yay! comments!!!!
you too, general public, can react to our stupendously insightful ideas and thoughts. so go do.

Good topic because I already know my answer.

song and dance
My passion is related to arts - music and dance. I love playing instruments (piano, octavina, and recently guitar), as well as singing and dancing. (The funny thing with singing and dancing is that I started both as a result of having all this extra time when my ex-boyfriend broke up with me. I have him to thank for giving me that chance to let that part of me out). Performing with Likha has been my passion because it is combines both music and dance with my culture. Those that know me will know that I will pass up almost anything to do something that is Likha-related. I missed a friend's wedding last year to go to the Philippines instead, to perform. Some people couldn't understand that, but they just didn't understand how important it was for me to do something I had only dreamed of - dancing and singing in the Philippines, at a Philippine venue and in front of a Philippine audience. I'll also "give up" my weekends to do these things, because for me it's not work. It's just another opportunity to do something that I love to do.

pictures
It's funny that you should bring this topic up because just the other day I was showing Gary some of the pictures I have drawn. When I was in high school, I was torn between taking choir or art (I chose choir). I think I want to start drawing again...

I have also been doing research on SLR cameras. I've been looking at them off and on for the past year, but I do want to get one sometime this month. Seeing what photographers have captured in photographs - not just scenery, but sometimes the very essence of the subject - makes me want try it too. It is my goal to have one before we go to the Philippines again this year, and maybe I can capture a thousand words as well.

hmm.. i should really put a comment thing on here..

architecture
wow, leah, i didnt know that you are into architecture! (i was an architecture major at berkeley) hm, we should sit in front of buildings and just comment on how bad/cool/awesome/wrong the architect was!! i found that i do that sometimes in spaces....

even though i like the subject, i know i'm not passionate about it. heck i'd be in the profession right now if i was. ;) more later...

[work - burnaby, bc]

my passion...?
oooh good one bern...

well i've always been told that it's good to be passionate about life... hmmm... ok, still working on that...

a picture says a thousand words...
i've always wanted to take up photography, but my financial situation has always put me back on that dream... just to capture the moment. that's why i love talking about dan eldon not only for his vivid pictures of the troubles in somalia or his life growing up in africa, but also because of his outlook of life... as the saying goes "the journey is the destination". but it's not only his work that takes my breath away... just pick up any national geographic and you'll see some amazing shots... but for me, it's the innocence effected by war that are the most amazing. other photographers that i enjoy seeing works from are ansel adams and a friend, (yeah yeah) andrew rowat. it's funny that andrew was the one who introduced me to dan eldon when i was at his place as he was packing to move and thought i would enjoy looking through this book called ... i was nearly in tears afterwards from seeing such vivid images... hmmm... ok, maybe this comment isn't turning out to a passion for photography, but instead for dan eldon ... oh well.
i guess with that, it also is connected with my passion to be more creative, not only through photographs but through the web... stay tuned for updates on things i will be posting soon... move over gary, there a new kid in town, hehe

architecture
when i was little i wanted to grow up to become an architect... obviously that didn't happen... but my love for the form and style of buildings will never leave my soul... *hehe, mushy mushy*... i can sit in front of a building and just admire the design of it... the way the roof curves into it's steeple point... some structures are just amazing, wondering how the architect managed to dream that design up and let it withstand all the weight from steel, concrete and bricks... pretty amazing...

ok... did i answer the question correctly...? now that i'm reading my comments, i really babbled... hehe oh well.

Passions
no, i'm not talking about the soap opera on NBC. i'm wondering what you guys are passionate about. my one and only new year's resolution this year is to figure out what i'm passionate about... and in the process i've decided to take on a few more activities just to figure that out, and then some. i'll tell you bout it, but first:

what are you passionate about? or are you still trying to figure it out like me?

[berkeley]

So it seems we all have the cleaning bug in us.
*Note to the 3 musketeers: I know my desk was in disarray. No excuses, I suppose, but it's really not like that all the time, i promise, i really do! You should see how I organize my binders for school.

Quirks o' mine:

kitchen habits
I can't leave the kitchen with anything dirty in it. I wash my pans and dishes after use and sweep and scrub, etc. before I leave the kitchen everytime I use it. In general, I try leaving something the way I found it-- clean! I didn't know this wasn't a universal habit until i started living with people who weren't raised like me. (Bern, bev, and gary all witnessed that when they came to visit.) I suppose I could wash my roommates dishes just for my own health, but I don't think it's fair for me to clean up after others for the sake of a clean apartment.

bathroom
Please don't leave your hair in the shower. *ahem*
I always have my towel folded once, hot dog style, and then hung on the rack--corners perfectly lined up. The front part of towel hanging over the rack can't be shorter than the part of the towel closest to the wall.

computer
-I can't stand the "too many files on my desktop" look either :o)
-I always turn the volume on my speakers down all the way when I shut down.
-I always shut down. My roommates don't turn theirs off and I don't know why.
-I always put my cd's in their jewel cases, and i rotate the cd so the title is horizontal.

...that's it for now. I think my quirks are more like things I don't like about my roommates. They're nice people, really...

happy valentines day to all
no worries bern... i'm still with ya, girl... valentines day, bah... us single girls gotta stick together... hehe

btw, cute miss luzon... hehe...

but reading gary's quirks just made me realize i have more... oh gosh! don't tell me i've been in denial for so long...

the hanger thing
yeah, all my hangers have to match... all mine aren't the cheap ones either... the silver metal ones from ikea.

computer organization
yeah, i'm pretty bad when it comes to organizing a desktop and file directories... i hate having different files everywhere, and the desktop all cluttered, it's so unappealing to the eye

and then there were more....

being on time
now i know there's filipino time... but that drives me crazy... when people say a party starts at a certain time, i'd like to get there at that time... i know people like to arrive fashionably late... but not me... then there's lunch dates... i refuse to wait more than fifteen minutes for a lunch date, well, ok, maybe that's just for a particular person...

marliz's hair
i am constantly fixing her hair... i hate it when jake does her hair, it never looks nice... hmmm, maybe fathers just don't know how to do their children's hair, my father definately didn't know how... so when i do it, she looks like the cute little girl that she is

my work desk
before i leave for the day, everything has to be in it's place... maybe it's that "monica" thing in me, but i make sure that my notepad is in the left side, the head set is hung on the wall, the mouse in the center of the pad, the pens are in the drawer, and my chair is pushed under my desk...

oh gosh, i hope that's it...

I just thought of something else. I'm not sure if this applies, but something about me that my friends tend to associate with me is travelling. [Not that I can compare to Gary, but then he travels for work so that doesn't really count.] I'm not sure why my friends always think that I'm travelling somewhere. Hmmm, could it be because of the fact that I had 8 trips in the past year? That's like a trip (or in my case a mini-trip, with the exception of PI) every 5 or 6 weeks. It may not seem like a lot, but it is to me. I mean, how many people do you know take a vacation once a month?

Did I mention that one of my quirks is that I don't like Gary's quirks?

My why I am unique statement
Or maybe I'm just weird. I don't balance my checkbook. Or when I go grocery shopping, I generally don't look at prices, unless it is cereal. For some odd reason, cereal seems to be expensive to me. Maybe it is because my mom gave me so much flak for eating it too much when I was younger, and she always complained how expensive it is.

I don't keep things in the freezer
I don't like keeping anything in the freezer -except for ice cream. Then again, that would only last about two days since I get those pint size kinds. I'm the opposite of my mom. She has one of those jumbo deluxe commercial type freezers in the garage to keep the 50 lbs of shimp she bought. Or all the lumpia anyone could ever want. I swear, my mom's house would be the place to be if there was a nuclear war.

Computer files
I can't stand when I see other people's computer desktops full of files. I can only imagine what their place looks like. That is why we have folders so we can organize like things and objects! I'm pretty anal about organizing my files.

Pictures
Since most of my pictures are digital, I have them all organized. But I do have a box of pictures that I will eventually organize into albums. I'm just not too sure if I want Bev looking through them now! ;-)

Hangers
All my hangers have to be the same. Right now they are all white plastic, except for the metal ones I reserve for dry cleaning. I'm planning to replace them all with wooden ones from Ikea when I get a chance to go there...

I don't iron
Even though Bev and Bern got me an Iron for Christmas, I still don't Iron. Unless I REALLY REALLY have too.

I hate shopping
It just takes too long and makes me dizzy. I usually buy the first thing that catches my eye (unless it is a computer, car, or other technolgical gadget). That usually takes me through days of research. I guess this rule comes to clothes.

Old stuff
I tend to get rid of "old" stuff quickly. Books, clothes, outdated gadgets, etc. I can't stand clutter in a room. Why keep something if you don't use it for a long time? I definately keep things of sentimental value...

Buy clothes of like style
Once I find something that fits (since I hate trying on clothes). I go ahead and buy the rest of the colors that I like of the same style. Then, I know they fit :-) It's not often I go to the store to buy clothes. But I have a feeling that is going to change because I happen to have a shopping queen of a GF! ;-)

So that is all I can think of from the top of my head! And to think, Bev is still with me, even as quirky as I am ;-)

i'm not that anal...
.... except maybe when i wrap presents/packages. yes, ms luzon you are right. =P the paper has to be the correct length and size, AND to have enough excess wrap to make the signature tuxedo folds in the wrapping paper. AND, dont forget the curling ribbon or regular ribbon has to be tightly tied around the package. NOTHING LOOSE, otherwise, it'll bother the living daylights outta me. like hello? it's supposed to be adult-proof! ;) and i try to go for the "too pretty to open" effect. hehehe...

this is probably why it takes so damn long for me to wrap gifts. if i'm lazy, no ribbon. if i'm even lazier, gift bag na lang! =P now if i was only that anal about my room. *argh* that's a whole other story in itself.... let's just not go there. =P =(

and another thing, i hate it when my sheets arent tightly tucked into the mattress before i get into bed. dontcha want a snuggly bed? i do! =)

Quirk? More like an illness for me...

I would have to say my biggest quirk would be how anal particular I am, especially with my closet. Everything in my closet is color coordinated and arranged from light to dark. OK, maybe that doesn't sound so bad. But within the color codes, I arrange them according to fabrics, and also by length of sleeves (i.e. sleeveless/short sleeves to long sleeves). And if I'm being really particular, I try to match the hangers with the clothes. But that's kinda hard to do when you don't have certain colored hangers, so I stopped doing that. =P

And it doesn't stop there. My dresser is also the same way. Certain drawers are for certain things. T-shirts in one drawer, summer stuff in another, workout stuff in yet another, etc. All arranged according to fabric, from light to dark, etc. I'd probably do the same thing with my shoes too, only I have one too many pairs so I can't arrange them the way I'd like to. Not to mention lack of closet space. Most of them are in boxes, and what I do is just rotate them with the seasons (fall/winter stuff are out, and spring/summer stuff are put away). Speaking of shoes, when I rotate them I also do a major "cleaning/protection" thing and spray them all down (with the proper spray for the different types of shoes, of course =P). Yeah I know, I need help. ;-)

Hmmm, I don't thing there's anything else. I can't say I have pet peeves with the food thing. I'm not too picky when it comes to that. Although I can relate to Bev's inspection for defects when it comes to buying stuff.

Oh yeah, that's another one for me! I'm anal about my room etc being organized. I'm always straightening, putting things away, especially while I'm on the phone (right Gary?)

I also have to have my pictures in an album, in order, before anyone looks at them because I don't want them out of chronological order. I take the negatives and put them in envelopes and they get put into the binder part of the album as well.

Bern - I have one for ya - you are anal about your gift-wrapping technique.

who me? quirky?
i don't know... i don't think i have anything too wierd about me... just my food issues... not very healthy, i'll probably get lectured on it so i'm not gonna mention anything about it...

as far as what i'm known for by my friends... it's the "monica" thing... i am constantly cleaning. i like things in order and in their place. whenever my friends call me and they ask what i'm doing, it'll be cleaning... if i have anything out of place, i would think my place is a complete mess... hehe, but that's just me.

wow, ms luzon, and i thought _I_ was weird. ;)

my idiosyncrasies
Oooh I like this topic. I didn't answer the last one because I didn't want to think. Plus my answers would have been similar to everyone else's anyway.

I have this abnormal fear of gagging. Maybe because I associate it with throwing up and I haven't thrown up since I was at least 5 (and it may be before then but I just don't remember). In fact, I am supposed to look into getting retainers but the only thing stopping me is I don't want to take those dumb impressions where they fill your mouth with gook that you GAG on.

What else? I don't like it when I'm sitting on a bench or chair and someone is swinging their foot so they either are kicking you, if you're in the seat in front, or they're causing the whole bench to shake. Although that's probably a really minor pet peeve if you can call it that.

I don't like when people cough or sneeze with their mouth open.

I can hear watches ticking, people scratching, or any other kind of movement at night and can't sleep because of it.

I don't eat patis unless it's already cooked in something, where I can't taste it anyway.

When I buy things, I usually inspect a few of them before picking the one without any 'defects.' Sometimes this takes a long time.

I'm weird huh. Maybe I'll stop now.

okay, new topic....
since no word from the last two, i have a random, yet interesting question, that i just thought of now.... hopefully it wont take many brain cells to answer, esp since the last couple of questions took some thought...

is there a quirk/pet peeve/thing about you, that people only tend to associate that particular quirk/pet peeve/thing about you to you? (did that make sense?)

the reason why i ask this, is the other day while i was making favors for a baptism at my friend's house, they were serving up some pasta w/ mushrooms. i was hesistant to take some. now if you know me (and here is my quirk), i dont eat mushrooms -- ONLY if they are chopped up in tiny pieces and hidden from me, and if there arent very many of those said chopped up hidden mushrooms in the dish.

yeah, call me wierd, twisted, abnormal, lame. but it's me.

i am weird.

oh yes, and there's another thing. I can't spell the word "wierd" right. ever. =P

my friends thought the mushroom thing was strange, but not stranger than another gal in the favor-making party that would not eat eggs unless they were scrambled. okay now that's wierd.

okay, so now, what's wrong with you --- er, i mean, what's your interesting quirk? ;)

hey, where's ms luzon and joanie?
no answer from you? ...

waiting...