If you haven’t figured it out by now, well, I am surrounded by people on crack. Crack, as in you know… prohibited drugs. Yes, many of my friends replace butter with rugby, and some even use herion as moisturizer. I’ve been wanting to write about this since forever. You know, compile random quotes and statements from family and friends that were said to, for or about me. They’re not only quotable, they’re also… LOL-able. (*Some names were changed to protect identities. WTF.)

Are you ready? Let’s go!

Kring: “Ang taba ko, gusto ko pang pumayat…” (I’m fat. I wanna get skinny.)
Mommy: “‘Wag. D’yan namatay si Karen Carpenter.” (Don’t. That’s how Karen Carpenter died.)

- My mom, on dieting and weight loss. I actually stopped walking and slowly looked at her from my side. It was indeed surreal.

“Dude, kung hindi ka workaholic, ano kami, bum?!” (If you’re not workaholic, what are we, a bunch of bums?)

- Selda de Leon, one of my bestest friends, on my claim that I am not workaholic. I really am not, I swear. I’m not! WTF are you looking at?

“Kring, you’re not an ugly duckling… you’re just ug… a duckling.”

- Wil Darlucio, a G. Ganger. His comment on our elementary photos on facebook, WHICH YOU WILL NEVER EVER GET TO SEE. Also, don’t mind him. He just got issues. Haha!

“Pakasalan mo achievements mo!” (Marry your achievements, then!)

- AB Genuino, friend from grade/high school, on the fact that I don’t care much about love life when I’m doing well, career-wise. To say that I was muddafakken pwned is an understatement.

One of the best things in life that I never take for granted is going home after a long, tiring day and having my family ask me if I’ve had dinner already. I mean, I don’t care if you bathe in a tub of money or if you have a bajillion zillion fans throwing themselves at you. For me, family is still the most important thing in one’s life (along with faith and friendship, of course).

I think it’s rather sad that you see people everywhere talk about how much they love their new Macs, that lip-synching ghei boyband or a cup of ridiculously expensive coffee, yet, it’s so rare to hear them say they love their families. So let me be not one of those people because I tell you, I LOVE MY FAMILY LIKE WHOAH AND I FEEL EXTREMELY GRATEFUL TO BELONG TO A LOVING HOME.

Right, this entry is for and about them – my folks (my brother needs a separate blog post altogether). Because if you wanna know what Kring really is all about, you gotta know the people who made her who she is. Are you ready for it?

I was rather surprised to hear that a lot of you (yes, my 2 readers) were amused by my post “Conversations with Dad…” and for that, I’ve decided to make a ‘series’ about it although I know I would probably fail but at least I even mentioned my intent. In the meantime, however, I think it’s but apt that I write an entry about him because seriously, he’s awesome like that.

To say that my father is a character is an understatement (you may actually blame him for what I turned out to be lol). I don’t know of a person he has met who didn’t have even a faint memory of him and believe me, he has met a lot.

My dad has been an educator since he was 19. That’s 33 years of teaching experience for you! Used to teach in some Chinese high school then moved to his alma matter where he’s been teaching since 1981. He was rather notorious, you know, especially in his younger days. Back when he was still a chain-smoker (he quit in ’90), he would smoke inside his own classroom while discussing algebra! Talk about hardcore. He was also one of the front-liners of the 1989 UST faculty union boycott and risked his job to fight for the rights of the employees. Now, if that isn’t pwnage, I don’t know what is.

Every student in the college, too, knew who he was and would give out an exasperated cry whenever they’d find out he’s going to be their prof. Don’t get me wrong. He is a great teacher. He really is. He knows his shit and brings out the best in his students. But he’s seriously strict and traditional. No ID, no grade. Forget about dying your hair or getting your ears pierced. Cheat and you’d never set foot within the walls of Santo Tomas. I honestly wish I was kidding…