Inspired by Ate Aileen and Kuya Jay’s love story, I asked myself, have I ever had a Valentine’s date? And the answer was a big no. OUCH!

But some very interesting things happened to me in past Valentine’s Days. We used to spent it in school for Teachers’ Day, right? I think I received one or two flowers during those days.

When I was in Fourth Year High School, we had PMT (CAT) Graduation practice on February 14, 1999. On that day, I received news that I passed the Ateneo College Entrance Test and I was Freshman Merit Scholar. Good news, right? It was also the day that a “suitor” of mine and I had a nice heartfelt talk where he gave me roses and I realized, I didn’t like him much to commit to him.

In college, I would usually spend Valentine’s Day alone or eating out with cousins.

In 2008, I spent it with my cousins and aunts. It was me and the rest of us singles eating a lot of steak and seafoods. YUM! Of the four of us present that day, only Kuya Andrew and I remain single. LOL! I wasn’t technically single that time, but my boyfriend and I had a weird long distance relationship.

I also went speed dating that week and I had an interesting time. Hope we can have another speed dating event here in Davao soon.

Last year, I spent the Valentine’s night playing poker. Remarkably, it was the first time I won any poker tournament, placing 6th place out of 30+ players.

This year? I don’t know how and where I’ll spend it. More importantly, with whom? And I am excited by the thought. Might turn out to be a boring day of nothingness… or maybe not. If any of you want to spend the day or night with me, on a date, to pig out, or just hang out, do invite me.

“AN OPEN LETTER TO READER’S DIGEST”

Hello, Dolls.

I opened the mail and saw the most poorly-timed subscription renewal notice ever from the good folk over at Reader’s Digest which was addressed to my recently deceased father that read:

“James,
Did we catch you at a bad time? Perhaps you’ve been so busy enjoying Reader’s Digest that you missed our reminders.”

Now, many of you don’t know me, my family or my father well enough to understand how we were able to actually LAUGH at something like this during such an auspicious time. My father often raised an eyebrow at my twisted humor, but he instilled it and encouraged it more than he’d ever let on. Whatever the case, this is for the entire lot of you:

Dear Reader’s Digest,

I hope that this letter finds you healthy and happy.

Unfortunately, you have in fact caught me at a bad time. (You have no idea.) The economy is a wreck, our nation is at war, there was that whole earthquake thing in Haiti, this season of “American Idol” is beyond boring without Paula Abdul’s narcotic-induced and slurred approval of lackluster talent, and I died in a cancerous morphine coma last week. To be quite honest, your timing couldn’t have been worse.

I must admit that a subscription renewal to your monthly magazine has not been a major priority of mine over the last few months, but I trust that you’ll understand that I have been tied up as of late with matters such as controlling my excruciating pain, my expiration, my subsequent funeral and burial, and finally a relocation to my new residence in the hereafter.

I must also admit that, while I have been a subscriber of your publication for close to thirty years, I have probably only ever picked up your charming collection of watch dog warnings and inevitable tales of wheat belt tornado survivor stories twice in my life. You’ll be happy to know, however, that my faggotty son has spent hours of mild enjoyment while reading your publication as he pinched off a dookie loaf in the cramped bathroom by the laundry room downstairs. Our monthly copy of Reader’s Digest has also come in quite handy when rolled up and used as a method of spider extermination in the past. I was most impressed with your cover article entitled “How To Rebound From Anything” as I glanced from the front page to the toilet I was heaving my guts into after a day of chemotherapy treatments. Always a pip.

I am grateful that I have had (for three decades now) a resource that had enlightened me of the humor that is to be found when a child misreads a “Don’t Walk” crossing signal and assumes that it means he should instead RUN across a busy intersection. I have grown leaps and bounds (albeit with extraordinary paranoia) with such articles as “What Your Doctor Doesn’t Want You To Know” and “10 Things To Remember During a Catastrophic Flood”. What I have enjoyed most of all has been the 84 pages of enlarged prostate medication advertisements and Branson, Missouri Chamber of Commerce promotional materials that overwhelmingly populate your publication. I want you to know that I died safe in the knowledge that if my prostate were to swell up to the size of a grapefruit, I could always find solace and comfort in a reasonably priced visit to a poor man’s Vegas to catch Louise Mandrell’s patriotic salute to country music.

Now that I have been laid to rest and a sturdy six feet of dirt stands between my decaying prostate and the six hundred miles to Branson, I would like to suggest that you, the ever friendly and condescending fucktards at Reader’s Digest, reconsider your renewal notice and the way that it is worded in the future. My remaining family has had a hell of a week, and please rest assured that the last thing on their minds (while dealing with insurance policies, coffins, vaults, funereal plots and what to do with my now useless wardrobe) is renewing a subscription to a magazine that is best suited as outhouse toilet paper in a pinch.

Thank you for your service and for allowing me to spend close to half of my life contributing to a miniature magazine that I was too complacent to discontinue.

Sincerely dead,

James Pace
249 Paved In Gold St.
Cloud Nine, Heaven

 
APRIL 5, 2009
I just found out the sad news that, Sabrina Rogers aka Barbie Doll passed away on Valentie’s day…I met her in Chicago last year, and she seemed like such a sweet girl. It is REALLY sad to hear that she was in so much pain, and no one knew or was able to help. This is a reminder to all of us to be kind to everyone because everyone is fighting their own battle.

http://thedirty.com/?p=121408&cpage=4#comment-897774

http://legacy.post-trib.com/PostTribune/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=124256190

Sabrina Rogers
SABRINA ROGERS Lake Station/Hobart, Indiana Sabrina Rogers age 25, passed away on Saturday, February 14, 2009. She was born on February 16, 1983, the daughter of Julian Rogers and Rebecca Westfall. Sabrina loved to spend time with her friends and have fun. She loved her pets and will be deeply missed by all who knew her. Sabrina is survived by her step-mom, Paula Rogers; sisters, Emily Rogers and Ashley Berry of Westville; brothers, Jacob Rogers of Westville, Justin Patillo of Valparaiso, Zachary Patillo of Hobart; grandmother, Delatha. Sabrina is preceded in death be her brother, Josh Rogers, grandmothers, Anita Berry, and Tony Prichard. A visitation for Sabrina will be Wednesday, February 18, 2009 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. A Funeral service will be at 2 p.m. following the visitation at Rees Funeral Home, Olson Chapel, 5341 Central Ave., Portage. Burial will take place at Calvary Cemetery in Portage.For more information call (219) 762-3013 or online at: www.reesfuneralhomes.com

 
 
JAN 12, 2009
I heard this news a week ago, but didn’t know if it was true, until I received the below e-mail.  George was an amazingly talented photographer as well as a very kind man. The photography world has lost one of the best……

You can see his amazing work at  www.myspace.com/onyxphotography  

IN MEMORY

It is with deep regret that we announce the passing of longtime One Model Place member and dear friend George Hoffmann of Onyx Photography (Member #98981 - http://www.onemodelplace.com/member.cfm?P_ID=98981). He was a true artist who brought creativity and imagination to each photo shoot, in a style that was uniquely his own. His images graced the covers and pages of many glamour magazines and fitness publications. You can see more of his work at http://www.onyxphotography.com.

George had the pleasure and privilege of working with some of the most talented models in the industry, many of them OMP members. He also photographed celebrities including pro tennis player Venus Williams, actress Cherie Johnson, Kaki West, and Pitbull.

One Model Place will be leaving up Onyx’s portfolio so that members and fans
can enjoy his amazing work. Please feel free to add image and portfolio com
ments in honor of this great artist. If you have any personal stories or mem
ories you wish to share, please email Elias at newseditor@onemodelplace.com

I recently went through my things and found some old writings. This must have been a class assignment. It was titled “My Weakness”. I have no recollection of writing this.
And if it isn’t apparent enough…I had an eating disorder and I was obsessed with Duran Duran. I was probably 15 when I wrote this.

***

I thought that meeting Simon LeBon would be the greatest thing that could ever happen to me. Was I ever wrong! Actually, it wasn’t all bad.

We met in Paris. I was sitting down by a water fountain and he just came over to me and introduced himself. We talked a bit and then he offered me a candy bar. I couldn’t accept it because I was on a diet and I told him so. He then told me about this, “NEW NO CALORIE FOOD COMPANY” I asked him what it was and he said that it’s a new food company that makes delicious no calorie food. I told him I didn’t believe it and he swore on his life so I accepted the candy bar. I ate it with no guilt. Then he gave me the address to the company. I then went there to see for myself what he was talking about.

I opened the door and I saw tons of mouth watering “fattening” food. There were various ice creams, cookies and cakes, tacos, hamburgers, French fries and chicken McNuggets. I was freaking out. Above all of these foods I saw a sign stating that all of the foods were calorie free. I was so gullible that I started eating everything in sight. I had not one feeling of guilt. It was wonderful. I did this for a week straight. Non-stop. I then grew tired and I thought I would take a bath and go to bed. (As soon as I got home, that is.)

Anyway, I filled the tub with nice, soothing water and tried to get in but something was wrong. I didn’t fit. I tried with all my might but it didn’t work. I thought, “I couldn’t have gained any weight”. So, I stepped on the scale confirm to it to myself but to much of my surprise, the scale broke. I went into hysterics. My pants split and my shirt too. I must’ve weighed 500 pounds. I went to the doctor and he said that there was no way possible to lose the excess weight. Since I couldn’t do anything about my condition I thought I’d get Simon back since he tricked me. So I went to his house and sat on him.

Go to http://community.Go to www.ParisHilton.com - Go to the Community page, click on Community then Click on the pink button that says “Sign up to talk to Paris” and you can sign in fast and simple. It’s so easy that you don’t even need to fill out and register. Just type in your Twitter name, Mysoace name, Facebook username or other options and your right on. Come join my community, it’s fun!

Get your tricep workout on with Sherlyn Roy and I. Sherlyn is one of my best friends/personal trainer/IFBB Pro Champ! 

Be sure to watch a very special episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race featuring Tori and Dean airing Monday, Feb 16 at 10 pm on Logo and Tuesday, Feb 17 at 9 pm on VH1.