Thoughts Age, Like Wine

One of the first pics I took with the 20D. Cloudy Sunset over Manila Bay.

When the SATC series hit the peak of its phenomenal impact on society, women invariably started comparing themselves to SATC.
Well, 2 years after the finale aired, here’s 4 reasons I think SATC women kada’s in Manila are few and far in between.
- Everyone loves the diff personalities on the show, but no conservative-imaged Filipina in her right mind would be caught dead being compared to Samantha. Her extremely male thinking just screams ‘playgirl’ when worn within Manila’s social walls.
- For the same reason above, most everyone will say they are like Charlotte.
- People who are like Miranda will say they are more like Carrie because, frankly, Miranda’s image of the too-ballsy woman is a red hot dress no Filipina bred in a patriarchal society would want for herself. Waaaay too much attention that only a handful (yes, only a handful) of guys can swallow.
- Everyone will want to think they are Carrie, forgetting to recognize the fact that she pursued a married man, and that her character dated more than her fair share of stupendously weird-slash-insecure-slash-immature-slash-emotionally-unavailable men.

And some people might go and say ‘Well, of course we can’t be exactly like them, because the culture’s different”, thereby giving us leeway to drop the ooh-we-have-our-own-lil-sexcapades part of their characters. Na-uh. Can’t do. The sex is central to their character. SEX and the City, remember?

Jeez, this is how much I miss my old girl friends.
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Remember Season 1 when Big and Carrie kept bumping into each other, and when they finally decided to bump into each other on purpose. I’m having a bit of a Mr. Big dilemma myself. Dammit, why does the whole Metro seem soooo small when you need for it to be big. Must not look back. Must make it perfect.
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It’s almost October. Christmas is a-coming. The neighbors are starting to play ‘Jingle Bells’ at ungodly hours. Holy Tinapang Bangus. Must go ahead and buy gifts before I find myself in an unwanted chaotic mad-dash for last-minute gifts.
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With the superbly toxic nine-to-five-day-job (that has become nine to nine or even nine to eleven) these past three weeks, social highs have come few and far in between. Still, I was able to attend a few kwento-worthy affairs…
--> watched 2 movies featured in Cinema Europa at Shangri-La. ‘Kroko’ and ‘The Extra Man’ were both very insightful films.
--> went to see Rex Navarete do stand-up comedy at Megamall with co-workers-slash-friends. Hilarious in parts, but did not beat the laugh-time I had when I saw Chris Rock last year with now-defunct-ex-bf.
--> went to a party thrown by a high-school friend who passed the Medical Licensure Board. My kudos to her!
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While meeting an agent to view a condo unit I was looking to buy, I suddenly remembered a guy from waaaaaaay back. High school, in fact. He was my sister’s friend, who, out of his boredom (I was told), hung out with me while I religiously did homework at my home’s front terrace. He was a spectacular guitarist and a funny guy with what I thought was eccentric but mature thinking. Of course I was around 14 at the time, and didn’t know what the hell I was getting myself into. I found myself talking on the phone with this guy (he was around 3 years older than I was) and felt half-flattered, half-flustered that this guy found me a good enough conversationalist to sustain 4-hour long phone conversations with me. Looking back now, I think I remember me saying something to push his button again and again, and he just stopped calling. In the span of that same summer, I started realizing that boys were made to have more than friendly relations with girls.
Looking back, I realize maybe I was infatuated with the guy and his mysterious interest in a young nobody such as me. Ten years later, I found myself completely smitten by a rocker dude. He was mysterious, aloof, and intense. I didn’t know what attracted me to him and blamed the whole experience from a wide array of explanations, from both our pheromones to us both liking cerebral thinking(him more than me).
This week, I think part of the reason was THE high-school guy and the unfinished and unrecognized internal tug-o-war I had about him. I don’t know where he is now, though, and I don’t think there’s anyway I’m going to find out. Hopefully, nothing needs to be done and the recognition of a past internal conflict is enough to get me to move along and stop this weird attraction to aloof, intense, mysterious men (which in my book is synonymous with “bad boys”).
But, then again, I’m not holding my breath.
***
A forwarded email made me smile. Must share. This might enlighten some other women out there who need some reassurance at the moment. Or maybe not. Excerpts from the email below:
THIS HAS BEEN WRITTEN BY A MAN.
This is for all you girls (snip) who are turning 30, and for those who are scared of moving into their 30's...AND for guys who are scared of girls over 30!!!!

This was written by Andy Rooney from CBS 60 Minutes. Andy Rooney says:
A woman over 30 will never wake you in the middle of the night to ask, "What are you thinking?" She doesn't care what you think.
If a woman over 30 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do. And, it's usually something more interesting.
A woman over 30 knows herself well enough to be assured in who she is, what she is, what she wants and from whom. Few women past the age of 30 give a damn what you might think about her or what she's doing.
Women over 30 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you if they think they can get away with it.
Women over 30 couldn't care less if you're attracted to her friends because she knows her friends won't betray her.
Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off if you are a jerk or if you are acting like one! You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her.
Yes, we praise women over 30 for a multitude of reasons.
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Hopefully, life has nice surprises in store in the coming days now that drama is decidedly being avoided. Bring it on!