HBD Sucks

No, it's not a new viral disease though I'm treating it as such seeing more and more people are using it. It's contagious.

I'm referring to the way people use text-speak to greet people on their birthday.

HBD = Happy Birthday

You see what's wrong there?

HBD is made up of THREE letters, which means it's an acronym for THREE words. Now look at this:

Happy Birthday

How many words do you see?

Unless Merriam Webster and Oxford announces that we should start splitting the word "birthday" into two words, I don't see why people should keep on insisting using HBD.

Happy Birth Day

But then again, using HB will confuse a lot of people. HB can mean a lot of things:

HB Pencil

Hot Bread

I'm not a grammar Nazi, nor am I a title holder for any quiz bee championships. But it really annoys me whenever I see people using HBD. It's okay to shorten words, or group of words such as okay to ok, as soon as possible to ASAP etc. But I'm drawing the line when it comes to birthdays. Come on, everybody wants to feel special on their birthdays!

I personally think that using HBD instead of typing it in its entirety gives off an impression that you don't really give a rat's ass on whoever's celebrating his/her special day. That you're just greeting them since you see other people doing it. 

Want an example? Just go to Facebook.

We all know that it's impossible for us to remember each and everyone's birthday in our friend list. There's no shame on having to rely to Facebook's birthday notifications to see who's celebrating their special day.

In fact, 80% of the birthday greetings you receive on your Facebook wall came from "friends" who either saw your birthday notification or saw other people posting greetings on your wall. I made an experiment to prove this.

I talked some of my friends into pranking one of our gullible friend (let's call her Stacy) by posting birthday greetings on her wall. Take note, it's not really Stacy's birthday, obviously.

In less than a minute, people who knew nothing about the prank started posting greetings on her wall as well.

Overwhelmed with the influx of well wishers, Stacy had to remind people that it's not her birthday. Still, the greetings continued pouring in.

Moral of story: Your so-called "friends" have no idea when your birthday is.

As you process this heartbreaking information, don't you think it would be a whole lot better if these so-called "friends" would take an effort to type "Happy Birthday" than "HBD”? Hell, they may never remember your birthday but at least they exerted an effort to spend about 2 seconds of their life typing those letters. 

That means they thought about you for 2 seconds. Compare that to the stupid effortless way of typing HBD which takes about less than a second to type. You’re in their mind for less than a second.

Remember, it's the thought that counts, and the longer you're in their thoughts, the better.

It's not easy being a Fil-Chinese

Being a Filipino-Chinese, I encounter some questions from new acquaintances (mostly Filipinos) that either make me laugh or scratch my head. You'd think that in a country that basically embraced the Chinese community for centuries, Filipinos are already accustomed to our traditions. Don't get me wrong, I do understand their curiosity as I also tend to ask questions when I meet new people whose traditions are far different from the ones I grew up with. Still, I can't help but be amazed at some of them...

Things get more interesting during the Chinese New Year.

And the Mid-Autumn Festival

Dude. It's like asking an American for a turkey during Thanksgiving. Thinking about it, why haven't I heard someone do that for a change?

We're not compelled to give out Tikoys (Chinese New Year's cake) and Mooncakes unless we really want to. Unless we have an abundant supply at home nearing the point of their expiration date, in which case we'll be more than happy to share.

I love tearjerkers

I love tearjerkers. Whether it's a book or a movie as long as it makes me cry, the said book or movie will easily become a favorite.

In fact, there are moments where I spend almost half of my waking hours on Google browsing through some lists of tear jerking books and movies. Some recommendations are spot on, while there are others that makes me question the emotional stability of those people who put up the lists.

E.g. Thirteen Reasons Why, Letters to Juliet, Big Fish, etc.

I do wonder if I should be worried about it. It wasn't as if I had a spotless perfect childhood that made me crave for sad stories. I had my fair share of drama growing up, and I still experience some from time to time.

My friends attributed it to my morbidity, that I enjoy watching other people suffer. While that's partly true--only if you're in my "hate list"--I don't think that's good enough of a reason to enjoy stories ending with a heartbroken protagonist, or ending the protagonist for good.

Thinking about it, the reason I readily give to other people regarding my addiction to tragic stories is that I greatly appreciate writers--authors and screenwriters--who can pull my heart strings just because they have the power to do so. If that's not good enough, then I guess I'm fine being called a psycho.

And though I may hate the author or the screenwriter for a while for having broken my heart, I'd still have this warm feeling in my tummy and a faint smile on my face knowing I'd just read/watched a masterpiece. Take Gayle Forman's If I Stay and John Green's The Fault in Our Stars as an example.

Still that doesn't mean that I enjoy seeing my favorite characters die. I mean, I was seriously gutted when Sybil died. Though I wasn't particularly sure if it was the suddenness of her death or the fact that she died sporting a horrendous hair do.

I also didn't appreciate having celebrated my Christmas (2012) witnessing Matthew Crawley die in a stupid accident. Seriously Julian Fellowes, that's not how you make a Christmas Special!

And if you're wondering how I reacted after witnessing the Red Wedding episode on Game of Thrones, here's how:

Yes, I read the book, so imagine my excitement as I witnessed a fellow officemate (who didn't read the book) reacted as she watched the massacre unfold in front of her.

Guess I'm a psycho after all.

10 ANNOYING FAN TWEETS

It's okay to tweet our favorite celebrities, but sometimes, fans can get really well...for lack of better word, annoying. Here are some of them.