after all that...

well, i know it's been a crappy life, but i'm hopeful for a better future. i will be more capable of taking care of myself and taking charge of my situation after college. i'm a little scared of what the future may bring, but i know i'm strong enough to get through anything life has to offer.

so here's to one more year of agony and lessons to learn from this hard enough life! CHEERS!!!

adventures with the old Elantra III

there was a time when we visited my sister in BF Homes. i really thought it was pretty safe there until another fateful day...

my sister invited us to eat in this not-fancy-claiming-to-be Chinese restaurant in presidents ave. I brought my slr(film not digital) which was not yet fully paid and the digital camera that my uncle gave me for my high school graduation. i brought them so i could take photos of my favorite nephew, my sister's kid. they were already rushing us, so i left the cameras on the back seat of the car. we ate and talked, then stepped out.

when we got to the car, i thought we'd just forgotten to close the window. Then i realized it was broken, folded on the seat. my cameras were gone and the thief was "kind" enough to leave the tripod. it took almost a year before we could have that window replaced. Getting the cameras were hopeless.

For just a short time in my life, i experienced capturing life on film and on a digital camera. it's just sad that it had to end so abruptly. didn't even enjoy it that much nor capture the really good stuff...

goodbye to a legacy

not long after our financial crisis at home, my mom felt the need to sell some of her prized possessions, her paintings. She sold a Joya for less than what it was worth (supposedly a million or hundreds of thousands today) because it was sold by a gallery. dude, rip off! they priced it so low and asked for 40% commission! AMAZING!!! the money from that purchase gave us a little breathing space, so fine... She sold two paintings through that gallery, but we felt that they were really ripping us off so she pulled her collection out.

just recently, my mom sold 2 paintings to her friends from Church. She got to pay for part of my niece's tuition and we finally got to have most of the Elantra fixed.

adventures with the old Elantra II

when we first bought the maroon Hyundai Elantra, it was such a "macho" car. i loved it. it was just too bad that i couldn't drive yet at the time. it was smooth, from paint to how the engine ran, until my mom and brother brought it to Bicol to attend our aunt's wedding anniversary. The poor car needed an overhaul. Not long after it needed new shocks for the rear. Pretty soon, the front shocks gave way as well. The door handles of the back doors break often since their plastic-I don't know if the material's brittle or we pick the most careless passengers. The air conditioning's gone too.

Every time something gets fixed, something else screws up.

Failing

i'm in my fourth year of college... i was supposed to graduate this june. unfortunately, i failed a subject that was prerequisite to a lot of majors. So here i am, stuck in school for a whole year because majors are seasonal-they only offer majors once a year.

i hadn't failed a subject in my life before my first take of ORGANIZATIONAL THEORIES with Dr. Angeli Diaz. i studied my ass off, however there were other factors that affected my performance in that particular subject. Well, first of all, i know a lot of people will agree with me when i say it's hard to answer dr. diaz' questions the right way. Quite a number of our batch failed her course, as is true for other batches who've taken up Organizational Communication. Thank God, i got it right the next time, got a 3.0 on my second take. Another factor that made it so difficult for me was that commuting ate up my study time, but that can't be remedied. The biggest problem was not having a computer and internet at home anymore.

Back then we had a course called Writing for Organizations (ORGWRIT). There was a lot of encoding and printing involved. I had to go to internet cafes and run out to print my stuff. Aside from submitting papers late in ORGWRIT, I came in late for THEORYO. I missed parts of the discussions and made a bad impression.

I was so distracted back then. My dream of finishing on time and getting an early start on helping out with finances at home after graduation was over.

adventures with the old Elantra

From http://outoftheshadows.multiply.com/journal/item/5/11_January_2009

An unbelievable day… It was the first time I drove out of Merville without my mom, the first time I went to a formal event with Job (by the way, congratulations and best wishes to the Mr. and Mrs. Jameson and Kat Ong), the first time I met his friends from the companies he’s worked with (except Rach haha), first time I locked the car and left the keys in the ignition, and the first time I got caught and gave what we all call kotong. What a day indeed!

I woke up feeling rather queasy that day. The moment I realized that it was Sunday, my heart began pounding in my chest. This was how I always felt before something went wrong. I was actually expecting the car to conk out since it badly needed a top overhaul, but to my surprise it worked fine. The problems started after parking the car. I left the keys in the ignition then power-locked the car from the driver’s door—first stupid move. Next, I climbed into the back seat to put on the shoes looking at the keys in the ignition for a moment and realizing that I had locked all the doors. Second stupid move—I closed the door and sealed our fate for the day. Of course, Job got angry and started telling me to call my mom and brother for the spare key (which we didn’t have); I just went quiet, amazed at how brainless I could be when I’m excited. Calling my mom was a no-no really. First time on my own and what do I do? Come on?!?! So I was thinking, we’re in Manila, somebody knows how to jimmy a car around here for sure! We walked over to where his friends were at the time and Job introduced me to them then followed up with the news. Couldn’t really remember all of their names, but it was nice to put a face to some of the names that came up in his stories. Suddenly someone suggested asking the security guard for help and so I did. Lucky enough he said someone could do it; it was just a matter of compensation. Then I called my mom. I got the usual, grabe! Ikaw talaga. Hearing that again was heart-breaking, but what could I do? I just reassured her that I got someone to jimmy the car with a wire.

The car is a ‘98 Hyundai Elantra with the locks on the side, not on top like the Toyota Corolla. Jimmy-ing the car was not possible however; I didn’t lose hope right away. It was a good thing that the oldest of the three men who came to do it was pretty clever. They pried the door partially, just enough to let their thick wires through then they tried to push the lock open. That went on for an hour. In the middle of it, we thought that we would be attending our first wedding/formal occasion outside and worrying about my stupid mistake. You wouldn’t believe the ideas that were going on in our heads while slowly losing hope wit every missed attempt of the old man. Job even thought of breaking the glass again—oh hell no!!! (previous incident in Presidents Ave, BF where the rear passenger window was broken in order to get my digital camera and my Manual SLR camera). Thank God they were finally able to open the door! That service was pretty costly though, but way better than buying a new window or going home in a cab…

It was the offertory part when we finally entered the San Sebastian Basilica for Kat’s wedding. That was Job’s first mass since his college days and I ruined it a bit with my thoughtlessness. Wishing each other peace calmed things down; relief kicked in. Pictures were taken and I was finally into getting to know his friends. Things seemed to pick up then until we were on our way to the reception…

Along Quirino, two vultures stopped me and JM’s car. I was on the second lane from the left, but he was charging me with a wrong lane violation—so came the kotong. I gave the man 200 for me and the other car. What a waste, man! Could’ve given them less if I had change! HAHAHA Job said they stopped us because I was a girl. Lucky for those soul-sucking pigs I was knew at driving in their territories. I was so dismayed that I even ran a red light, but I didn’t get caught that time—weird…

Kamalasan aside, the rest of the night turned out fine. Food was good, although there was a scary dish—roasted doves, I think. Taking that in was like swallowing a shot of olive oil; it went straight to my head. His friends were really nice and especially funny. Unfortunately, there was no dancing for us except for the mommies and the dance instructors hahaha Sorry, I’m a frustrated ballroom dancer hahaha

Gave Job an apology and a kiss in the car, then he drove us home...
No repercussions whatsoever.

Yukie

Late last year, my aunt and cousin gave me their old pc. The only problem with the pc was that it turned off all of a sudden sometimes, just like the iBuddy4 laptop.

I was glad to finally do school work at home. Of course, I still had to do internet stuff either in school labs or internet cafes, but it was a load of just to be able to do school work at home.

I installed InDesign late last year just to get through Graphic Design & Production or ODESIGN. I also installed Photoshop to do a layout for my organization. That took a while. Less than a gig of ram didn’t help. It was sleepless nights for me then.

so near, yet so far

Late last year, my aunt and cousin gave me their old pc. The only problem with the pc was that it turned off all of a sudden sometimes, just like the iBuddy4 laptop.

I was glad to finally do school work at home. Of course, I still had to do internet stuff either in school labs or internet cafes, but it was a load of just to be able to do school work at home.

I installed InDesign late last year just to get through Graphic Design & Production or ODESIGN. I also installed Photoshop to do a layout for my organization. That took a while. Less than a gig of ram didn’t help. It was sleepless nights for me then.

so near, yet so far

Late last year, my aunt and cousin gave me their old pc. The only problem with the pc was that it turned off all of a sudden sometimes, just like the iBuddy4 laptop.

I was glad to finally do school work at home. Of course, I still had to do internet stuff either in school labs or internet cafes, but it was a load of just to be able to do school work at home.

I installed InDesign late last year just to get through Graphic Design & Production or ODESIGN. I also installed Photoshop to do a layout for my organization. That took a while. Less than a gig of ram didn’t help. It was sleepless nights for me then.

ORGCOM, no pc

When I was in high school, the only machine I had to use was my sister’s old iBuddy4 laptop, Pentium 4, 256 RAM, Windows 98. It was fine at the time, it got me through. The only problem was printing requirements.

It malfunctioned after a while, so I had to have it formatted when I started college. I enjoyed Windows XP for a while, until one fateful day, the laptop started to turn off all of a sudden. The jack of the power cable was burning. There was no hope for the laptop. We tried to change the jack, but the laptop was burning the rubber. So it was diagnosed to have a malfunctioning power supply. Too expensive, we just let the issue die.

For three years, I got through college, much more, OrgCom, without internet and a computer at home. I’m proud of that, but it was pretty hard.

internet cafes

The thing with internet cafés is that they’re not the most suitable places to do any serious work. Here’s why:

1. Earsplitting noise from gamers who trash-talk their opponents while they’re in the shop. Really… A little consideration please?
2. Viruses, worms, malware, spyware, name it they have it. If you’re lucky, say goodbye to the files in your flash disk. There are only two computer shops that I know of that have updated virus scanners, there’s the Merville Business Center and this place in one of Evangelista’s alleys.
3. Uncomfortable chairs, however, there’s this one internet café in SM Bicutan, Cyberzone, I think. They have these big ass chairs with cushions, like a chair-type sofa. It’s cool.
4. There was this one woman who was two or three seats away once, she was laughing so hard and talking so loud in her ear-piercing voice.
5. Un-maintained equipment. Headset parts are missing, mice malfunctioning, screwed up monitors, USB drives…

bits n pieces

It’s been a pretty rough time for me here in college. It stared out in fourth year college when I couldn’t go to school for the first time because we had no money for tuition. The only sibling who could probably support me had just gotten married and pregnant, so good luck with that.

My sister had to borrow money from her husband, my mom had to borrow money from a friend, but that still wasn’t enough. My brother had to call our aunt from abroad to borrow money for my tuition. I guess that was pretty embarrassing for them to ask that kind of help.

I was devastated on the first day of school. The first time I couldn’t go to school because of money. I watched Oprah help a number of kids get proper education. I didn’t know if that was a slap in the face or what, but it made me feel worse.

allowance

200 a day doesn’t exactly suffice for a day in Taft, unless you know how to restrain yourself from buying expensive food or beverage. Not to mention, there are other things to worry about like transportation, photocopying handouts, computer rental for internet and encoding requirements, printing those requirements, prepaid, and saving money for the weekend.

I only have to go to school 3 days a week; that means 600 a week. What I do is I try to keep my budget to 58 a day, covering the train, jeep, and tricycle to and from school. That’s 174, 426 left. Computer rental and printing/photocopying, sometimes food and drink expenses fall there. I try to limit myself to 100-150 for everything other than transportation. Supposedly there should be Php326-Php276 left for savings. Unfortunately, that has to be used for Saturdays out. Would want to save more, but I don’t really want to ask for money from my mom. You see, it’s my uncle who gives my allowance.

FRIENDS and How I Met Your Mother

It’s fun to compare the two shows, one from the 90s and the other from the 2000s. It’s like quite a lot of How I Met Your Mother was based on FRIENDS. Take for instance, How I Met Your Mother’s MacLaren’s Pub downstairs of Ted and Marshall’s apartment (later Ted and Robin’s apartment). FRIENDS used to have a bar and billiards downstairs of Monica and Phoebe’s and Chandler and Joey’s apartment building, “now” it’s a coffee shop called “Central Perk”. Scenes are mostly in the apartments or in the establishments they hang out in, but How I Met Your Mother definitely has more sets. I don’t recall FRIENDS ever using any visual special effects, just camera work, but How I Met Your Mother does a little of those.

Both shows have extreme characters. It’s just that How I Met Your Mother characters have more common jobs than FRIENDS (Dr. Ross Geller, Paleontologist; Phoebe the Missus). There’s really good comedy, but there’s more drama in FRIENDS. There’s romance in both shows, but more in How I Met Your Mother.

FRIENDS was set in the 90s and told in “real time”. HIMYM is built on flash backs and clips of the future. There are more running jokes in FRIENDS than there are in HIMYM. The problem with that is, it’s hard to understand once you see or hear the gig. HIMYM is more on funny catch phrases and pun or word play. That’s what’s new and interesting about it.

HIMYM is probably the FRIENDS of the new generation. It also gets to make fun of old sitcoms as it did FRIENDS when the boys attempted to do the coffee shop gig and when they mimicked CHEERS at the end of that episode where everyone called Barney “Swarley.”

Ted and Marshall

Ted and Marshall are just the sweetest guys.

Ted’s just really wants a commitment so bad that he rushes everything, but everything he does is so sweet and so hopelessly romantic that your heart just melts. In the first season, he steals the blue French horn that Robin liked from the restaurant where they had their first date. Later on, he returns with a string quartet and if I remember it correctly, they were using blue instruments that completed that blue French horn. There was also a time when he threw “not one, not two, but three” parties just so Robin would think it was casual and go to see him. When they finally were together, he kissed her even when she was sick and got sick himself.

Marshall a big mushy guy/girl. He’s really sweet, but sometimes it’s weird since he likes the romance that girls like. He’s a real softy… Before he and Lily got married, they decided to stay apart for a night or two apart since everyone was teasing them that they were too co-dependent. Well, they just proved them right when Marshall even made a video of himself singing a night-night song to Lily. He always obliges to do the girly and clingy things, like telling each other everything from what they ate during the day to other people’s secrets.

ooooh! the (other) irony!

Robin Scherbatsky was established to be scared of kids, even when she was a kid herself. When she and Ted were together, he brought her to a family event where his cousin asked if she wanted to hold her baby. Robin, disgusted, just passed the baby to Ted. Next incident was when Robin put her hand to a baby’s nose. Ted asked if she was letting the baby sniff her; she said, “What?! I want him to recognize my scent!”

In yet another episode, she attempts to break up with a guy because she thinks the relationship was getting too serious. Then she thinks the kid is getting too attached to her after Lily showed her a drawing the kid made which was entitled, “My New Mommy”. So Lily tells her she has to break up with the kid too. So Robin walks over there and attempts to dump the kid but the kid dumps her instead and calls her “Roberta”.

In season 4, you’ll notice Robin wearing empire cut tops and robes. She also starts carrying those huge ass bags that always cover her belly instead of her usual small purses and clutch bags. In her morning show, after she throws up, she tells Ted that she’s pregnant, but takes it back and says it was just food poisoning. You should watch it just to see how Ted reacted. Barney came in to tell Ted that “someone” had uploaded a video of Robin barfing, then runs out after she says she was pregnant.

the irony!

It’s been known that Neil Patrick Harris is gay in real life. It’s totally ironic that he’s a womanizing boy geek in a man’s hot body. His character, Barney, sleeps with as many women as he can and does the worst things to bag those bimbos like pretend he’s a producer of some sort, an astronaut, he even put old-man make-up on to make a girl think he was future Barney and later convinced her that she could save the world if she slept with past Barney who was working on a top secret project on global warming—that supposedly worked, yet again, it’s just a sitcom.

Another time, Barney pretended to make an offer on the house that Lily and Marshall end up buying so he could sleep with a girl while it was still furnished by the owners’ belongings. He left the girl (while she was in the shower) to be charged with trespassing.

Imagine that…

Preggy Blues

In season 4 of How I Met Your Mother, Alison Hannigan (Lily Aldren) and Cobie Smulders (Robin Sherbatsky) get pregnant, but their characters don’t. You can just imagine the lengths to which they went through just to hide the fact that the two girls got knocked up.

From sexy outfits and small clutch bags to loose feminine blouses, coats, huge scarves, and big ass bags. Lily got chubby. Robin, on the other hand, had her hotness levels go way down plus the hideous outfits. Lily even disappeared for a while. They covered it up with her disdain for a peanut butter joke that the boys said was only boy funny, but Barney told her anyway. She didn’t see everyone for weeks.

Both of them did say they were pregnant, each at one point in the season. Robin said it as a joke after she threw up because of food poisoning. Lily said it just to stop Marshall from jumping off the ledge of the rooftop over to the next building with a hot tub on the deck. They also make it look like she got the big belly from eating so many hotdogs from contests she joins.

the BRO CODE by Barney Stinson

Barney always spews articles from “The Bro Code.” Ted, Marshall, Lily, and Robin all think he makes the stuff up as he goes along. Well, he did indeed make the stuff up, but the whole thing—the Bro code is actually printed out and hard-bound with gold-edged pages, like a bible. This guy really goes to extreme lengths; too bad he wastes his money and effort on the stupidest and silliest things, although, this is what makes him so cool and funny.

Barney Stinson lives out The Bro Code to the letter… Until he broke a rule—“Never sleep with a Bro’s ex.” He slept with poor vulnerable Robin who had just gotten dumped by an ex-boyfriend who had already dumped her before, when she was just 16.

The build up to that punch line was incredible. There was real drama and tears from Robin and there was something really sweet and sincere about Barney. Ted found out on his birthday. He got really angry at Barney and didn’t talk to him till they both got into accidents and ended up in the hospital.

I wonder how long it would take if Ted was really telling his kids the FULL version of the story of how he met their mother. He's already told them 4 years worth of his life and yet they're still on the couch and wearing the same clothes.

Ted's narrating voice is done by Bob Saget. Maybe they use him to make Ted's voice really sound older. Because if he's telling the story in 2030, and he turned 31 in 2009, that makes him a 52-year-old dad. Past-middle-age-dorky dad, Ted, "forces" his kids to listen to the agonizingly long story of how he met their mother. What makes it so long is that he includes the whole journey from why he started looking for a mom for his two children to how he became the person that their mom fell in love with. It's funny for audiences who watch that story happen, but what about the kids who have to suffer through all that with no visuals?!?! I can barely stand waiting for my mom to get to the punchline after three minutes!

HIMYM TaG L!ne$

Here are some of the funny and silly things I’ve heard from How I Met Your Mother:

“What up?!”
You have to hear them say this to understand why it’s so funny. It’s really Barney’s line. He says it after he tells a story of something he did and that something he thinks is incredible.

“Awesome”
Anything great or nice or amazing is always termed as “Awesome.” Ted, Barney, Lily, and Marshall think they’re all awesome. Robin only uses “hot” to describe herself.

“Lawyered!”
This is what Marshall always says after he proves a point.

“Challenge accepted!”
Even when what’s been said is remotely far from challenging, Barney always says this. Like when

“It’s gonna be Legen… Wait for it… Dary!”
Every time Barney invites anyone to anything he wants to do.

How I Met Your Mother sort of SUMMARY

It’s an awesome mix of characters. They’re all kooky in their own very special ways. How I Met Your Mother also has a special kind of humor, it doesn’t appeal to a lot of people (well, maybe I’m mistaken), like how FRIENDS touched audiences of its generation.

There’s just the right amount of romance and “sweetness” as someone put it, and there’s a hell of a lot of comedy. The first season was mostly about Ted meeting Robin and then screwing it all up because he wanted what Marshall and Lily already had—a certain future together since they just got engaged, which is what started Ted’s whole search for Mrs. Mosby in the first place. Eventually, Ted found someone else (Victoria), but Robin realized that she was in love with him. In one episode, the real Barney is revealed as a goody-goody, touchy feely hippie virgin whose heart was broken by a girl who went for a “suit”. Later, Ted and Robin end up together in the last episode, but Lily and Marshall call the wedding off and break up when Lily tries to pursue art in San Francisco.

The first half of the season two was about Robin and Ted in love and Marshall and Lily trying to be around each other. Marshall and Lily get back together and then finally get married. Right before the wedding, Ted and Robin realize that it isn’t going to work because Ted wants to settle down and Robin still wants a adventures out of life.

In the third season, Ted meets Stella, a doctor who removed the butterfly tattoo he got after he and Robin broke up. Barney screws with her secretary, Abby (Britney Spears), who later tries to ruin his chances by coming in to tell the girl about what he does when he leaves for a while. Marshall and Lily buy a house in “Dowisetrepla” or Downwind of the Sewage Treatment Plant. They couldn’t get a big enough loan because Lily has a ton of debt from her credit cards. Somewhere in the middle of it, Barney falls in love with Robin after they sleep together one night.

Season four brings Marshall problems with work and his life because he can’t be an environmental lawyer and then starts to work with Barney at Goliath National Bank, a bank that Barney’s company acquired. Ted proposes to Stella, but gets left at the altar. Barney at first tries to be the guy Robin would consider, but he still chooses to sleep around. Robin moves in with Ted and gets a 4am news reporting gig that Barney got for her. Robin finds out that Barney likes her, so she tells him that he loves her—a move called “The Mosby,” if you want to end a relationship, you tell the other person you love him/her. But Robin’s does have feelings for Barney, something starts between the two on the season finale. Ted gets fired and starts Mobius Designs, but fails. He’s about to change careers and teach architecture, he says that Mrs. Mosby was in one of those classes.

Barney Stinson (How I Met Your Mother)

Barney Stinson is played by Neil Patrick Harris (Dougie Houser). No one knows what he does for his company; all he says is that he’d end up dead and washed up on shore without fingerprints. So he has so much money. His living room and bedroom have wall size TVs. He hits on 20 girls a night, but has a success rate of about 1%. He loves suits to death, although he didn’t start off that way. He was a hippie before a girl broke his heart for a “suit”. Now he’s broken. He greatly disapproves of marriage and is scared to feel or commit to anything.

He keeps on insisting that he’s Ted’s best friend. He created this “Bro Code” you should download it when you have the time. You’ll see how horny, corny, and silly Barney is and his antics. He’s really more narcissistic than Robin. He gets a regular manicure and pedicure in a salon and he actually sleeps in a pajama suit.

Barney’s a show stealer. He’s probably the funniest. He loves bimbos and does magic tricks anytime he can. He always plays with fire tricks. Sometimes, he blanks out when other people are talking and pretends to listen, and he can just go on an entire conversation bringing the focus back on him.

Robin Sherbatsky (How I Met Your Mother)

Robin is played by Cobie Smulders—(pretty weird name for a pretty girl, but she looks a bit old, so oh well…) She’s Canadian who comes into the group as one of Ted’s first conquests. Robin’s not into committing, not to mention, she’s terrified of babies/kids. She’d always look for something casual with a guy until she finally ended up with Ted, but that was also short-lived when Lily broke them up by asking them where they saw themselves in 5 or 10 years. Ted wanted a family while Robin wanted to travel and pursue her career. In the first few seasons, she had 5 dogs that were gifts from her ex boyfriends. After she and Ted fought, she gave them to her aunt.

She’s sexy and a little narcissistic, but not as much as Barney (Neil Patrick Harris). She’s a tv reporter, actually a “boogieman with a tele-promter” as she puts it. Robin’s also a gun nut as well as an occasional smoker, some things that Ted doesn’t approve of. She’s very particular with her space, even when Ted was moving in, she practically wanted all of Ted’s stuff in the storage.

Robin has huge daddy issues. Her dad wanted a boy, but he got robin. His plans didn’t change, so he named her Robin Charles Sherbatsky, Jr. He taught her how to hunt, smoke cigars, drink scotch, and even got her into hockey.

Lily Aldren (How I Met Your Mother)

Remember Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer? That was Alyson Hannigan. In How I Met Your Mother, she now plays Lily Aldren, Marshall’s love of 9 years. It was pointed out to me recently that Alyson Hannigan plays odd characters—sweet characters, but definitely odd. Even when she played the girl in American Pie, she was weird. That’s only one part of the whole picture.

Lily Aldren starts off as a kindergarten teacher and she acts like a kindergarten teacher even when trying to teach another grown up a lesson. There was a time when she tried different jobs and landed one in Ted’s architecture firm as an assistant. Their boss was pretty cruel so she took his baseball that was signed by Pete Rose and wrote a letter attempting to make it look like the ball left because of his behavior and won’t come back unless he fixes his attitude. Lily got fired. She realized she was really for that classroom.

She also pursued her painting. She broke up with Marshall and left for San Francisco because of cold feet. Lily still ended up back with Marshall and in the classroom with toddlers.

Lily’s pretty devious. She can plan things out so well, like how she broke Ted and some of his girlfriends up (including him and robin). It’s odd that she can’t keep a secret though.

She’s fun, funny, she’s a shop-a-holic. Whenever she gets upset she uses her credit cards to buy designer apparel like boots, clothes, and bags. They almost weren’t able to get a lone for their dream home because of her debts.

Marshall Eriksen (How I Met Your Mother)

Marshall Eriksen, played by Jason Segel, is Ted Mosby’s best friend since college and roommate in the Big Apple. Marshall’s a girl in a big man’s body. He came from St. Cloud, Minnesota and even at 6 feet was still the runt of the family of 3 boys. He’s rough with his brothers and his dad, but he’s a lady’s man, Lily’s man. He’s tough when it comes to sports like basketball and “bask-ice-ball” (a game they invented in St. Cloud—watch the series, you’ll get it soon enough), but most of the time he’s a softy and overall mushy when it comes to love and life. Like Ted, he’s one of the biggest goofs ever. Marshall always sings what he’s doing, when he does his laundry, studies his law books, while driving, even when he writes checks.

In the first 2 seasons, he studies to be a lawyer and calls himself, “the kid.” He wanted to be an environmental lawyer. He’s pretty good actually. In one episode, he finishes a 25-page paper in one night after 3 nights of parties and sex every now and then with his fiancée, Lily Aldren.

Marshall’s been with one woman all his life, 9 years with Lily, maybe 2 counting that one girl in kindergarten. Marshmallow, as Lily calls him, is a man with principles, very sweet and honest—most of the time. When they were dating, Lily asked for his olives and he said he hated them even if he loved olives. From there, Marshall and Lily built the “olive theory” that came up on Ted’s first date with Robin. Barney saw Marshall eat a plate of olives one night. Lily overheard, but they got over it. It was sweet; at the end of Marshall’s speech about marrying her in spite of the fact, she said they’d make it work.

Ted Mosby (How I Met Your Mother)

Josh Radnor plays Ted Mosby, the guy who bores the hell out of his kids as he tells the incredibly long story of how he met their mother in How I Met Your Mother. Prior to actually getting married and actually becoming a dad, he was practically a dad already—“a dorky dad” as Robin (Cobie Smulders) put it, DORK is the biggest and most perfect adjective. Ted says it all began when Marshall, his best friend, proposed to Lily, his girlfriend. After that, he was set to find “the one.” He’s a really nice guy, a hopeless romantic, and quite a catch actually, but he moves too fast because he wants to find his love “right now.” That’s part of his charm and the comedy of it all. Ted is very good to his friends and can tolerate so much. In one episode he said, "I don't care what my friends think of my girlfriend, but it's important what his girlfriends think of his friends," and that the girlfriend does not interfere with his friendship with Marshall, Lily, Barney, and Robin. He left Karen, a former girlfriend from college, when she said he couldn't see his friends again after Lily broke them up by leaving one of Robin's earrings on his bed. That was it... Solid friends first.

He was born in Ohio, but lives and loves New York and hates New Jersey to death. He’s been best friends with Marshall since they became roommates in college. They went on to share an apartment in New York where he started out as an architect then later became a professor. You can tell he was built to teach when he took on an assistant when he started a "Mosbius Designs" in their apartment. Ted was a visionary, but Architecture was "killing him"(as Lily told him after his 31st birthday).

How I Met Your Mother

How I Met Your Mother is a sitcom that I’ve come to enjoy after FRIENDS. It’s set in 2030, when Ted Mosby sits his son and daughter down to them the story of how he met their mother, but ends up telling them more than they bargained for. The episodes are flashbacks of his misadventures with his friends, Marshall Erikson, Lily Aldren, Barney Stinson, and Robin Sherbatsky that supposedly lead up to how he met his wife.

The face of Ted’s wife has never been shown on television. They’ve given hints though, with the yellow umbrella that ends up in Ted’s hands in season 4. They somehow imply that the woman carrying the yellow umbrella in previous seasons is Ted’s mysterious wife.

It’s smart and refreshing humor, lots of word play/funny pun; it’s totally amazing and hilarious how articulating becomes funny. They make American clichés fun and funny like how some Americans think America is the best country in the world, the idea that Canada sucks and that French women so easy, “it’s like playing tennis with the net down,” (Robin Sherbatsky) or New Yorkers hating New Jersey.

The show goes deeper on the dating game, fear of marriage and commitment, and having kids in America. Sometimes it even touches issues like short attention spans of Americans and in a few episodes environmental issues. Although so many might disagree, somehow it’s the FRIENDS of the new generation.