Netnet Camomot I’M trying to lose weight again, without the help of protein shakes, since the knee still needs nutrients from, uh, real food. Operative word: trying. I gotta feeling the makers of the protein shake are now protesting outside the village’s main gate to remind me the shake is real food, only in powder form. Add fruit to it, and it’s among the yummiest breakfasts you could ever have. Some fans even wake up early to have that shake at the NC. No, NC doesn’t mean No Choice, although, for the desperately-seeking-an-effective-weight-loss-program, the shake could be the last resort, thus, No Choice. I used to be one of those waking up early for the daily exercise at the NC, then shake afterwards. But the routine stopped after the knee injury. Was it the instructor’s fault? Well, I should have known better. I’m not young, this body is not young, the knee is not young. Having gone through aerobics, yoga, walking, gym workouts, dancing, taero—combination of taekwondo and aerobics—since 1990, the wear and tear finally wanted to be the center of attention last January. I’m now so relate na relate with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus tears. Tennis star Roger Federer heard his knee click while preparing a bath for his twin daughters—a meniscus tear also last January. His injury didn’t even happen on a tennis court. He also went through an MRI and arthroscopy last February, is presently recuperating through rehab, thus, requiring a temporary retirement from tennis for the rest of the year. His career depends on the full recovery of that knee. The surgery went well, and Federer said, “I’m very happy how it went, but clearly that was very sad when I did get the news I did have to have an operation because I thought I was going to get through my career without any. It was a big shock and yeah, disappointing.” An athlete knows that once he has had surgery for the knee or any other important body part for his sport, there’s a possibility it would affect his career’s future—there will be less trophies, less medals, less titles. He’s only 34 years old, too young for retirement. But eventually he will turn 40, 50, 60… The world keeps turning as new and younger tennis stars are discovered. Watch any of the daily singing contests on TV and the more you’ll notice how fast the day’s winner could be replaced. Famous today, gone tomorrow. It was the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) again in the US last Sunday night. The famous were present as usual, including Olympics swimmer gold-medal collector Michael Phelps and four of the Final Five gymnasts. After the show, there’s this photo of Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Jay Z, Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, P.Diddy, and their significant others grinning widely while having some drinks somewhere. You may have a version of that, too, not exactly with Hollywood bigwigs but with your particular circle of supposedly influential friends, and this inspires you to behave like a kalabaw when you’re merely the langaw on top of the kalabaw. This amuses the people who know the story of each of those in the photo: She used to gossip about her, and she also used to gossip about her, and she wanted her terminated, and he used to gossip about them... And now, here they are, laughing, having fun, together. What a crowd. So, if you’re feeling like you’re on top of the world right now, savor that, for that too shall pass. Which brings us to the time spent on Facebook. Haven’t you noticed? You’re reading less, writing less, working less, no thanks to Facebook, it’s probably time to say goodbye to it while deadlines are looming overhead. But how to be alerted of the latest on President Rody Duterte and Sen. Leile de Lima without Facebook Live? That’s the question. And does President Duterte have a nickname? We had Tita Cory, FVR, Erap, GMA, PNoy, should we now call the new president as DU30? But that sounds like Duh. So, nope. PDigong? Sounds like P.Diddy. Call him Dong? Uh, friends mo? I used to smile at anyone who smiled at me, prompting a friend to ask one day, Friends mo? I said, No. She then asked, So, why were you smiling at her? Hmmm. I was being polite I guess. Politeness requires saying “po” and “excuse me,” such as, Excuse me, may I gossip about you po? Or, Excuse me, may I make you a victim of cardboard justice po? Or, Excuse me, would you like to order pizza po? There was a phone call on Tuesday morning for that pizza, and my reply was, No. Because I’d rather have Shakey’s Manager’s Choice and Dave’s Beanery’s al prosciutto pizza. And please don’t ask a dieter if she wants pizza. Simply send it here already. Beyonce obviously is not having that much pizza as she danced at the latest VMAs where she collected six Moonmen—aka VMA’s astronaut trophies—bringing her total to 22. Madonna used to hold the record with 20. If Olympics swimming has Phelps, VMA has Beyonce. Someone will always manage to have more. If you’re an avid follower of the Guinness World Records, you’ll lose count of the number of times a previous feat was erased by a new one. There’s this New York lawyer who broke his own 2015 record of travelling through all of New York’s 469 subway stations. His latest time is 21 hours, 28 minutes and 14 seconds, which is 21 minutes and 21 seconds faster than last year’s. His 2015 record went pfft when the Hudson Yards station opened afterwards, thus, the necessity to prove again that he’s the fastest NY subway traveller ever. There are many contests every year. There’s even a pizza eating contest, where I’m guessing a contestant should ensure he’s not lactose intolerant. All that cheese, ugh. Among dieters, there’s this tendency to compare notes on the number of pounds lost, the number of months it took to lose weight, and how. But there’s no perfect weight loss program for all. Each dieter is unique from the other, and the weight loss program that fits him is also unique from the other. The important thing is it should not turn him into a Kanye West at the 2016 VMAs, yes, the Kanye West who was given four minutes to do whatever he wanted with those precious minutes. Too bad Taylor Swift wasn’t there to watch him go on and on and on live.