waxing prophetic...

my horoscope last week told me to "be careful. it's not the usual 7 days. it's seven months. be ready."

i don't really believe that the future can be told in 3 lines of single column fine print.

but i've been having such bad days lately that i couldn't help but wonder.

just today - i've been up to my eyeballs (to quote sen. miriam) in ngarag. i had to explain some unfortunate misunderstanding about some materials we used in a story as early as 2:30 in the afternoon (understand that i work nights, so 2:30 pm is way too early in my daily routine).

with this weighing heavily in my mind, and as i was about to go to work around 3:30pm... the rain pours -- not just cats and dogs, but elephants and oxen.

i had to remove my shoes, don my havaianas, fold my pants and bring out my trusty umbrella to avoid getting soaked.

and as i was about to go out -- i banged my head - hard - on our rusty gate. black spots dancing in front of my eyes, i braved the rain.

i got to my usual corner spot to wait for a taxi. but the darned drivers just won't notice me -- or are intentionally ignoring me.

i curse them beneath my breath.

fortunately, a friend passed by and picked me up and got me to the office. (thank god for small favors)

more ngarag welcomed me as i tried to clear the misunderstanding i mentioned earlier.

a few hours respite and then i encountered more ngarag about certain stories as the evening progressed.

and then more ngarag as we approached airtime.

and then more ngarag as we aired.

a person can only take so much ngarag.

is there even an english equivalent for ngarag? i guess not. no other word captures the sheer terror and intestinal gymnastics of the word NGARAG.

my boss (and very good friend) told me not to think of the newspaper oracle. prophecies, she says, are only (and always are) self-fulfilling.

i hope she's right.