Bottled Sky

The first time I tried JobPredictor.com it said, “Nikki Brion, your ideal job is a bungee jumper.” I knew it! I was born to bungee. I’ve been hoping for such a long time that a bungee jumping place would open here in the Philippines. There used to be one in Subic, but it closed down years ago. Someday I’m going to find some high place from which to jump off with ridiculously thin cords strapped to my ankles. I can’t wait!

It’s funny, because I’m not really an extreme-sports type. I just happen to love activities that involve heights I try to avoid, however, high edges with low to no railings, because I don’t trust myself not to jump. Don’t get me wrong! I’m not suicidal at all, but I get the feeling that I just might jump for the heck of it. I’ve always felt that way, even as a little kid.

When I read White Oleander many years back, I found this quote: “The mistrust of heights is the mistrust of self, you don’t know whether you’re going to jump.” Apparently I’m not the only one. Do you think you might jump, too?

Oh, and I saw an Adventure One plug for extreme ironing last night. I must say I haven’t seen anything more entertaining in a while. Who knew you could iron clothes while scuba diving? ;-P

It’s been a pretty good and decidedly lazy semestral break. Most days I just loaf around the house watching TV, reading books, and surfing the net. Others I spend hanging out with friends and making headway with my Christmas shopping. I’ve pretty much been having the same amount of physical activity as a pampered house cat.

However, I did get a bit of exercise this week when I went wall-climbing with my college barkada all Thursday afternoon. It was so much fun! We climbed until it got dark, and we wanted to keep on climbing but most of us could barely move our arms by then. While it certainly was fulfilling to reach the top of a wall, my favorite part was hanging high up in the air and getting belayed down. When I kept failing at my attempts to finish one of the more challenging walls, my friends accused me of falling on purpose just so I could swing around in my harness. I suppose they were partly right. While I’m still waiting for my chance to bungee jump, to learn trapeze, and to float around in a free fall tube, I have to get my thrills wherever I can hehe

Afterwards we headed to Chrissa’s condo to waste all of the exercise we had just gotten by eating like construction workers. We had been in the middle of our movie marathon at 2 a.m. when we suddenly had a hankering for some ice cream. God bless the genius who invented the 24-hour convenience store. Because of him we were able to enjoy a half-gallon can of Selecta ice cream even on that ungodly hour.

The rest of Friday went pretty much the same way: movies, kulitan, food, more kulitan, more food, and endless picture-taking. When you’re friends with someone like Kathy there will always be a camera documenting your every move. We don’t mind most of the time hehe

I uploaded a bunch of the snapshots we took. We got very creative with some of the shots, but we’ve decided to keep those pictures to ourselves so they won’t later be used for blackmail hehe

My PE class went rowing in the Marikina River last Wednesday. It was my first time to row, and I had a lot of fun! Sure, we were directly under the blazing heat of the tropical sun for three hours straight (thank God for sunblock). Sure, while rowing we were constantly sprayed with water from the river, which played host to an impressive array of garbage and small, dead animals (I actually saw a floating rat in the murky brown soup). Sure, we could barely move our arms by the end of the activity (my arms and my shoulders stopped hurting only today). And sure, the place didn’t have a bathroom where we could shower afterwards (good thing I brought rubbing alcohol). Despite all that, I really did have fun! I’m definitely glad I got to try it. Sun exposure, bacteria, and strenuous activity never hurt anyone. Hmmm… Well, I guess they actually could and probably did. Whatever. It was still fun

In other news, the semester is ending and hell week is upon me. I have 4 papers, 4 final exams, a final photo critique, and a report scheduled for the next 2 weeks. Wish me luck, and pray for my survival!