November 14, 2009

Release

Our neighbors had their occasional street party again last night. They set up a tent that occupied over half of the street in front of our house, and settled down to play cards, eat, and drink.

It's their "advance" party. The real celebration would be sometime today.

Anyway, last night's party was relatively quiet.

At 4am this morning, however, I was awaken by loud voices.

They're at it again, locked in heated discussion over some moral issue that has something to do with freedom to express one's opinion. I heard passionate screams like "Tang#@*! Opinyon ko ito, kaya huwag ninyong masabi-sabing mali ako, mga g@%$!", and "Mga ul*^! Magsama-sama na kayong makikitid ang mga utak!"

Wow. Such passion.

It must have felt wonderful for them to scream their minds out in the middle of the street for all their neighbors to hear.

A very satisfying release.

***

My officemate, Mike, had his envy-worthy, shiny long hair cut after five years.

No wonder he went home early yesterday: he wasn't kidding when he said he was getting a haircut.

And now he's traded his old looks that vary from sleek pony-tail or twisted bun, to a neat semi-kalbo.

After five long years.

What a change. And I can only imagine how light his head must feel right now.

***

Right now I'm blogging and doing a paper here at Burger King, Glorietta 4 in Makati, while waiting for Joan to finish her meeting with a friend.

It's a nice change of scenery for me. Plus I love their new mini-burgers, and the free wi-fi.

November 13, 2009

Found

Aside from my own (oops haha), there are a few names that I regularly search over the internet for news and updates.

And even fewer names that I search every now and then, for over five years now, with hopes of somehow getting an idea how these people are doing.

Tonight there's one name off that list, thanks to FB.

The nickname used is different, but the face in the gray photo belongs to a person I used to know so well.

***

Back in high school, every batch's natural enemy/rival would either be the immediate upper batch, or the immediate lower batch, or both.

This rivalry, of course, is just there as it is every batch's struggle to gain prestige. Matters of the heart, however, usually ignore this.

Thanks to a tip at fezbook, I had a glimpse of what went on at the lovefront in the batch below us.

Haha! Memories.

November 10, 2009

Disconnected

I opened Facebook this afternoon and found today's "God wants you to know" message as follows:

"You're chasing in the wrong field. What you are looking for is inside of you, not 'out there'. Take a few days off to become quiet and look within, and you will find it."

Usually I am the one giving this sort of advice. Funny how it sounded so right for me at this very moment.

Good heavens... It wasn't like this a year ago.

No questions here, though. I should know that I am exactly where I am by my choice and mine alone -- however bungled up they may be.

Still... sadness.

Sigh. I feel so tired all of a sudden.

I need that quiet time.

***

Our prayers and sincerest condolences to our friend Euge and the rest of the Abitang family on the passing of his father last November 9.

I only have good (and most of the time, funny) memories of Sir Eugenio on the few times I've spent time with them (including the time I spent an extra day at their home in Banga during a flashflood).

God bless, Sir.

November 06, 2009

For the soul

Feel-good moments are extremely hard to come by these days, and oftentimes it takes too much effort to snatch measly bits and pieces of it.

So much effort that, at times, you end up wondering if it’s worth it at all.

Anyway, the last I remember – the one that didn’t require effort at all – would be the time I turned 34.

Yes, I love it when I get another year older. It means another year overdue of the age I believe my original lifespan would have been. (That would be 30, thanks to a recurring dream I used to have.)

This year wasn’t so different from the last one, and maybe from the three others before that: I was again in the office at the first hour of my birthday.

However, the people surrounding me in those first few hours had always been the ones that define the moment – always different, always wonderful.

The Techies and all who brought the videoke to its breaking point (tsk tsk haha!) never failed to cheer things up. And thanks Anne and Sergey for bringing me to the KMS party –

I had fun, guys. Thank you.

And for the past three years, the best part of the day would always be coming home to Joan. ^^

***

We’re used to calamities. During the early parts of my childhood spent in Metro Manila, I had my share of riding rubber tubes and wading through deep floods in Pandacan. When my family moved to Aklan, I had my taste of mind-blowing super-typhoons and freaky flashfloods.

But I only have good memories in all those experiences – playing with classmates in the floods after classes were suspended, gathering fruits from fallen trees around the town, standing in the beach wearing a crash helmet while waiting for the gust of wind to lift me off the ground (it never happened, though, maybe my body was too streamlined to achieve liftoff), breathing lungfulls of cool, crisp, leaf-scented air after the storm, and spending another day or two at a friend’s house while waiting for the roads to be clear of floods.

Back then, there were no fears of leptospirosis, no mudslides, no murderous floods or mudfloods, and barely are there scenes of people crying on their rooftops, or running or swimming for their lives, or people begging for help and mercy on national TV.

Either I was brain-dead back then, or something is really wrong today.

***

Every morning since typhoons Ondong and Pepeng, I listen to the radio on my way to work, and get snatches of feel-good moments from news of people helping others, sometimes in the most unique way – boxes of condoms and contraceptive pills donated to evacuation centers were the least I expected to hear.

But hey, just keep the help coming.

And everywhere in Facebook, blogs, and online news, there are people reaching out a helping hand.

Cheers to you all!

Of course, one has to endure all the bad in majority of the news to get these bits of feel-good ones. It’s all about being selective.

***

Natural selection.

Here’s a term stuck in my head recently. Life is all about making choices, and from those choices or decisions arise the fate of not just your own but those of others.

If a team of multi-tasking individuals was given one project too many, each one of these individuals will autonomously exercise a selection process determining which among their many tasks they will prioritize.

And which to sacrifice.

Ultimately, the collective choices of these individuals will determine the fate of a project.

I know now how it feels like to lose every spare tire, every lifeboat, and all reserve fuel needed to finish a project within the deadline.

Sigh. First time for everything. But hopefully never again.

***

This is it.

What can I say?

When it comes to what he does, Michael is perfection.

***

I’m finding it so hard to resist these cute and satisfyingly lethal little characters.

Luna Online by Run Up Interactive Corp. is slowly becoming my worst nightmare – an addiction. It’s been feeding my love for “hybrid” characters.

Gaah! Please let this not be the Ragnarok-type of addiction, or it will ruin my life. Haha!





My first duel -- what a rush (especially if you've won haha)!

I want these back

I can't recall the last time I doodled, and out of nowhere, this came out today during our flag ceremony. Okay, maybe not ou...