Where is the holiday spirit?

Sometimes I feel I shouldn't be all festive and happy because of all the things I need to finish before the year ends. That I don't have the right. Yet.

(And now I digress with a Friendster survey I picked up from Paulette. [Hi, Pau!])

[survey]



* You are mostly known as?

> J....



* Most people think that you are?

> in a bad mood (here at home anyway)-OR- male (over e-mail/SMS) because of the silly name my parents gave me



* Do you believe in soulmates?

> Will think about this one first.



* Do you think love is always enough?

> Never. I thought it was. But no.



* Single or taken?

> In a relationship.



* Are you still friends with your ex/s?

> I dunno. Talking to an ex doesn't necessarily mean you're friends with him/her right?



* Unforgettable letters that you ever received?

> I got a handful of bad poetry from some jerk back in college. That. Was. Unforgettable. Heh heh heh...

As for the good kind of unforgettable, I always have in my wallet the card that came with a bouquet of stargazers Nico gave me on a monthsary.



* Who is your biggest crush?

> Graham Coxon



* First crush in college?

> Ay, 'wag! Chismis itu!



* First favorite song?

> My earliest memory of a favorite song is 'Rainbow Connection'. Heh heh ang kiddie.



* Favorite soundtrack?

> Once On This Island & Il Postino



* The latest band/singer that you like?

> Pedicab



* Boy bands?

> Uhm, Blur na ang pinaka-boy band ng buhay ko hehehe...



* Rock bands?

> I am thinking of more than 30 artists right now and it will really take me a lot of precious brain cells to enumerate.



* Give one word that best describes what you're feeling now.

> Ngarag



* Person who is always there when you're bored?

> myself



* Name 5 people you saw yesterday besides the people who live with you.

> Christine & Nicole (classmates ng niece ko)



* When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

> scientist-- ULOL. (lito pa ako nun hehe)



* Who did you last go out with?

> My nephews Chuy & TJ



* Who was the last person to text you?

> Nico who got on the plane for Narita a few hours ago.



* What time did you sleep last night?

> I didn't.



* What's your happy thought?

> Uuwi na ang jowa! Hehe...



* What makes you happy?

> Marami. Mababaw lang naman ako eh.



* What makes you sad?

> Boredom, first and foremost.



* What would you like to have right at this very second that seems totally impossible?

> P100,000,000.00



* Color of most clothes you own

> black



* Number of pillows you sleep with

> 2 (but the bed is overrun with stuffed creatures)



* Ilang language ang kaya mong salitain?

> English & Filipino. Kung pipilitin pa, Spanish & French.



* Fave anime..

> Ranma 1/2 pero hindi ko nasubaybayan ang ending.



* What room are you in right now?

> Panic room



* What were you doing 12AM last night?

> Yu-Gi-Oh on the pc while working on a page in Photoshop hehe



* How old will you be in 10 yrs?

> My age plus ten. You do the math (and the guessing hehe).



* What do you think you'll be doing in 10 years?

> nagkakamot siguro ng ulo.



* Do you have braces?

> nope



* Are you paranoid?

> Ako? Uhm... Bakit mo ako tinatanong? Ha?



DESCRIBE

* your wallet?

> Malaki at mataba. Nakakapanlinlang kasi wala namang lamang pera hahaha...



* Your alarm clock?

> Big & gray. It's the t.v. in my room.



* Your hair?

> Long, and mostly unkempt when at home hehe



* Tooth brush?

> Teal-colored aquaflex, the thing with the bendable head. But my travel toothbrush is a two-piece fuchsia thing.



* What color are your nails?

> They're currently unpainted, so I suppose they have the natural color of healthy fingernails.



* What color are your eyes?

> brown



* First piercing/tattoo?

> Piercing: earlobes for my first pair of earrings (I was a baby when my mom had this done so I don't remember). Tattoo: a dark brown vine motif also on the earlobe done in the late 90s by Joné at the College of Fine Arts workshop area.



*First love?

> Snoopy.



*First enemy?

> 'Yung classmate ko nung prep na sinumbong ko sa teacher ko kasi nagthreat na baliin 'yung green plastic ruler ko nung hindi ko pinahiram sa kanya dahil ginagamit ko pa. (Naaalala ko pa pangalan niya pero 'wag na lang hehe...)



*First big trip?

> Di pa ata buo ang diwa ko nun. Hehe...



*First play instrument?

> [(hehe, nakakatawa ang construction ng tanong) tama ka jan, Pau hehe] piano dahil tinuruan akong mag-Chopsticks & two-person Blue Moon ng mga kapatid ko nung pre-school ako pero hindi talaga ako marunong.



*Last cigarette?

> Uhm, lemme try to remember...



*Last good cry?

> So far, I can't say the recent crying episodes have been 'good'. I don't remember would be my answer then.



*Last movie seen?

> Finding Nemo on DVD



*Last person you yelled at?

> Kiwi because she was being a brat again.



*Last beverage drank?

> water



*Last crush?

> It has to be Nico. (Or else lagot. Heh heh...)



*Nakikita mo pa ba sya?

> Yes, but not in the last two months.



*Last shoes worn?

> White and gray maryjanes, my current favorite pair



*Last annoyance?

> Spawn disturbance



*Last words spoken?

> 'anubayan'



*Last ice cream eaten?

> Vanilla



*Last thing written by hand?

> line art on letter paper (for my book)



*Last time amused?

> A while ago. I saw/heard TJ mumbling gibberish and waving a white rubber shoe over his head WHILE he was sleeping.



*Last time wanting to die?

> Middle of this year.



*Last time in love?

> In love pa rin ata ako hehe...



*Kung mamamatay ka, sino ang huli mong gustong makita?

> Di ko alam. Siguro kung may gusto akong makita at di ko nagawa, e di dadalawin ko na lang pagkatapos. Bwahahaha...



*Anong sasabihin mo?

> 'Hi!'



*Kanta na nagdedescribe ng feelings mo ngayon?



I wish the music would play by itself,

Shredded fingers... no ideas

I wish this rainy day could be the last,

Could the world end?... what a Godsend



I wish I could stop wishing you were here,

But I don't want to... 'cause I'd still want you



I wish I didn't feel so flippin’ mad,

Don't wanna scare you... just wanna love you



I wish my life could last a thousand years,

Then I'd be clever... and build a heaven



I wish I could bring Nick Drake back to life,

He'd understand... hold my hand



I wish a constant stream of happy shit,

Live forever... in world of leather



I wish the rain would just leave me alone,

I can't wear that... stupid rain hat



I wish I was in California

Pernod perfume.. in the Danube



I wish the thing of love meant just one thing

Cinderella... Salmonella



- I Wish (Graham Coxon)



[/end survey]

Recently I have been getting Photoshop dreams. Not a good sign. :-P

Welcome home.

Happy days are almost here again. I terribly missed late night talks, DVD watching sessions, dugong sounds, hugs and kisses, weekend movies, and so much more.

Nico's probably in an airport in Minneapolis right now, waiting for his transfer flight to Narita. Touch down in Manila is 11 p.m. tonight or thereabouts.

Kutob ninyo masaya ang bagong taon? ;-)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Haggard holidays.

I'm back home after days of exile in Pasig (I'm still condo-sitting). I dunno when I should be going back. I hope I don't have to anymore, unless it's for leisure. It's tiring, it's a hassle. I hate having to shuttle from house to house via commute, and I hate watching over kids who refuse to listen to their masungit and very busy tita.

I'm supposed to prepare some kiddie games for the new year (a very loud alternative to playing with firecrackers-- I still don't know which I prefer more) but I haven't the time to think about it. My brother is going to strangle me if he finds out I haven't done anything for the party yet. :-P

I really, really need a vacation. Astig siguro na regalo 'to. My birthday is coming up in less than two weeks hehehe... *hint* *hint*

Happy holidays, everyone.

I think I gained all the weight I've lost in the past two months in just one week. :-( December is the start of fattening season, a time when eating habits are reduced to once a day (kain sa umaga hanggang gabi non-stop). Banyo at tulog lang ang pahinga. I might have eaten enough for a two-month hibernation. :-P

***

I haven't blogged in almost a week because I've been busy with my book and domestic duties. Oh, wait. I've been to a gig, too.

Matilda played a unique set at NU 107's Alternativity @ Party Central last Tuesday. Meh and Yvette were not available that night due to sudden changes in NU's schedule (original set time was 5 p.m. instead of 11:30 p.m.); Ayn filled in for Yvette, and Charms played keyboards while fulfilling vocal duties. Mabigat pa rin ang tunog nila kahit walang gitara. :-) (Sorry, not much kwento here. I didn't get to see two-thirds of the show 'cause I had to finish some work before leaving the house. I arrived some time around 11 p.m. during Sugar Free's set.) :-)

Wednesday night I was supposed to go to Matilda's christmas party (and also Yvette's despedida 'cause she's going home to the province for the holidays) but I couldn't make it 'cause I had to house-sit my sister's condo in Pasig and watch over her son for a few days. I took my oldest nephew with me so he can keep TJ company while I work. For two days my cooking skills were put to the test (puro prito lang ang ginawa ko hehehe). Kawawa naman mga pamangkin ko, wala silang choice. Hehehe... Thankfully we all went home to real food on christmas eve.

Accepting Tita Tess' invitation, I went to Nico's house to join the Africa family for christmas dinner. Akala ko 'yung gathering parang katulad last year na maraming kamag-anak from the mother's side ang nandun. I prepared myself for the occasion. Wow mali. Apat lang pala kami: myself, Nico's parents and his sister Bianca. Na-tense ako tuloy. Hehehe... Anyway, all went well, busog na busog ako, and Nico's family was really nice and accomodating. They took me home afterwards, too.

When I got home kain na naman! :-P The past few holidays we have been deviating from the typical noche buena fare of ham, queso de bola and such. This year's theme is roast & salad. Yum! Afterwards I had a videoke bonding session with my mom until 3 a.m., singing standards (para makarelate ang nanay kong tandercats hehe) and the occasional pop song. Kebs ang hika, sipon at sakit ng lalamunan. Heheh...

Tomorrow it's back to Pasig for me and TJ. I won't be online much, and I might not be able to check mail until new year's eve. But I'll still be reachable via mobile phone.

***

Thanks to everyone who sent their hoilday greetings and gifts. Much appreciated. :-)

(Got some from my wish list!!! The portable sewing machine and a couple of Moonflower items! Wheee!)

Dagdag sa wish list ko: A Nightmare Before Christmas and James & The Giant Peach DVDs. Heheheh...

Pesteng ahem.

Ahem.

Hassle. In the last few days I have been feeling the threat of a sore throat. After last night's I.n.K. party, the threat has turned into a full-blown invasion.

Napagod ako sa pag-host ng games, puro pasaway kasi ang mga orgmates hehe... Masaya naman, so keri lang. :-P

(Photo by Joel Chua. Can't wait to see Tito Robert's pics.)

Ahem. *sniff*

Kutob ko malala na ito pag dating ng pasko. Argh.

Ahem.

Small wonders.

My niece (a.k.a. spawn) Kiwi took a while before she learned to speak whole sentences. As predicted, naging super-daldal na siya since, bulol nga lang hehe. Until now she has difficulty pronouncing the letters R and L properly. (She calls a guitar 'gitaya', then with one look from us she corrects herself and says 'gita-WA.')

Last week we were sitting at the table and my mom was complaining of joint pains in the shoulder and that she couldn't raise her arm without discomfort.

Kiwi butts in 'Baka alignment yan, Mother.'

We all looked at each other, surprised. We didn't know where she picked that up.

(It was funny though. We all knew she meant 'dislocation' heheh... But still, alignment is a big word for a five-year old. Kaaliw.)

***

Tuesday night Marnie and I went to the Riverpark tiangge to save ourselves from boredom and irritation. I bought a couple of small, really cheap magnetic drawing boards (the modern day magic slate heheh) for my nieces (para mabawasan ang pangugulit at pag-iingay nila habang nagtatrabaho ako rito), and as soon as I got home, I found myself fooling around with them. Heh heh...

Ang astig nito. I'm going back to get another one for myself. :-)

Waaahhh!!!

This particular item on my wish list that has partly contributed to my lack of sleep is now OUT OF STOCK!!! Waaahhh!!! (;_;)

*sigh*

Honestly, I'm not really big on Christmas. There are years when I couldn't even care less. Kebs ko ba. I find the new year holiday more exciting, more optimistic, less fake.

Still, I posted my wish list. Chika lang 'yun. Kung may matutupad sa wish list ko in the next two months, astig, ang saya ko, promise. But right now, as I sit here typing this post, I'm thinking-- all I want for Christmas is true love.

(Is it worth it? Am I having doubts? Perhaps, otherwise I wouldn't have asked this question.)

Putangina. Ayoko nang umiyak.

Tis the season for giving.

So give me those gifts while it's still early. Heh heh heh... ;-D

I haven't posted my wish list yet, but some friends/members of the family have already sent me their gifts for Christmas. (Thank you!) And being the party poop that I am sometimes, I have opened them already hehehe...

Here's my wish list this Christmas (and my birthday, in case I don't get them this month hehehe...):

• Number one on the list, all under one bullet point: this, this, this, this, and this
• a portable sewing machine (I overheard my mom that she reserved a unit somewhere, I hope it's for me hehehe)
• raket that actually pays the bills
• a digital SLR (but a digital point-and-click is okay, too)
• a siamese cat and three sacks of cat food (Friskies)
• an original CD of Ciudad's first album
• all Air cds (except Moon Safari which I already have)
• a complete run of Beautiful Stories For Ugly Children (Piranha Press)
• love letters and postcards
• the entire Spirit of Moonflower line from Body Shop
• a tongue stud
• one year's supply of Ruffles Cheddar & Sour Cream
• Prince Caspian & The Silver Chair (The Chronicles of Narnia), Harper Trophy First Edition 1994 (para bagay silang lahat sa mga meron na ako)
• a data cable to connect my 6610 to the puter
• full body and hair spa
• a Whac-a-Mole (I broke mine waaah)
• a large-format, borderless Epson printer
• a really good negative scanner (mine's not that great)
• a collection of Miyazaki DVDs

Please, no more mugs and photo frames. I have way too many of those already. ;-P

What the...?

I had a good weekend and I've been wanting to write about it here, and then, out of nowhere someone brings up a thing of the past and that totally ruins everything.

Fuck.

UP CFA news.

Found out yesterday that my college professor Joey Tañedo is in critical condition at PGH due to his failing pancreas. :-(

FA peeps-- he needs our prayers (kung hindi kayo pwedeng dumalaw o tumulong sa ibang paraan).

Kaka.

Somebody's trying to access my blogger password. Kung sino ka man, bahayan sana ng isang milyong garapata ang kilikili mo. You are such a kaka. >:-P

My current play list.

Luis posted something about other people's listening habits, and I started to wonder what mine are.

Recently, I compiled a list of my meager cd collection. Since the new puter, I have started copying some of my music into my hard drive and let WMP manage my playlist for me, according to the way I rated each song. (Hindi na ako gaanong ka-OC lately, having put the play mode to 'shuffle'.) Here's my list-- today's first 15 songs randomly picked by WMP, in chronological order:

• 555 part one - New Mansions In Sound
• The Fear - Graham Coxon
• Roi (reprise) - The Breeders
• Leave This City - The Sundays
• Butterfly - Weezer
• Two States - Pavement
• Speechless - Cibo Matto
• Back In Our Town - Ivy
• Bathwater - No Doubt
• The View From Here - Dubstar
• That's When I Reach For My Revolver - Graham Coxon
• Watershed - Indigo Girls
• There's No Other Way - Blur
• Mascot (Justin's Revenge) - Ciudad
• Gave Up - Nine Inch Nails

Hmmm... That's an odd play list. Hehehe...

Sinong marunong pumunta?---

--Pwede ba akong sumama?

Soundtrack ng hapon ko. :-) I went with Aids to Divisoria today, sinamahan ko siya maghanap ng stuff for his upcoming SW fan film. Wahahaw.

At dahil feeling namin may sense of adventure kami, naglakad kami sa kalye kung nasaan ang mga kalye vendors (hindi na sidewalk iyon eh, pati 'yung island may paninda). Ay grabe, muntik na kaming masagasaan ng kariton na puno ng kalabasa. Ang olats naman siguro nun, kalabasa pa ang makakasagasa sa iyo. Hehe...

Andaming tao! Andaming paninda! Nakakatakot minsan, nakakapagod maglakad-lakad, so-near-yet-so-far-sa-LRT2 dahil sa traffic, pero babalik pa rin ako sa susunod na pagkakataon. :-)

Wanted.

Nanonood ba kayo ng PBA noong late 80s/early 90s? Sikat na naman ang Pinoy sa ibayong dagat... Tsk, tsk.

Puzzled.

Yesterday I received P100 load for my prepaid sim. I don't know who sent it, I just got a notification via SMS.

A few minutes ago, Nico asked me, 'tsk, tsk may stalker ka ba?' Aba malay. Basta kung sino man siya, salamat! Hehehe...

One year old and miles apart.

Midnight, I snuck out of the house and went to Freedom Bar (Admit One, Bai!). That's something I haven't done in a terribly long time. I just felt I needed a change of venue, a place where I shouldn't be worrying, thinking about things that slowly eat the little corners of the mind.

Nico called while I was outside Freedom Bar. He was in transit, somewhere in Arizona, on a long drive to Vegas for the weekend with his office mates. Tried my best to suppress the happy-sad tears, and failed miserably. I miss him terribly.

Joey, Echo and I left in the middle of the open jam to join Jason and Cattski at Nakayama. Oh yeah, the good old days... Thanks, guys. :-)

I badly need courage to last through today. Important decisions must be made.

Iyak na.

Grabe, kahit nakatulog ako, pagod na pagod pa rin ang pakiramdam ko. Hindi na ata ako sanay ng lumalabas ng bahay sa gabi. Anubayan.

The video launch, despite the last minute scheduling hassles, went well. Bumawi ang mga Matilda girls sa pagkainis sa pre-show sa pagtugtog sa launch. :-) Nakakatamad magkuwento dahil na rin siguro sa pakiramdam ko ngayon, kaya pics na lang ulit. (Click on the thumbs for a bigger preview.)

Boldstar performing their (relatively) new songs at the Deadpan gig.

Photo op at the stinky Anonas arcade stairwell.

Director Sherad Sanchez and compositor Myka Arnado. These two kiddies will make it big in the future. :-)

A snapshot of the projector screen.

Matilda finally takes the stage past midnight.

After the launch.

***

That's it. Too bad no more pics, I was low on batteries.

***

Sana maka-recover naman ako sa pagod (at sa mga kagula-gulantang na mga balita na nasagap ko kagabi). *sigh*

Because this deserves its own entry--

Happy birthday, Nico!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NICO!

***

Nico's mom picked me up for Nico's birthday dinner with the family. (Meanwhile Nico was halfway across the globe sleeping.)

(Awww... nakakatouch ha!) :-)

We ate dinner at The Good Earth and, to our regret, ate dessert there as well. It wasn't that the dessert was bad; the fried apple & ice cream thingy was good. It was just that we had to wait until 9pm so we can wake up Nico with a long distance phone call and we were all too full by the time we moved to Cravings. The mini-cake with the candle was Nico's mom's idea. She was trying to persuade us to get cake with much difficulty (kasi nga lahat kami busog na talaga). I got a caramel chocolate mini-cake, and with Tita Tess's constant urging, blew out the candle in Nico's place. Embarassing and funny. ;-P Hehehe...

Rockstarry, starry night.

\m/o

Yes, I braved the storm. And I survived.

Despite the weather, the Rock Awards pushed through. I can only say that for me it was mostly a night of waiting, schmoozing, drinking free Red Horse beer until it ran out and watching the bands that I like.

Uhm. Okay. Pictures na lang. It will save me from writing the proverbial n-thousand words. Marami-rami rin ito. (Click on the images to get bigger previews.)

Uhm, sige na nga. I'll try to give a caption or a little back story on these. Here's Matilda kicking off the Rock Awards pre-show.

Another Matilda photo, badly focused heh heh... Mejo bitin 'yung pagtugtog nila. They played 'Iyak ni Maria' acoustic, therefore, without the screaming vocals. Instructions from NU was strictly acoustic guitar. After our set Stonefree went on electric, pwede na raw kasi ang electric guitar pero toned down. The rest of the Raw Award nominees followed suit, but the 'toned down' part didn't seem to register in their heads. Nainis kami, 'cause none of them played acoustic, and the girls didn't think it was fair that they didn't get to play electric. (At malabo ang coordination ng NU with us prior to the event!) Kung nakita ninyo sila na masusungit kagabi, ngayon alam na ninyo kung bakit. Oh, well. :-/

Schmoozing with Kitchie who was set to perform after a few more segments (but she isn't really nominated for any category-- di raw umabot 'yung album niya sa cut off). Meh and I seized a photo op. Heh heh...

Pungay no more!!! Ayan, ang saya ni Kathy. :-)

Chilling with Yvette at the 'lounge' outside the venue.

Buddy Zabala, Bassist of the Year for 2004. :-)

Ciudad onstage. Images of Mico the Happy Bear and Mikey holding hands (in Pancho's video) swim in my head.

Mikey with Jeff in the background. The main reason why I took pictures (specially of Ciudad) was because the birthday boy wasn't around to see his favorite local band play.

Found Charms and the Typecast boys in the middle of a conversation.

Cambio in camo. I totally dig Kris's camouflage stockings.

'Divisoria! Divisoria! Divisoria!...'

I have yet to get used to seeing Jett perform with guitar in hand.

Sugarfree performs 'Sinta'. :-)

Sandwich up in the air (save for Maps, and Mike, who had a scary back problem a few hours before the performance). I think I have a handful of pics of Diego in mid-air. Heheh...

And they performed 'Two-trick Pony' with a horn section!

One more pic...

(Put your caption here) Hehehehe...

See us try to fit ourselves in a frame with a camera held at an arm's length and fail miserably. ('Us' is Ian, Catrice, myself, and Joey Halo.)

One more time, with Ian.

'I've got a manic crush on you...!'

The Barbs played a couple of songs after Bamboo's encore performance (sorry guys, no pic of Bamboo with his 'mini-me'). They didn't care how they sounded and they're good. :-)

Cebu posse in tha house! Urban Dub's 'Influence' won album of the year. :-)

Foxy ladies of Dice & K9, Cambio and Urban Dub.

***

That's it. Ask the others who went to the show to fill in the blanks for you. :-P

Pbbbt. :-P

It sucks being the last person to know. I should be getting used to it by now. But no.