love thy self.

july 8: went to singapore on a thursday.

july 11: came home on a sunday with a ‘pasalubong’ for myself…

p.s. i love the smell of a new mac.

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a day in the life of ilya kristine-ovich.

okay, so  i admit the title of my post is not quite original.  i don’t think aleksandr solzhenitsyn would mind though.  in fact, he might feel flattered that someone from the 21st century has endeavored on ‘borrowing’ a product his creative juices after some forty years…

unlike solzhenitsyn’s masterpiece, however, my story is not set in a forced-labor camp in siberia.  and while there is labor, it is thankfully not one that is brought about by coercion.

i have recently started working as an associate lawyer at a firm in ortigas center at pasig city.  perhaps it is because i am new to working in a law firm that i sometimes feel unsure and lost.  then again, perhaps it is because i’m new to being a lawyer and i really haven’t fathomed what it entails.

despite the apprehension i feel, i do like being in my one meter by one-half meter orange and silver pre-fabricated cubicle.  i have a black flat-screen computer monitor on the left side of my desk and a ‘was-once-white’ phone on the right.  underneath my desk are a cpu and a steel cabinet with three drawers.  all my supplies — pens, paper clips, post-its — are neatly arranged on the top drawer.  the second and third drawers hold the folders of the files i’ve been assigned to work on.  they’re not that many but they’re enough to keep me occupied.

the thing i like most about my work area is the chair.  it is bigger than most swivel chairs i’ve used.  in fact, it’s too big for me so i can safely say it’s not the comfiest one i’ve been on.  for some reason, the chair keeps rotating to the right which doesn’t help much because my monitor is on the left.  pffft… what fascinates me about it though is that its seat cover matches (both in color and texture) the orange wrapping of my cubicle divider.  i must say, the chair does make the set-up look complete.  as my chair pivots slightly to the right, i tell myself i can easily sacrifice comfort  for style. 😉

my favorite time of the day is lunch time.  i don’t usually eat breakfast (read: i don’t have time to prepare breakfast) so i’m already hungry by the time the clock strikes twelve.  i don’t have to wait that long though.  the other associates normally prance around the hallway inviting the rest to eat before noon.  when they do, i happily oblige as i drag myself to the lounge.

there are three tables in the lounge — a square table near the door for the partners, a similar table for the non-legal staff right next to it across two square tables put together for the associates.  the lounge also doubles as the happy-hour area after six o’clock. Ü

pinoy food composed of rice, one meat dish and one vegetable viand plus dessert is the normal fare for lunch.  a neatly set white corelle-like plate with matching utensils and a cold glass of water await the person who sits on the table.  iced tea, coffee or warm tea is served after the meal.  what makes lunch something to look forward to is not the free food nor the fact that mang nilo is always there to help out (those perks are super, by the way!).   the best thing about lunch is that it is the time when everyone is gathered around, sharing not just food but also a little of themselves.

after lunch, i go back again to my hole in the wall, thankful for a hearty meal and new friends.  i try to get some work done while i daydream about ivan denisovich and the gulag archipelago.

i have come to realize that not all labor is like that of the the work done by inmates in siberia.  not all stories are like those told by solzhenitsyn.  there are stories like mine which are still slowly unfolding. there are stories like mine where orange swivel chairs abound.  there are stories like mine where food and friends make the labor all worthwhile…

the latest about me…

yes, my a-t-t-y finally has a period attached to it…

1101. RAVANERA, Ilya Kristine R.

just so you know i’m not pulling your leg, see it for yourself here.

i’m baaaaaack!

one of my most recent photos

i’ve been away for far too long.  i’ve been telling myself since 2009, “i’ll do it tomorrow.”  well guess what?!  tomorrow has arrived.

i’ve missed you, dear friends (and imaginary fan base!).  here’s hoping you missed me too. 🙂

ennui**

i love that word. ennui. it has a nice ring to it. it’s also what’s keeping me pre-occupied now that school’s out. let me give you an account of my day, thus far:

8:16 am           wake up

8:17                 read messages on the phone and check missed calls

8:20                 go back to sleep

9:47                 wake up

9:49                 wake jay up (by being extremely annoying. haha..)

10:something  make coffee for jay

11:something  make phone calls

12:something  lunch

1:something    tribal wars (sh*t! wtf?!! a tribemate has launched an attack on one of my villages!!!)

3:something (around the time of el cuerpo del deseo on tv)    played with clowie and imus

4:something    attended to clowie who got bitten by limpy (damn! why did imus have to run?!)

5:something    tribal wars, surfing, blogging

xxx

11:40 pm         tribal wars, surfing, blogging

11:44~             still trying to annoy jay again over the phone (haha..)

 

this day is just too fitting to encapsulate the word.

 

**ennui is a word meaning general lack of interest or boredom, or depression.

world 11: my alternate reality

i am lenekenpunk and i live in world 11.

friends, ladies and gentlemen, good evening.

carmen, my village is located in 68/49, continent 0 of world 11. It was a village given by my aunt. she owned too many already. so, she let me inherit one of them.

this is no ordinary village. to get to my village, traveling by foot or using a car just won’t do. it is a virtual village afforded to me by an online game. and this game is called tribal wars.

tribal wars creates a virtual atmosphere set in the middle ages. true to form, the icons on the game are akin to the castles of the medieval period. in fact, the images, like swords and spears, bows and arrows, seem as if they have been plucked out of the movie braveheart and made into computer graphics.

at present, there are more than 500,000 players from all over the world.

upon registering as a player, one begins with a village with 26 points. this lowly village has a small hut as its headquarters. This headquarters allows the player to construct various buildings. once fully upgraded, the modest cabin eventually transforms into a huge castle.

buildings such us barracks and stable enable the training of troops and horsemen. other buildings like the farm and the warehouse allow growth in quantity and enhancement of capabilities.

to train warriors such as spearmen and archers, and put up buildings, a player would need resources. a timber camp cuts wood, the clay pit collects clay and the iron comes from the mines. the more these sources are upgraded, the more wood, clay and iron they produce.

but developing a village is not the only objective of the game. once your village is strong enough, you can start conquering other villages. this can be done through brute force or diplomacy.

now the game would not be called tribal wars without the presence of tribes. tribes are groups of players huddled together for the growth of the player and the tribe as a whole. thus, if you find yourself enmeshed in a battle with another village, you can always ask help from your tribe, if you have one.

i play for several reasons.

i am fascinated by the game. i have always been a fan of computer games and this is no exception. the high-tech gaming capabilities juxtaposed with a medieval setting unceasingly capture my attention and imagination.

i also enjoy the thrill of having control and being in control. i can choose to go to war or gain allies. the strategies one reads in the sun tzu’s the art of war or machiavelli’s the prince come alive and find application in tribal wars. I have to outwit, outsmart and outplay my opponent. and my decisions will cost me my village or it may also cost my opponents’ theirs.

finally, world 11 is an alternate reality that allows me to make friends from all over the world without even having to meet them. there’s dreadeagle from cambridge, lohoz from singapore, martinrhr from spain and so many others. they know me only as Lenekenpunk. but in that alternate reality, we fight together, we learn from each other and we grow alongside one another.

carmen was one a 26-point village. now, i have more than 26,000 points with a total of 7 villages: carmen, patag, puntod, bugo, bulua, lapasan and macasandig.

friends, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my world!

birthday booboos…

 

i´m in the middle of nowhere. i´m alone. i´m sick. i´m broke. am i happy?

 

some birthday this has turned out to be…

i’m here!!!

 

i’m in são paulo and i’ve been here for almost 7 days now.  i didn’t realize são paulo was so cold even when the sun is out!

so many things are going on in my head. so many names of people who were once strangers but now friends, so much information to share back home,  so much of everything. são paulo é tudo de bom!

earth day.

a happy day to the one and only, mother earth!

p.s. you gotta hand it to her, she’s been around, nurturing us and giving every bit of herself to us for about 4.5 billion years now… grabe, winner!