May round-up

LSS as I wrote this post: Never Really Over by Katy Perry

May is probably the weakest month to date, judging my by 2020 themes and goals, and in terms of items of interest.

Anyway, let’s start with something positive.

I got promoted at work.

I went from Technical Writer to Senior Technical Writer.

It was something I asked and made the case for. I felt strongly about it. As it turns out, my manager told me that she’d been watching me over the last few months and admitted that she would have made the case herself, whether or not I had spoken up. When she announced my promotion to the team, she called it ‘well-deserved’.

I feel happy, at ease, humbled, and grateful. To be honest—and I told my manager this—I had not really cared for titles and couldn’t care less if I were simply ‘Technical Writer’ at an organisation. My title has never been a bar to my ability to negotiate my desired salary, or how well I’m treated at work.

Nonetheless, my desire to  a promotion was spurred by our workplace’s recent policy changes on appraisals. The words ‘benchmark’ and ‘market data’ came up, and my thinking was, ‘I don’t care for titles, but if you’re going to start judging my value and salary based on my title, then I would need to start caring about it, too.’

‘Market data’ terrified me, because to be honest, job grades and titles don’t really mean anything. At least, not in the Philippines. There is currently an opening in LinkedIn for a ‘Senior Technical Writer’. They’re offering PHP 30k monthly. That was my salary six months into my first job as a fresh graduate in 2012. It made me want to weep.

Nonetheless, I’m glad I pushed for my own promotion. I have been so passive and meek since working at my previous job, and my current workplace offers so much room for growth—professionally and holistically. As I told my mentor, I needed to believe that I deserved the promotion, too. I needed to be able to make the case for why. Otherwise, I would remain passive about my work.

Finished Friends

Or F•R•I•E•N•D•S (smh).

I started watching Friends because I had finished HIMYM for the umpteenth time and wasn’t feeling like starting it over again.

I wanted a series that had short episodes that I didn’t care enough for to pay attention to. The few clips I saw on Pauline’s laptop didn’t particularly endure or stand out. I thought it was the perfect series to dive into to see 1) what this classic is all about 2) why people rag on HIMYM as some poor Friends clone and 3) have something I could turn away from while cooking or doing chores 4) have something I could watch without Ben as we often watch series together.

As you can probably infer, I didn’t really have a high opinion of the series. Here’s an actual exchange that happened between me and Ben:

Me: //walks into Ben watching Family Guy
Me: Ugh, can you watch something less brain-dead?
Ben: … ☹

Ben: //walks into me watching Friends
Ben: And you told me to watch something less brain-dead 🙄

Anyways, countless lunches and dinners later, we both ended up getting quite invested in the series. I actually teared up at the last episode when the camera panned across Monica’s empty apartment. I think it was a brilliant, wistful way to end the series, and somewhat captures the nostalgia most people feel about the ’90s.

Some thoughts:

Was HIMYM a Friends clone?

I feel not at all! Some tropes felt a bit too similar (the naked man), but IMO HIMYM did the execution much better, and had some continuity.

Friends lacked running jokes or continual references that gave HIMYM a repeat value. The only enduring one was the ‘We were on a break’ running trope that, to be honest, wasn’t really that funny.

As for the character tropes, I didn’t feel like there were similarities past coincidental profiles (because how many tropes do you know and work with when writing a story?).

Lily and Marshall != Chandler and Monica. Lilypad and Marshmallow are the unapologetically wholesome couple archetype and were already together at the start of the series. Lily is the direct counterpoint to Barney, whereas Joey is just… Joey.

Barney != Joey. Joey is a cinnamon roll who happens to be a womaniser, but often falls in love and becomes selfless and vulnerable towards the women he’s seeing. It’s also clumsy how they handled his character. He went from blokey ignorant one season to astute and poignant the next, to just plain stupid the next season.

Barney is a broken character and is a bit of a psycho. He’s an awful character who doesn’t particularly feel the need to apologise for it. There are countless scenes of him being slapped or thrown a drink in his face by women and he knows it’s all well-deserved. Even then, his serious relationships (Nora and Quinn) all had a dint of maturity that I could not imagine Joey being in.

Robin != Rachel. Ang layo. On my first watch-through I practically adored Robin for all her character traits. Independent. Bad-ass. Not the type to get scared by an armed robber. Actually trying to be good at her job. Some Friends fans pointed out that she was introduced as ‘the new girl’ and ‘the unattainable love interest’. Frankly, Rachel was not even new to the group. She, Ross, Monica, and Chandler go way back, which means it’s actually Joey and Phoebe who are new to the group.

Ted != Ross. Some pointed out that he’s the refined, sensitive guy type who gets smart-shamed a lot. I disagree. Ted has so many refined conversation points in the series, but so did Marshall, Robin, and for that matter Barney. Ross is diabolically selfish and possessive and so many times I just cringed watching his scenes, particularly when it involved Rachel.

Another thing. Ted isn’t actually the science-y type. The few scenes we hear him talk about architecture he doesn’t talk about the structural mechanics but rather the aesthetic of it. He loves calligraphy, coin-collecting, and renaissance fairs. Ross on the other hand was all about rocks, dinosaurs, and science camps. The only thing they probably had in common was Star Wars. But hey, Star Wars is a shockingly mainstream interest. I would argue that Marshall fit the nerd trope better, with his unflinching belief in the paranormal, his fondness for wookiies and ewocs, his rulings, and his ‘lawyered’ moments.

Ted and Robin != Ross and Rachel. Uulitin ko. Ang layo. Ted and Robin had a failed relationship early in the series, similar to Ross and Rachel. But Ted and Robin remained incredibly close throughout the series, whereas Ross and Rachel had a predominantly fractured friendship that often involved insane efforts to make the other jealous. For that matter, Emily was an incredibly short-lived character compared to Victoria. And Ted really loved and gave his entire being into his relationships with Stella and Zoe.

Whereas throughout the entire series Friends kept teasing Ross and Rachel’s relationship, HIMYM kept teasing the mother’s reveal. And there are fans who genuinely rooted for Robin and Barney instead. Joey didn’t stand a chance.

The characters in Friends felt incredibly childish

Don’t get me wrong. Lily and Barney sometimes go to great lengths for some stupid and selfish cause, and Barney has some incredibly comical skits, but they retained some semblace of relatability. In Friends I cannot count how many times I yelled at the screen because Ross or Rachel were just pure selfish and horrible, horrible people.

In Friends, all the main characters seem to routinely lie, cover up, and do unreal things just to avoid some minor discomfort. In HIMYM, people actually talk about their feelings and explain their actions and try to own up to their selfishness. Again, relatability.

Favourite characters

Chandler. Definitely Chandler. He’s the least selfish of the lot, and I’ve said more times than my husband cares to hear that Matthew Perry is just… my type. I think he’s really handsome, and Chandler’s character nails the down-to-earth boyfriend vibe who’s easy to talk to and won’t hesitate to go buy you tampons (or menstrual cups) if you needed them.

Phoebe surprised me. I didn’t like her at the start of the series, because she was so obviously an archetype of the boho hippie chick. I didn’t really find her quirks or awful songs particularly endearing. However, it was so refreshing to see her cut through everyone else’s BS sometimes. I would get surprised whenever she had a particularly dishonest moment, because like Chandler, she seems the least selfish out of the girls. Or maybe Monica is the least selfish.

Least favourite characters

Ross and Rachel. Need I say more?

How relatable is Friends compared to HIMYM?

I appreciate Friends for giving more exposure to the realities of pregnancy, childbirth, and having kids. I think they nailed the language and struggles of new parents better. In HIMYM the most we learned from Marvin is 1) sleepless nights and 2) poopy diaper. In Friends we see breast pumps and custody and at least two pregnancies, if not more.

HIMYM is more relatable regarding college life. We know Ross and Chandler go way back in uni, but we rarely see scenes from their life in college, except when it’s a flashback of Thanksgiving with Monica and Rachel.

With Ted, Lily, and Marshall we glimpse their college lives more often and more thoroughly. Dorms. Parties. Classrooms. Sandwiches. Lots of sandwiches.

In terms of workplace environment, HIMYM is more relatable. There’s the token guy who seems to be doing nothing at work (Barney’s job is the blandest but it actually tied together in what is probably the series’ most long-running reveal after the mother). The guy trying to choose between passion and career (Marshall’s career is probably the most multifaceted as he’s worked corporate, corporate law, and the actual court). The gal trying to find herself and wanting a semblance of a career over just being a wife and mother (Lily had a stable, but modest job as a schoolteacher, and had a consistent lean towards art that was introduced in season one). The gal who sought fame and fortune and the loneliness it follows (Robin eventually became famous and we’ve seen her often choose her career over everyting else). The main character who’s exposed to both academia and corporate. There were times in the series where their careers were central to the plot, particularly when Ted, Marshall, and Barney all worked for GNB.

In contrast to Friends, we have a chef who’s almost always depicted in the kitchen, a corporate guy enslaved by the system (we see no real nuances or specifics in Chandler’s job, and his move to advertising came in late in the series, with not much drama), the woman with the odd jobs, the actor who keeps trying to make it (seriously, how did Phoebe and Joey live off of their incomes for many years?) and a gal who is terrible at her job but magically ends up working a high position for a big-name brand. (I honestly thought Rachel stepped up and got better, but there were scenes that confirmed that she was terrible at her job in Ralph Lauren.)

For many of the characters, their jobs were just a backdrop to their characters. Joey and Phoebe in particular. Chandler’s Tulsa gig was short-lived and didn’t really hurt his relationship with Monica. Rachel’s Paris offer was only a dilemma presented to cap the series and settle her relationship with Ross. And she didn’t even go.

Anyway, I’ve talked (or written) your ear off. What do you think of my review? A bit biased? Let me know.

I need to do another social media fast.

I started the quarantine strong and discplined. All of that has gone down the drain, now. I spent 2-4 hours on my phone daily. Ordering in has returned with vengeance since Metro Manila moved to GCQ. I’m pretty sure I’ve gained weight. It’s 10:40 a.m. as I type this and I haven’t made breakfast yet.

Overwatch salty

I like to think I’m getting better in OW. I reached level 4 endorsement four times and four times I lost it, lol.

Overwatch on weeknights started creeping into our routine since last week.

Overall, May has been rather bland and bad and unhealthy. Let me cap off this post and make breakfast now.