*Imagine Liv Tyler Smiling With those Lips*

I cannot think of a better title. It may sound a bit improper but who cares! I basically wanted to describe how cheerful I am today through my title. I guess picturing Liv Tyler's wide lips when she smiles describes how happy I am at the moment.

This post is going to be short, I hope because I just want to talk about something really positive today!

This morning our TFC Box (A Filipino Channel Box that contains hundreds of programs imported from the Philippines' most popular network, Abs-Cbn) stopped functioning. If you are not Filipino, you would not really get it. Anyway, the head office that is responsible for the TFC Box decided to change the format of all the program receivers. They also replaced all the HDR Boxes to a more compact one, a smaller size. Few weeks ago, we received our box and was told that they will discontinue the original box (the current box that we have) meaning it will no longer operate. We decided to wait until our box actually shuts down until we connect the new box. Just this morning, our box eventually stopped working which meant that I had to finally connect the new one to our television. No one was going to connect it because my parents do not know how, so I had no choice but to do it myself. In the manual, users are instructed to call for installment assistance. But I am the kind of person who loves to do it myself first before I ask for someone else's help. I did it without reading instructions or the manual, and it was a success. After installing the box, fixing the wiring and the connections, all I needed to do was to call the contact number they have provided to activate our box.  To have our box activated was the only time I asked for help. When I was put on hold, the screen loaded meaning I have successfully installed the box. I was surprised when my stepfather said he was very impressed with my skills (out of nowhere) and he pat me in the back. I am quite techy and handy when it comes to these things. I was overjoyed when I saw him smiling and when he added more compliments saying I did a great job. He said was impressed because he can't even do certain things by himself, especially without reading manuals. To some people this might not be a big deal but my skills were acknowledged and that rarely happens. It matters to me. It really is the smallest things, huh? All my life I just wanted to be appreciated. Appreciation was all I ever asked from people and I am glad to get once in a while.

Appreciation do not necessarily mean I want to hear compliments all the time, I just want to be appreciated through my actions. I love it when my work, my doings and my achievements receive acknowledgment. I expect some appreciation when I deserve it. Simple things like this really makes me smile. 

Celebrity Doppleganger

Hello my dear readers! It has been a really really long time since I last blogged on this website. I now have a different blog (and it is updated) on Tumblr, so please check it out:

click here or copy and paste this linkhttp://apunchofthought.tumblr.com 

Doppelganger week, two weeks too late.

Well what can I do? My life works on schedules and my schedules are crazy packed. I'm just kidding. Seriously, I put the pro in procrastinator. I slept on this challenge because I had other things on my mind.. Yes, I love to blame certain things like my problems for putting off important work like blogging. I remember being so excited about doppelganger week that I even asked my friends about my doppelganger..

Mirror, mirror on the wall, (who's the fairest of them all) I am trying to look for my long lost twin, who's your call?

Minutes passed and still nothing and that is when I knew I needed some help. I asked few of my closest friends to tell me if they could think about a celebrity that I look alike.. not totally, but you know, someone that could pass as my twinnie. I received a lot of names, some were familiar while some were not so much. What I found really funny was most of the given names were similar. About five of them gave me the same celebrity and I think that celebrity, who will be revealed later, is my closest doppelganger.

Some of you might think oh SSJ, you are crazy, this post is bullshit. Who wants to know about your doppelganger? Well, let me indulge in my conceitedness and narcissism. I put a lot of work in this. Okay not really, but it took some time to put the pieces together so please let me carry on.

Before I introduce my long lost twin to you, some of you are probably confused about the word doppelganger. It's a word for a supernatural being who imitates your physical attributes or who actually holds the carbon copy of you. In short smarter words, a paranormal double of a living person. Creepy huh? I cannot believe I have the nerve to make this blog, just the thought of it terrifies me. The paranoid that I am is making me look around my room all of a sudden. Freaked out yet? Do not worry, just think about the most beautiful place you want to visit.... now breath.. beautiful, isn't?

Anyway, I will shake it off. I knew about this challenge from Saab Magalona, a local, well-known celebrity and a popular blogger, daughter of one of the best rappers in the Philippines. Going back to the actual purpose of this post, Let me introduce you the only person who came closest and passed as my doppelganger, local Filipina celebrity, Claudine Barretto.

Isn't she a beautiful woman? Before she married her husband, she had so much discipline in her. Mostly because she was very popular in the Philippine Showbiz Industry that taking care of her image was a priority. You have to have the face, and the body to get your audience's approval. You have to look physically appealing to public in order to have a lot of projects and sponsors. Otherwise, you would just be ignored by the media. Claudine Barretto is the epitome of an actress, I could care less about her personality because no one can change a person's personality and just like her, we are all flawed human beings but her skills in acting whether it's drama, comedy, or horror? It's rare. She can do all of that with no flaws. That explains the reason behind her success, recognition and accolades. But unfortunately, ever since she tied the knot with her husband, everything about her and her career changed. Just to be clear, I am not blaming the marriage, I just think she was sidetracked and lost focus to what mattered. I am pertaining to her image, her personality off camera,  and her career. Aside from her husband to look after, she has a daughter and a son. Her attention and priorities are totally changed and divided, this responsibility affected her career negatively, but not entirely.

Anyway, enough about her. Ever since I was young, I have been getting a lot from different people that I look like Claudine Barretto. Some even claimed that I sound exactly like her, especially on my attempts singing Got to Believe in Magic by David Pomeranz. For someone to even notice such thing, I thought that was funny. I think even now that she gained weight, I still look like her because I gained weight as well. *laughs 

I will now show you both our pictures joined together to convince you that she is my doppelganger..

Do you see any resemblance yet? I can totally see it. The cheeks, the jaw structure, the eyes, and the way we smile.... all identical. Since I have gained weight, the resemblance is not as obvious as when I was petite in size. We looked more alike when I was skinny and when she went through a weight withdrawal due to depression due to Rico Yan's (her long term ex-boyfriend) passing. That shocking weight loss she had was proven with her picture joined with mine above.

Claudine rarely smiles from ear to ear just like me.

I don't know her reason why she smiles like that, maybe it's her habit, but I, on the other hand, have my own reason. My reason is very shallow, the reason why I do not smile widely like a normal person would is because my cheeks are very round and obvious, in other words, "cheeky", if I smile harder from ear to ear, my cheeks would totally pop and I feel like it does not look normally attractive. But surprisingly, growing up and getting into Fashion Biz, Cosmo, Elle and such, I have learned that women this century even get surgeries and implants on their cheeks. Apparently, having cheekbones make you more attractive. Nowadays, having cheekbone implants is as important as getting buttocks and breast implants. So every time I sit here and complain about my huge, round cheekbones and 36C breasts, I remember women who go through surgery just to have better cheekbones and larger breasts. I concluded that people will never ever be satisfied.

So what do you think? Do you think I look more like Miranda Cosgrove or Claudine Barretto? Claudine Barretto right? We have the same face shape, lips and jaw structure, the way we smile, our eyes, forehead, nose, cheekbones... yes Claudine Barretto is officially my long lost non-biological twin...

..and to those who think otherwise, let me just say it now before you say anything else, I admit that Claudine Barretto is prettier than me but she's a celebrity and I am not. Therefore, not the same skin, body, facial and hair treatment. She is scheduled for weekly-monthly spa treatments, massage cares, makeovers, etc. and here I am scheduled everyday to shower like an ordinary person would do to appear well groomed. I believe she is a very beautiful woman and to be told by many that we look alike is a huge form of praise and flattery. That is all.

ExcessandOhs,
SSJ

ps. if you have missed it, check my other post (the one before this) to see six other celebrities who according to people, I shared some features with but didn't make the doppelganger cut.