious of my looks, you see. Before, I had the occassional “Gah! I’m so ugly! I should do something about it,” moments but laziness and pop culture influence prevailed. I am now in deep regret.

Someone pointed out to me that the reason my hair looks double-dead is that I shampoo too much without conditioning. I shampoo my hair every time I shower and shampoo it twice on night showers. Twenty years of that (well not really 20 but you get my point). I also stubbornly refuse to use conditioner because it makes me feel greasy. Ajuju.

If you’re like me, I suggest you read this article. I still don’t know if all of it works but my biggest takeaway from it is the boar bristle brush. I’ve always been amazed by how blown out hair looks different from normal at nasa brush pala ang sikreto.

BWAHAHAHA. Wala lang. Ang haba haba ng intro ko yun lang naman pala point ng post ko. Haha.

Anyway, it really works!!! I swear! Try it! Worth the extra buck from synthetic brushes. :>

Check this out. Five minutes lang sya of brushing after I bought it kanina. Haha.

Sorry. This was the best kunyari-candid shot I could do–that’s how bad I am at it. #nofilter #allnatural #nomakeup #myblogmyrulz

One of the best decisions I made. At least medyo decent na yung buhok ko dyan sa pictures. Haha.

Raised by my mother as a Goody girl, I bought the one from Goody. I don’t have any other recommendations, since I have not the money, energy, nor the motivation to try other brands. You should probably just ask the sales people around kung ayaw nyo ng Goody. Hehe.

xx,

V

PS Terribly sorry for the horror story that is the capitalization of the title of this post. Which words to capitalize in titles have always been one of the many gray areas of grammar for me. Am I using gray area right?

On the RH Bill/Pre-Law/Law?? (what is a pre-law even)

Hi. New blog post after such a long time and I’m afraid it’s going to be a political rant. At magtatagalog na lang ako para hindi masyadong nakakahiya ang Pilipinas kung may makabasa mang kung sino nito.

Bale, grabe yung traffic sa may Faura kaninang umaga. Bakit kamo? Dahil sa RH Law. Yung 13++ years nang bill na sa wakas ay naging law na? Hayun. Law na, na-TRO pa. Unconstitutional daw kasi? O kung anumang bwisit na dahilan.

Alam nyo ba kung gano kahirap at kamahal magbuntis? Una sa lahat, tataba ka ng bongga. Pangalawa, stretch marks. Kung isa ka sa mga mapalad na nilalang na ang balat ay immune sa stretch marks, napakaswerte mo. Kung hindi, magdusa ka.

Every 2 weeks na check up kapag malayo ka pa sa due date mo, every week kapag malapit na. 600 pesos kada check-up, may libre or mura naman, pero mamamatay ka muna sa pagpila. Yung vitamins, nasa mga 1500 kada-buwan. Yung panganganak, swerte ka kapag normal. E kung caesarian? Tapos yung baby, magkano ang gatas, diaper, vaccine, at kung ano-ano pa? Tapos, babalik ka pa sa gynecologist mo para sa pap smear, tapos reresetahan ka ng pills or injectables or kung ano mang gusto mo. Panibagong gastos.

Pagdaan namin kanina sa may Supreme Court, may dalawang kampo na nagbabangayan: yung pro-RH at anti-RH. Syempre kampi ako dun sa pro-RH, at dahil rant post ito, ang topic eh yung mga anti-RH.

Yung mga taong anti-RH, gustung-gusto na tinatawag yung mga sarili nilang “pro-life.”

Sus. Sinong niloko nyo? Di naman pro-life ang pagtutol sa RH Law. Pro-life kayo kasi ayaw nyo ng condom? Pro-life kayo kasi yang mga hayup na contraceptives na yan e abortion din yan.

O sige na nga, payag na ako sa argument nyo. Protect the sanctity of life. Yeheeeeees. Ang banal.

O e ano nang mangyayari kapag naipanganak na yang mga pinoprotektahan nyong buhay? Salot na ng lipunan ang tawag nyo? Palalabasin nyo ng simbahan kasi mabaho? Iiwasan nyo sa daan kasi nanakawan lang kayo? Di nyo bibigyan ng limos kasi ipangshashabu lang nila?

Pag naging pulitiko kayo, nanakawin nyo yung mga tax nila para makapagpatayo ng mansion at makabili ng BMW niyo? Magtatayo kayo ng Catholic school tapos ginto yung tuition fee?

Kung talagang ang dami daming pro life sa bansang to, bakit ang hirap hirap pa rin ng buhay?

Sana kasi yang mga pro-life na yan e totoong pro-life. Hindi naman kayo pro-life e. Sa katotohanan, pro-birth lang kayo. Pro-faux morality. Pro-uneducation. Pro-inaccessible reproductive health. Anti-quality life.

Sa dinami-dami ng debate dyan sa hayup na RH Law na yan, namimiss na yung whole point nya. Ang point lang naman nyan e maging accessible para sa lahat yung reproductive health. Para ma-advise-an at maeducate yung mga tao ng tama.  RH services na accessible para sa lahat, actually, optional pa nga yan for most private hospitals. Sex education para sa mga public schools, and again, optional for private schools.

Kung ayaw mo naman ng mga yan, di ka naman pipiliin e. Ayaw mo e di wag mo! Pero hindi ibig sabihin nun, irerestrict mo yung access ng iba. Napakasama na ng ugali mo nun. Siguro, kung lalaki ang nagbubuntis, ang tagal tagal na nitong na-approve. But then again, that’s a different issue.

Accidental Post-Birthday Celebration

A little over two weeks ago, my mom had her high school class’ reunion at Valentino Resort. Beforehand, she asked me to google the place to see if it’s any good. When I saw the website and saw the amazing pools and their tempting spa services, I pestered my mom endlessly to take us.

It took time and a lot of effort to convince her to let us tag along, but in the end she gave in (as she always does). Hehe. And although it’s pretty common for resort websites to go overboard with photoshop so long as they could advertise, the *actual* Valentino Resort did not disappoint. It did not disappoint at all.

Although it can be a bit pricey, for me, it was all worth it. The place is amazing and for its age, very well-maintained. The resort is perfect for weekend getaways, for when you want to escape the city’s heat, noise, and smog-ridden air.

Their help are extremely professional and they’re really really nice and always have smiles plastered across their faces. From parking to unpacking to finding your cabanas, the staff will assist you all the way. The place is really big so these carts are really handy!

I lost count of how many trips kuya driver gave us but it was a lot!

Aside from the helpful staff, the whole place is a Wi-Fi zone, and the speed is not half bad. For this internet-dependent generation, that’s a really big plus. In fact, I think the Wi-Fi  was the perk that my mom enjoyed the most. She was all, “Na-upload ko agad yung pictures namin sa Facebook!” She didn’t go swimming, she’s not a spa person, and she didn’t get to take the tour with us ’cause she had to go bond with her high school batchmates, of course, so it’s pretty understandable.

We mostly spent the day in this pool since this was the one nearest us.

The view from here is spectacular!

Since I’m super maarte when it comes to pool water, here’s another plus for Valentino! The water is crystal clear and it’s cool, just the way I like it. Also, there weren’t much people when we went, in fact, for most of the day, only Joel, Chen, and I were swimming in the pool plus two other kids in adorable bikinis.

I loooooove swimming so much so most of the day was spent making babad on the water. Fun fact: even babies in tummies feel lighter in the water! I’m already on my third trimester so I’ve been having trouble carrying the extra heavy weight recently and swimming gave me a break from all of that. When I was in the water, I didn’t feel pregnant at all!

The resort is also a good place for another thing everyone in this generation enjoys doing: camwhoring! There are a lot of spectacular views and it feels like everywhere you go is instagram-able. They have this awesome view deck/hanging bridge!

These two kept shaking the bridge while I was taking pictures of views from the bridge so I didn’t get any nice ones. 😦 Just see it for yourself. 😉

And here’s us going crazy with the camera! I just recently discover Clone Camera so please forgive the madness. Hihi.

Yep, he has 3 pairs of the same slippers.

The only thing that made this day slightly disappointing was that we didn’t get to try their spa services since we didn’t have time na. It should also be noted that they have relatively cheap spa services! The massages and facials and spas and manicures go as low as Php250 (I know right!) Oh well, now we have an excuse to go back!

Since both my parents are Batangueños, this place really is a source of pride. Valentino Resort and Spa is located in San Jose, Batangas, and it’s just a 5-minute drive from my mom’s house. Who knew that there was paradise amid all that poultry?

I suggest everyone go here! You will not be disappointed.

xx,

V

Two people on the table next to mine and they’re not even talking. One is typing on her lap, the other, a little more traditional, is writing endlessly on her old little notebook. She looks deep in thought and in the zone since she does more writing than observing the people around her, which is a lot more than what can be said about me. Also, she’s right handed, all of these people are, which is a bit disappointing because seeing another left handed person always manages to cheer me up.

Another man is having a drink that looks like iced tea along with a chocolate chip cookie and that doesn’t make sense because cookies and pastries and cakes go best with coffee. Clearly, this man doesn’t know how to enjoy food, he just mindlessly consumes them.

A coffee shop is theoretically a good place to study in, and that is exactly what this well-dressed Chinese man in his 20s seems to be doing. He seems to mature to be still in college so my money’s in law school. I would love for him to represent me someday if need be, he seems really responsible, to be able to actually study without stopping and stalling in a coffee shop.

The lady opposite me, around my age, large headphones on, engrossed in her Dell laptop, seems to be doing exactly what I’m doing which is just killing the time. I really envy her badass headphones, I would probably learn playing this song I’ve had on repeat for two hours now much easier with those acoustics. And now I’m having an internal struggle on whether or not I should chat her up just so I could have a go at her headphones, and that’s probably a bad idea since life is not a romantic comedy–people don’t actually meet other people in coffee shops. A popular, and becoming increasingly annoying, line that’s been circulating around Tumblr, and the Internet, everywhere goes something like, “I wear these headphones and put the volume on maximum so I could shut the outside world up.” I wonder if people ever just do this to shut themselves up ’cause listening is way better than talking and just fucking things up?

It’s been half an hour since your last message and looking at our wedding ring is doing more depressing than comforting now. I’m sorry. Everything is always my fault and I’m not just saying that, it’s really true. Turning 20 in a month, becoming a mom in more or less than two months, and I’m tearing up in a coffee shop. I don’t really see why anyone would want to marry me and for you to do it so happily, even fighting just for it to happen, just shows how kind of a person really are.

Please come home early, baby. I love you. And I really hope these people around me will have a happy place they can go home to as well.

My Wedding in Low Quality Photos

Being pregnant at 19 years old is probably the mother of all social stigmas, specially in a country like the Philippines. And everyone would tell you that it’s always harder for the girl because she would be judged harder, more and more and more as the baby grows inside her uterus.

But you know what? Fuck all that ’cause I’m having the time of my life! See this instagram photo?

Also this one?

I’m at my happiest right now and no amount of gossip and judgy-ness and hate can ruin that. Also, I’m not saying that you all should just go ahead and make babies, but after the congenital scan, what with the results indicating that our future baby boy is as healthy as they come, Joel and I couldn’t be any more happier.

Pitch in the fact that I get to wake up next to the love of my life, my one great love everyday and take care of him and that my family loves him and everything is going peachy and you would wonder how one person could walk around with this many happy hormones.

Settling down this early may not have been in our plans, but we always knew that this where we’d end up. 

And to mommy and daddy, I swear I’d still make you proud. Love you both.

xx,

V

Blog Rec: Hard Truths from Soft Cats

This blog has been idle for so long. Bad blogger, Venus. Bad blogger. So, while I go off and finish my long forgotten drafts, blogpost ideas, etc, I shall first recommend to you a blog that I have been very fond of these days: Hard Truths from Soft Cats.

The name says it all. It’s a single-topic Tumblr blog that provides you with wisdom that will hit you like a drunkard’s punch because you insulted his novel, but with the intention of cushioning the pain with cute, fluffy cats. Cute, fluffy cats coming from the biggest dog person there is.

Here are some of their posts!

It’s so depressingly fun!

xx,

V

I Still Want the iPhone 5

Disclaimer: This is a post by one of those people that Android fanboys call stupid, superficial, and technologically ignorant.

Given that my contract with Globe ends next month, I was specially excited for the latest iPhone release because there was a good chance that I’d end up buying it. Also, I’ve never bought an iPhone or any other smartphone that would cost me more than a whopping Php40,000–and let’s be honest, those are the only ones that are really worthy of being called smartphones–before.

You see, I own a 4th-gen iPod Touch. I’ve always been contented with what it can do so even if I kid with my mom about lining up for every new iPhone that got released, if she actually said yes, I would just tell her it’s a waste of our money. I was happy with my iPod and pairing it with my oh-so-precious Nokia phone, the one that had a flashlight with it, but then I lost that. So I bought this relatively cheap Samsung Galaxy whatever and what a gargantuan disappointment that was. The interface was no good and even just the iPod Touch was waaay ahead of it. Also, the horror that was Google Play Store. And even before I started dropping the device, it just turned off on its own and I don’t know why and I just want to cry at the mediocrity. UGH.

So when I found out about this gizmo that allowed me to call and text from my iPod, I was super happy. I gave the Samsung phone to my mom and even SHE’S complaining that it sucks. That’s an old person who thinks that cellphones whose sole functions are calling and texting should suffice.

But then the iPhone 4S came along with iCloud and a better camera and new apps that cause my iPod to crash without reason occassionally and Siri and Photo Stream and better syncing with your Apple devices and my maluho side that’s been pent up slowly took over. The timing of the end of my contract and the release of the iPhone 5 did nothing to tone it down.

But still, I had to be rational. If I were to spend that much money on a phone, I wanted it to be the best. So I turned to Google. I just typed in iPhone vs and waited for what Google suggested. Lol. I’ve been really out of the loop ever since Digby and my iPod came to my life hehe. I used to know every new phone that’s being released in the country but now it’s just OMG NEW OS UPDATE FOR DIGBY and OMG IS THIS THE TIME TO UPGRADE FROM THE IPOD+CHEAP PHONE TO THE IPHONE? When I have no problems with the tech I currently have, I stick with it.

After going through Google’s suggestions, I focused on iPhone 5 vs Samsung Galaxy S3 articles. And I found dozens of them. I mainly focused on the ones written by Android fans because I needed to hear their criticisms because while Apple fan-written articles do point out iPhone “flaws” they would inevitably find ways to still like it.

After reading the articles, most specially the comments sections, as the title suggests, I still want the iPhone 5. The articles were right, what it all comes down to is the user’s preference.

Build and Display Screen

First of all, it’s so shiny and pretty on its own and relatively:

And the S3:

For me, the iPhone 5 wins the build and display round. I’ve tried using the S3 in one of the stores here in the Philippines and I don’t dig the wider screen. The wide phone just feels unnatural in my girl hands and even though Android fanboys boast Super AMOLED display screen whatever, even just the iPhone 4S’s display screen looks better. With further reading, I found out that it may be due to the fact the S3 uses Pentile display and not one based on true RGB matrix, unlike the 4S and the iPhone 5.

Take a second look at that iPhone’s sexiness and diamond-cut edges. Oomph.

Camera

This is no debate. The iPhone 4S has the Samsung Galaxy S3 beat when it comes to taking snaps. If we are to believe Apple in its announcement that the iPhone 5’s camera will be better than the 4S, then the winner of the category is clear. Plus, take a look at these images:

Source: http://www.apple.com/iphone/gallery/

Source: http://www.apple.com/iphone/gallery/

Source: http://www.apple.com/iphone/gallery/

According to Apple’s website, these are actual photos taken with the iPhone 5. A part of me says that I have to see it to believe it, and then there’s also the factor that is, “It’s not about the camera, it’s about the photographer,” but these photos got me about 66% convinced.

Processor and Storage

So the S3 uses a quad-core processor while the iPhone 5 would only be using its new A6 chip. When you think of it, quad-core is awesome. But since nobody really knows about the A6 chip and its performance in comparison with the S3, I wasn’t able to decide on this aspect.

The new iPhone boasts an improved Siri. And by logic, if the Siri we currently have is the best voice recognition app there is, an improved Siri will be even better than the current best.

As for storage, I have no problems with the iPhone’s non-expandability. Sure, the S3 gives you the option of doubling its storage but I think I would do fine with the 64GB iPhone. I still prefer to watch my movies and TV series on my Mac and my second choice for that would be my Kindle Fire. 64GB of storage is fine with me.

Operating System

Even though everyone’s saying that the iOS 6 is nothing but an incremental update/iOS 5.5, I believe Apple took a great risk by building their own Maps app. It is hugely lacking when compared to Google maps, but for a version 1.0, it’s pretty amazing.

In my mom’s side of the family, we’re the only ones who are Apple fans. They all own Android devices and every single time one of my cousins tell me that, “May bago akong phone! Ice cream sandwich na ‘to. Ang galing.” (I have a new phone! It already runs on ice cream sandwich. It’s awesome.) I just nod my head in approval even if I don’t know what the hell she’s talking about. And when she suggests that I buy the same one come October, I just politely smile and make up some excuse like, “Hinihintay ko yung bagong iPhone e. Mas madali kasi siguro yung syncing kung Apple device na lang bilhin ko kasi kay Digby at Penelope.” (I’m looking out for the new iPhone. I think the syncing part would be more convenient if I just bought an Apple device since I already have Digby and Penelope.)

If you’ve been wanting to vomit at the biasness of this post, I would like to make you vomit some more. Due to my horrible Android/Samsung experience, I couldn’t afford to give a single fuck about Android operating systems. And frankly, for a multimillion dollar company, they’re very tacky. Gingerbread? Ice cream sandwich? Seriously? But, of course, I had to be rational. So I checked this article that explained something called TouchWiz. 

And while I usually welcome pictures in articles whole-heartedly, how I wish they didn’t include pictures on this one. Because it kept me from reading the whole article. The unsmoothness of the interface is just immeasurably behind what iPhones have to offer.

Call it superficial or whatever, but the iPhone interface, even if most people are getting bored with it, works. It’s so intuitive that even my mom didn’t need my help navigating the iPad when we first checked it out on the Apple store, and she needs help with EVERYTHING. Suffice it to say, she immediately fell in love with it.

The Android interface, however, lacks the smoothness and overall snap of the iOS interface. Plus, it takes a bit of getting used to. And although the familiarization process, for me, would take about half an hour or two, and complete phone mastery in about a week or a month, I’m fine with what iOS has to offer. 

My other complaint with Android is that even the names of their technology aren’t intuitive. TouchWiz? Where did that come from? And why would the next OS be called Jellybean? A fair share of people would agree that an ice cream sandwich would be a better treat than a jellybean. I just… I don’t get it.

However, there was one S3 feature that I did like: the Smart Stay. It’s this thing that you turn on so that even if you don’t touch the screen or anything after a few seconds, maybe because you’re reading an article or waiting for a download, the screen won’t turn off. It’s pretty neat, but it’s not enough to make me choose the S3 over the iPhone 5.

Content

The Google Play Store is just a big blah to me. Content is not the category that would win my heart over. I think we could all agree that the only company that currently rivals the one Apple has to offer is Amazon. And if I don’t like Android apps, how else would I maximize its quad-core processor when my primary need for a smartphone is gaming?

Honestly, even after reading tons of articles and Android fanboys’ comments bashing the iPhone 5 and its boringness and Apple losing its touch, I still think that the iPhone best suits the average person’s needs and maybe that’s why it’s the one that sells.

I haven’t even included the awesomeness of the earpods.

Have you ever seen any other company, whose main focus are the gadgets and not the accessories, that would spend 3 years on fcking earphones? I don’t think so.

I also don’t have a problem with the new Lightning connector. I actually think that the reversible feature is pretty neat since most of my iPod’s bottom scratches are due to me fumbling with the 30-pin connectore.

So for all of its faults, I still love the iPhone 5.

No wireless charging? That’s okay. It’s more hassle than convenient when I googled it anyway. Plus, I like using my device even while it’s charging, so, no, thanks.

No NFC? I didn’t even know about NFC until Android fans pointed out that it’s missing from the iPhone 5. And since I belong in a poor, third-world country wherein some senators think that contraception is a form of abortion, NFC would be of no use to me, anyway. NFC is still not that big of a thing, and maybe that’s why Apple isn’t so keen on jumping on that wagon just yet. They’ve always been about what the customer needs. And I think Passbook would be a good alternative, with its possiblities, to the NFC since it uses technology that’s already there and doesn’t need the “extras” that NFC requires both in the part of the consumer and the stores.

Not flexible and open-source enough? That’s okay. Widgets just look like clutter to me, anyway. And themes and whatnots may have been cool when I was 14, but now it’s just tacky. Also that Android feature that makes the app icons swivel when you switch home screens just makes me dizzy.

Before writing this post, I almost believed that iOS 6 and the iPhone 5 are just repackaged and slightly better versions of iOS 5 and the iPhone 4S. I was already buying the general consensus that it was boring and blah blah blah. I almost decided on just getting the 5th generation iTouch. But then I realized that the one thing the Android fanboys failed to mention is how significant Android phone upgrades and iOS upgrades were. When I googled “samsung galaxy s3 vs samsung galaxy s2,” the comparisons would be an insult to boring. Boring would be more likely to wear a clown wig than the articles that came up. Well, not really *that* boring but that’s mainly due to the fact that the Galaxy S2 relatively sucked. References one and two. So that problem’s covered. 

I’m not saying that the S3 sucks, it’s just that I don’t need the features it has that the iPhone doesn’t. And since the whole point of the research was to see what smartphones best satisfies my wants and needs, I’m gonna stick with the iPhone 5. Say what you want about it, but it’s still pretty awesome. I think Gizmodo puts it best:

It’s easy to forget, with as much emphasis as Apple puts on its biannual show-and-tell extravaganzas, that its primary objective isn’t to entertain us. It’s to sell iPhones. Millions and millions and millions of iPhones.

The iPhone 5 will be on shelves on September 21st, which is one week before Apple’s fiscal year ends and the holiday quarter begins. How important are those three months to Apple’s bottom line? Last year during the same period, the iPhone 4S drove Apple’s fiscal first quarter smartphone sales to 37 million units, and an overall profit of $13 billion. To put that in context, that’s more money than Google made in all of 2011.

Those numbers aren’t just impressive. They’re unprecedented. The iPhone is the most valuable asset of one of the most valuable companies in history. So the question we should be asking isn’t why didn’t Apple make it more exciting. The question is—other than the standard spec and feature bumps—why would Apple change the iPhone at all? There’s a reason Coca-Cola’s used the same formula for a hundred years.

That’s why, when we say the iPhone 5 is boring, we really mean the iPhone 5 is safe. It’s familiar. It’s the same phone in slightly different packaging. And, most importantly, it’s still very recognizably the most popular smartphone in the world. If you’ve won the first two legs of the Triple Crown, you don’t suddenly trade in your thoroughbred for a one-eyed pony because it’s more interesting to look at.

Also:

The worst part? In a vacuum the iPhone 5 is actually really exciting. For whatever half-baked features it skips out on, it’s still technological marvel, and may well prove to be the best smartphone you can buy. If the worst thing about it is that it’s not different enough from a phone that tens of millions of people a month spend hundreds of dollars to buy, well, that’s fine.

Bitchez be hatin but I believe lots of people would be making the decision I made just now, and no matter how boring and technologically behind Android fans claim it is, it will still sell like pancakes. And when the actual phone comes out and the reviews that come with the actual phone don’t make me change my mind against it, I might just buy one of those pancakes.

I just don’t get why people feel the need to point out stuff like only stupid, status symbol seeking, technologically inept people would buy the iPhone 5. It could be just that we prefer its simplicity, smoothness and slickness, and the iOS experience. And when the truth of the matter is that the iPhone is still a pretty awesome phone. And who knows, the actual phone might be even more amazing since we all know that the truly magnificent stuff lies in what Apple doesn’t tell us.

You don’t have to bring down other people over their phone preference. It’s just pointless and it makes you a childish, elitist, nerdy, techy hipster. And I think that’s just the most annoying kind of person ever. The one that Max (Kat Dennings in 2 Broke Girls) would bend over backwards just to make fun of. Like Mandork without the adorableness.

How about you? Are you stupid and would buy the iPhone 5 just like me?

xx,
V

The Door Into Summer: A Book Review

This is the best book cover for the book that I found. Wish I could snag a copy with this cover someday.

I really don’t have a system for discovering new books. I’m not one of those people who scours the web for new good reads, checks out the what’s popular on every bookstore type. Most of the stuff I read were just books I found scattered on Powerbooks (i.e. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest–it was only after about 2 months since I finished the third book that I learned it was a trilogy– and Para Kay B), and things I happen to pick up at secondhand bookstores and at book sales. The Door into Summer, however, is the favorite book of one of my English students and he just keeps talking about it, and since I’m also into science fiction, I finally checked it out.

The Door into Summer is time travel-paradox story set in 1970 and 2000. It is about Dan Davis, a thirty-something mechanical engineer, who gets swindled by his business partner and evil fiancee out of his own company. Said fiancee then tricks him into spending thirty years in suspended animation. And when he wakes up in the year 2000, he ventures into finding his Door into Summer

The worst part of reading “past” science fiction novels is that the “future” is now. All of the things that are happening in Heinlein’s year 2000 is far from happening, even in 2012. The book talks a lot about robots since Dan is a mechanical engineer, and the robots of today are a long shot away from doing what Heinlein imagined–well, as far as public knowledge goes, anyway. And there are a bajillion other things he got wrong about the year 2000: they still haven’t found a way to eliminate the cold virus and while we do have dishes that lets the food stay warm until forever, it’s not used in everyday life.

And I can find a dozen more flaws in the book–like the fact that the book is dedicated to ailurophiles, I hate cats, and that it has a creepy love story which I won’t talk about because spoilers–but I enjoyed it anyhow. Maybe it’s because I have a soft spot for time travel stories which, ultimately, is what the book really is about. And it’s kind of nice to take a break from all the dystopic future books and have a hopeful, cheery, and optimistic one. Heinlein’s future isn’t exactly Disney, Meet the Robinsons style, but I believe this future is the one that will eventually get there.

It is an extremely readable book. It’s also very short since I finished it overnight. This is my first Heinlein book and it made me want to read more of his works. Who knows, maybe he would get there on top of my list with Sidney Sheldon, Mary Higgins-Clark, and David Zindell. In fact, after I googled him, I believe that there’s a big chance of that happening.

If you do happen to decide to read the book, will you give me your take on Dan’s love story?

xx,

V

Whatever the truth about this world, I like it. I’ve found my Door into Summer and I would not time travel again for fear of getting off at the wrong station.

Dan Davis, Door into Summer