Girlfriends, Men and Dogs

I caught up with my college best friend, who shall now grace this blog as Bade (since she is quite a spectacular person and any untoward revelation made herein might cause nuisance to her perfection--if you know her true identity then you also know her well enough to keep your mouth shut) at Greenbelt 3 today. She was escaping the vestiges of the supertyphoon that left her city with no electricity for many days now.

Last time I saw her was sometime in February when we went to the UP Fair. The vixen lost some weight and was fabulous as ever. Trust her and I to not lay eyes on each other for months and feel like we're still living at the annex wing of Kalayaan Dormitory.

It's funny how we kept our friendship for six years when our personalities are poles apart. She's cool, calm, collected. I'm the perennial worrier. She doesn't give a hoot about what other people think; I was born a crowd-pleaser . She eats exotic food...when we were in Bangkok, she willingly ate whatever food was on her plate without asking what composed her meal. I can only take chicken, pork, beef, definitely no vegetables and fish, but I do love shrimp and crabs. We do agree on one thing though, but it is much too exclusive to reveal here...we were, for once, whispering when we concurred on this observation a few hours ago.

Our source of fascination varies from politics(today it was the death of Rep. Beltran) ,history (we conferred on the Boleyn sisters), international relations (the ASEAN)...but mostly the more important topics that would grace our discussions would be the choice of tissue paper("Bakit ganito brand nito...'Tisyu'?!!?Wahahahaha"), food("Bakit wala nang cream sauce itong meal na to?....Ay teka, nasa ilalim pala ng kanin!" or

"I specifically said lose the onions, this is onion, it's not cabbage, it tastes like onion too.") and of course, men and failed relationships ("If you think about it, mas okay na yung married before kasi may annulment naman...mahirap yung may anak kasi yun lumalaki, nakikita mo, di mo naman pwedeng patayin yung anak di ba?!?").

Speaking of men...I was also in Greenbelt last night and found this book, Everything I Know about Men, I Learned from my Dog by Clare Staples, with a foreword by Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell. I didn't get to buy it, so when I told Bade about thi s find, we traversed the narrow path to Powerbooks and searched again.

Found it, bought it, loved it. Now that's an irony, because I'm not especially fond of the male specie at this point, and neither am I fond of man's so-called best friend. Anyone who claims to know me must know my uncanny fear of the canine. Big or small, I turn cold and jump at the sight of a dog nearby.

In any case, the book is a joy to read. It's the kind you finish in an hour or less. Each page contains one paragraph of truth--on the left side about men, and about dogs on the right. I was only on page two and I was amused already.

So what sort of insight does the book share? "Don't date a slob. No matter how good a man's heart is, or what a great guy he seems, if he looks a mess, most likely he is a mess. A man who takes pride in his appearance has self-worth and that is a great quality." Partnered by " Make sure your dog is groomed regularly. Their appearance is very important and they look to you to keep them at their best."

Or "Handsome men are never a great bet. Often they have learned to rely on their looks and as a result have not had to develop a personality or sense of humor--two far more important qualities." With, "Don't choose a dog for his looks alone. Remember that looks are only surface deep--loyalty, devotion, an eagerness to please and unconditional love truly are the most wonderful things you can ever experience than the color of his eyes or the softness of his coat."

This author's one smart former model.