What I’m grateful for, week 48 of 52

December 6, 2021 Jody AlarvaLeave a comment

1. The beginning of independence. Sounds ridiculous for someone who’s 35 years old, but also in a very traditional, conservative country and family. I am being vague on purpose, but independence means a lot to me — especially what it took to get there.

2. Great support. I have leaned on a lot of people, and continue to lean on still. It still takes a village to survive this (gestures at everything), and I’m glad my tribe is solid.

3. The healing power of music. I’ve tossed, turned, had incredibly vivid sad dreams this week, and when I get up — the only people awake are across the world and are hard to hug. Solution? Music. I’ve listened to bass drops and classical symphonies, and Disney to get my headspace a little out of funk, and it’s helped a ton.

Song of the week: Eleanor Rigby, rearranged by Cody Fry with an 80 piece orchestra and 400 person choir. I have been a puddle on the floor, especially with these lyrics:

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

I’ve found my new funeral song.

What are you grateful for?

Gratitude · Jodythinks · Love/Life · Thanks

What I’m grateful for, week 47 of 52

November 30, 2021 Jody AlarvaLeave a comment

1. Belly laughs with friends after two years. This pandemic sucks and it has permanently fucked us up, but when it comes to the real stuff, I’m glad to know I have them. And they know they have me.

2. Holiday time off. Night shift is rough, and I won’t be able to keep this up for too long, so time off is a blessing. No alarms. Being able to do things in the day without being utterly exhausted, almost incoherent. Sleeping. It’s a lot.

3. Love. And I don’t mean the romantic stuff, but the other forms of it. Love for friends. For amazing people. For emotional support animals. For people that are in the background. Love is a difficult, complicated, heartbreaking thing, but I’m thankful I get to experience it.

Song of the week: Budapest by George Ezra

What are you grateful for?

-J

Gratitude · Jodythinks · Love/Life · Work

What I’m grateful for, week 46 of 52

November 23, 2021December 2, 2021 Jody AlarvaLeave a comment

Coming together in the face of loss. We lost a friend, a colleague, an all around bright light November 14th. While it doesn’t make up for what was lost, there is some comfort in knowing everyone else is there. We’ll all miss him, and grief is unpredictable, but like the Beatles said, “We get by with the help of our friends”

Song of the week: Open Your Eyes by Snow Patrol

What are you grateful for?

Tell your loved ones that you love them today.

-j

Gratitude · Jodythinks · Love/Life

What I’m grateful for, week 45 of 52.

November 15, 2021 Jody AlarvaLeave a comment

JJ.

food · Gratitude · Love/Life · Thanks

What I’m grateful for, week 44 of 52

November 8, 2021 Jody AlarvaLeave a comment

1. Meeting a friend’s newborn via Zoom. I’ve seen pictures, I’ve asked about the baby, but I finally met her this week. She was wonderful. This thing I’ve done where half the people I love will always be half the world away? Honestly hurts, but that’s what happens when you keep your heart open. People can get in. And now I have a whole new generation of loved ones across the world.

2. New food with old friends. One of my favorite couples took me out this weekend and it was fantastic. To be around them, to walk outdoors, to see beautiful things and have dope food. I know I wasn’t the best company but I was really very happy.

3. Making one of my favorite banchan. It was terrible because it was too salty, but now I know I can. Veg + sesame oil is a fantastic combination I will always try.

Song of the week: I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes) by The 1975

What are you grateful for?

Gratitude · Jodythinks · Thanks

What I’m grateful for, week 43 of 52

November 1, 2021November 14, 2021 Jody AlarvaLeave a comment

1. Gummy worms. Sounds lame, but a tub full is one of my favorite stress treats. And that’s exactly what helped me this week. Not gonna lie, a whole tub can’t be healthy, but every little bit helps.

2. Reuniting with one of my favorite shirts. After I complimented him on it, a friend literally took the shirt off his back to give to me, (of course he had another layer on) and it is now my favorite pieces of clothing. Not just because of how insanely cute the print is, but the story behind it.

3. The healing power of food. I made a whole bunch of food in a day and ate most of it myself. There’s a lot a full stomach can do. Especially when you’re working with limited choices.

Song of the week: Save Me by Aimee Mann

What are you grateful for?

Gratitude · Love/Life · Thanks

What I’m grateful for, week 42 of 52

October 25, 2021November 14, 2021 Jody AlarvaLeave a comment

1. Being able to cook. Work has been kicking my ass lately, and it feels like one thing right after another. There are a lot of things I cannot, and will not even try to control, but being home means access to the kitchen I’ve cooked in the most. I cooked a few things this week, and the thing that I love about cooking as a concept is that it’s fairly predictable and you know you’re getting something out of it. My audience though, fairly divided. But that’s another story.

2. Negronis. My last one being in a bar in Haight-Ashbury, having a double I made this week, almost has me back in cozy season with one of my favorite people. For now, alcohol.

3. Fresh sheets. I’m still buried under a mountain of laundry and not the right weather to do it, but hey, had to do something. While my sheets will always be imperfect (because rabbits), they are mine and I do what I can to make myself comfortable.

Song of the week: Sun and Moon by Lea Salonga and Simon Bowman

What are you grateful for?

food · Gratitude · Jodythinks · Love/Life

What I‘m grateful for, week 41 of 52

October 19, 2021November 14, 2021 Jody AlarvaLeave a comment

1. Thoughtful friends that center their care around food. This week, I got a gift card for food, my friend’s signature dish sent over, and my favorite brownies sent over. In this pandemic, the Philippines really embraced care packages of food more than ever, and if anything, I’m grateful that we still get to show our affection this way. It’s still doesn’t compare to sharing a meal together, but it helps.

2. Supportive family members. I’ve been going insane readjusting to Philippine lockdown, and i’ve not been super helpful, but I’ve gotten so much support from the fam. It’s big because I know I’ve been spoiled with being able to escape and they haven’t. It’s a lot and I don’t know how they do it. But i appreciate it. Can I do it in the same amount? Probably not. But I’ll try and do better.

3. Being able to drive again. Driving mom to errands makes me feel a smidge helpful, but I’m also very limited timing wise because of my work schedule, but we work around it. Next time I head to the states, hopefully I get my international driving license, but for now, driving in my crazy hometown is good for me.

Cheese · Jodythinks · Love/Life

So I’ve been thinking about chemistry

October 15, 2021 Jody AlarvaLeave a comment

And it’s not really about chemistry in the romantic sense, but mostly how my brain responds to things. I mean, I’ve made a ton of questionable decisions because my brain decided, “Dude, we want this.”. It floods my system with the chemicals to make my pulse quicken, my breath shorter, and even with the quietest voice in the back of my head trying to lead me into the path of self preservation, the chemicals keep winning.

It’s the same ones that always lets the ID win. I am an impatient, short tempered, dickish person when I don’t get my way (outside of work), and when something I want won’t get to me fast enough. It has led me to a lot of disagreements with people who have a lot more sense than I do. It has led me to get hurt more times than I would like.

Chemistry has fucked me over a lot. Even when I know, deep down, the right path, in the moment, I don’t really care, because the possibility of a dopamine boost is right now. Because I use so much of my time at work figuring out the least painful way to do things, the fact that I will usually just say “fuck it” and move me to ultimately pursue things (and friends, or incredibly intelligent, attractive, emotionally unavailable men) that will lead to also the shortest path to a hard crash is pretty damn annoying.

There really isn’t a big thought process here, more of admitting that the more I try to justify my choices, the less it’s going to make sense to others. But really, who’s looking?

And really, a lot of these bad decisions have led me to where I am, and to what I hope, is a life that can be considered fairly lived. And with everything that’s going on — I think I’m okay with that right now.

food · Gratitude · Jodythinks · Love/Life

What I’m grateful for, week 40 of 52

October 12, 2021 Jody AlarvaLeave a comment

1. A delicious bowl of ramen. It’s been a minute, and I keep forgetting how good we have it on ramen choices here in Manila, until I travel to places where it’s a lot less hyped up, and people are less likely to crave it more often. Got myself a Ramen Nagi Green King, and it was so good. Next time, hopefully, Mendokoro.

2. An insanely good cup of coffee. A friend said they would be near a Toby’s Estate. I went manic and bought myself a hella expensive bag of Woolloo Moolloo beans from my favorite coffee place in Manila. Totally worth it, but also prolly an extremely expensive daily upgrade.

3. Great customer service. The buns get their food from Rabbito Mart, and their communications, branding, and customer service are top notch. There are even Chibi and Cheester stickers! I feel extremely lucky to have found them as suppliers, and trust them a lot.

Song of the week: Beggin’ by Mäneskin

What are you grateful for this week?