What songs would you choose to be part of your life's soundtrack? Give one or two (or three) for each scene :)


Opening Credits: Idioteque (Radiohead) / Sexy Boy (Air) / Magical Mystery Tour (The Beatles)

Average-day scene: Girls and Boys (Blur) / My Brave Face (Paul McCartney)

Best-friend scene: Two of Us (The Beatles) / Brother Louie (Modern English)

First-date scene: Won't Go Home Without You (Maroon 5) / Be with You (Atomic Kitten)

Falling-in-love scene: I Will Always Love You (Kenny Rogers) / Unchained Melody (The Righteous Brothers)

Love scene: Universe (Savage Garden) / D'yer Mak'er (Led Zeppelin) / Stars (Simply Red)

Fight-with-friend scene: Fuel (Metallica) / Bullet with Butterfly Wings (Smashing Pumpkins)

Break-up scene: To the End (Blur) / Afterglow (INXS) / Fever (Rivermaya)

Get-back-together scene: Without Your Love (Roger Daltrey) / Together in Electric Dreams (Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder)

Wedding scene: God Only Knows (The Beach Boys) / Julia (The Beatles) / You and I (Kenny Rogers)

Long-night-alone scene: How to Disappear Completely (Radiohead)/ Us and Them (Pink Floyd)

Heartbreak scene: Caroline, No (The Beach Boys) / Porcelain (Moby)

Mental-breakdown scene: Tomorrow Never Knows (The Beatles) / Are You Experienced? (The Jimi Hendrix Experience)

Driving scene: The Immigrant Song (Led Zeppelin) / We're All Made of Stars (Moby)

Deep-thought scene: Return to Innocence (Enigma) / Orinoco Flow (Enya)

Regret scene: Eden (Sarah Brightman) / Hunter (Björk)

Lesson-learning scene: Stop the Dams (Gorillaz) / You Learn (Alanis Morrisette)

"Life's okay" scene: Don't Worry, Baby (The Beach Boys) / In These Arms (Bon Jovi)

Party scene: Were You Ever Wanted (Royksöpp)/ I've Gotta Felling (The Black Eyed Peas) / Dare (Gorillaz)

Happy dance scene: Playground (Eraserheads) / Dying Inside to Hold You (Timmy Thomas)

Flashback scene: Everything is in Its Right Place (Radiohead) / Saturn Return (Eraserheads)

Death scene: Hide and Seek (Imogen Heap) / Hyperballad (Björk) / Across the Universe (The Beatles)

Closing credits: Siesatnebotneicostolim (Sugar Hiccups) / Good Night (The Beatles)

I started a new hobby about a couple of weeks ago: running. I know that a lot of people have started the same hobby and a friend of mine said that 2009 was the "Year of Running" since a lot of people just suddenly decided that they should do so. Some do it for fun. Some for necessity, because they are fat and needs to cut down their weight so that they won't die of heart ailments by age 40. And some just for shits 'n giggles: posers. People who just run so that they can others that they run.

I'm in the group who does it for fun AND necessity, or so I think.

Like what I stated a couple of weeks ago, I'd like to start new hobbies, and running is one of them. I've been into working out for the last 3 or so years. But I don't do it as often as I should: normally, I just do it on weekends. And even if I do work out almost once a week, I find myself still overweight. About a year ago, I managed to lose at least 25 pounds, but I have regained almost all of it because I eat a lot and my metabolism is very low and I don't play sports often. So starting this year, I promised myself that I would be more disciplined and be more concerned with my health. I'm not getting any younger and lots of different diseases and ailments are programmed in my genes that will haunt me down in the next ten years or so. So to better prepare for the inevitable, I need to be very healthy so that I won't die soon.

So, back to running... I started a couple of weeks ago because a friend of mine (whom I haven't seen for almost 9 years) asked me to join him jogging at a nearby subdivision one fine Monday morning. I was a bit enthusiastic with the idea of running and I told myself that it will be very easy since I have been working out for years and whatnot. But I was wrong. Dead wrong.

That Monday morning came, and I woke up at around 5am after sleeping for just under 4 hours because I was playing that diabolical game Plants vs. Zombies. At around 10 minutes before 6am, I met with this high school friend of mine and another friend, with I semi-regularly go to gym with and also an old friend since elementary school. The sun was still not up and the wind was cold and I thought that everything will be fine. After some warm up exercises, we started running.... or just jogging since we didn't really run fast.

And after about 30 meters, I knew something's wrong. I began panting like crazy and I started to run slowly and the two friends of mine, instead of waiting for me, just continued jogging at a steady pace (bastards...). I soon found myself stopped running, but instead I was just walking and I was still panting and it seemed that I was very, very tired. Apparently, I don't have strong lungs, which I find quite strange since I don't smoke. Plus the fact that I injured my right knee more than 3 years ago, which somehow rendered me reluctant to run. Yeah, that's probably it.

Anyway, I was able to finish the 5 kilometer or so course. I probably did more walking than running since I really couldn't sustain running for more than 20-30 meters. I immediately went back home, where some minutes later I found myself having very sore legs, especially my week knees.

The next week, I went jogging again with the same set of friends and almost the same thing happened. It was very frustrating because.. it just is, damn it.

I know that it will not be very easy so I guess I'll just do it more often to have my body adapt to this new form of exercise. It will be just working out: I'll start slow with light weights and then gradually lift heavier weight as my body adapts. I'll do better next time. Hopefully, that is. Yeah. Who knows? I might be running with them runners in marathons and whatnot. Yeah... there will be long way to go still but I will do it. Why not?

'Til next time, y'all.

:D

Today is my 26th birthday, woohoo!

I've been alive for a quarter of a century and a year and I feel ok. I'm in good health, except for a lingering cough that doesn't really bother me much, and my life, in general, is quite satisfactory. I won't say that I'm entirely satisfied with how my life has been going this past few years but I believe that things are getting better.

OK... so here goes another year...

This year, I plan to do lots of stuff... yeah... nothing really in particular... just... things. Like, I'd like to travel to some far away places (If I could get out of the country, that would be better), meet new people, (re)learn things like Nihonggo and Java and other (computer) languages, write/publish some new stuff (I still hope to have a book published but I'd like to be pragmatic so I won't expect much about it but I'll work on it), work out more to lose more weight and be in better shape, and try or improve on some new hobbies, like playing new sports, photography, film making/video editing, and playing keyboards and other musical instruments.

That a lot of stuff to do, right? Hmmm... I guess I need to lessen my procrastination, haha! I won't say I'll stop procrastinating because I know I can't, so I'll just lessen it. I'd be more focused in whatever I do. There! That seems better.

Anyway, I look forward to a really good year. For me and for everyone. :D

I've spent the majority of last weekend out of town. And It was fun because I usually just stay home when I'm off work. Quite boring but it works for me. But going out of town every once in a while just takes a lot of the stresses from work, which I really badly need.

Anyway, so last Friday after work, I went back again to UP Diliman (not really out of town but I've always considered UP as not just the school that I spent 5 college years in but more than just a school... it's another world on its own.) to watch the annual Lantern Parade which is held on the day before the start of the Christmas vacation, which I wish I still had. The last time that I watched the Lantern Parade was way back in 2004. But even so, I didn't think that there will much difference.

Or so I thought.

First of such changes is that the parade is no longer done around the university academic oval (which, if I'm not mistaken, is about 2.2 km. long) but is now held at the university amphitheater, which somehow surprised me because for one thing, I didn't know that such a place exists. Maybe I just never had the chance to go there. It's located at he back of the administration hall of the university, where the world-famous Oblation statue is also located (actually, the statue is located at the front of the building). So I went there, and was a bit surprised to see lots of people. And I arrived a bit late because the parade ended about an hour later. But it was ok since the best college to perform came in last. It's the best because it was the College of Fine Arts and that's what they do every time. And their lanterns were big and very beautiful, as always and as expected and they wouldn't be perennial favorites for nothing.

Anyway, after the parade of many lanterns, one arguably better than the preceding one (topped by 2 big lanterns in the shape of Manny Paquiao and his mom, Aling Dionisia, much to the delight of the crowd), the parade was ended by a fireworks display which lasted for about 10 minutes long. It was really cool and dazzling and everyone was on his toes with "oooh's" and "aaaah's" after every explosion of colorful lights.

After that, I met with some college friends and we had an "after party event" at a local bar near the university, called Pork Barrel. It was my first time there, and I was a bit surprised to see the place jam-packed. Luckily, we were able to find a table. We stayed there until about 4am, where we talked about lots of stuff: from campus stories to socio-political issues to the  Tagalog counterparts of English terms. It was probably the most fun inuman session that I've ever attended. Unfortunately, it has to end, and I look forward to the next inuman session with those guys.

I reached home at around 5:30am. I slept for about 2 hours, took a bath, ate a very light breakfast, and then off I went again to another place.

LAGUNA, BABY!!!


After quite a long bus ride from Quezon City, my writer friends from Filipinowriter.com and I finally reached Los Baños, Laguna, where another writer friend of ours was waiting. We bought some food and water and other stuff and then we went to this amazing place near the top of Mt. Makiling, called Pook ni Mariang Makiling, after a local goddess of the mountain. The place is filled with lots of plants and it is so serene and peaceful. We ate an abundant lunch there and stayed for about a couple of hours and then we went to another place, a hot spring resort called Laguna Hot Springs in Calamba, Laguna (apparently, the people who created the names of places there lacked creativity, haha!), also situated near Mt. Makiling. There we had our dinner, and then we had some "getting-to-know-you" session that allowed us to know more about each other, since some of us there only saw one another for the 1st time and there is much anonymity on the internet to really know a person well. That was really fun, and we enjoyed asking questions to one another about this and that in each other's life.

To wrap up the evening, some of us took a dip on the hot spring pool (it looks like a big swimming pool with gravel and rocks floor, but the water in it comes directly from the hot springs of Mt. Makiling). I didn't spend much time swimming since the others did the same, some of them even refused to swim at all. But that's ok, since we spent the next few hours drinking and laughing and sharing stories (again! but I don't complain since it was also very, very fun).

We left Laguna early the next morning, taking with us the lovely memories that we created during our stay there. I hope to see those guys soon.

So, that's it. What a wonderful weekend. Next weekend, I'll be out of town again, this time with some friends from high school. I'm pretty sure that that will be very fun too. Can't wait! :D

Ciao! Ü

I have to be off from work today because I have this nagging cough that I've had since last week. Due to the nature of what I do, I need to have some time off to rest and hopefully be able to get rid of this cough. So I just stayed home today.

I've been taking medication and it seems that they don't work. So I have to resort to my good ol' pal that I have proven time and again to be really effective. And it hasn't let me down yet. Behold: the great oregano.

Yeah. When I was a kid, whenever I get cough or any mild respiratory ailments, my mom would tell me to drink oregano juice. That's what I want to call it, haha, and practically, it is oregano juice. That's the liquid that come from squeezed steamed oregano leaves. A couple of leaves can yield about a teaspoon of juice. So anyway, a teaspoon or two usually does the trick. But this time around, I'll take in not just a teaspoon or two, to make sure that by tomorrow, this cough is already gone. Hopefully.

Today, I made a nice tea out of oregano leaves, picked from a neighbor's plants because for some reason the oregano plants that my dad planted some years ago have disappeared from our garden. Anyway, I learned from the web that dried oregano leaves are more effective, but I don't have dried oregano leaves. I only have fresh leaves, plenty of them. So anyway, I still made my tea. I crushed about ten big leaves of oregano and poured boiling water on them and let it steep for about 10 mins, and voila!  I made meself a nice cup of oregano tea. It's not really tea because oregano doesn't belong to the tea family but is related to the mint family but it looks like a cup of tea so it is oregano tea. I added some sugar and fresh milk and it's refreshingly good. I'll make another cup later.

Ehem. Hopefully I'll be able to go back to work tomorrow.

Or will I?

Haha. I'm considering missing another day just to be sure, anyway I have a lot of sick leaves to spare.

Until next time!

Yesterday, I had my first "real" haircut in more than 7 years. "Real" because previously, I would just ask the hair stylist to shave my head, and did that since 2005. For those who knew me in college, I sported a long, wavy hair hair from 2002 until I graduated and had my first work in 2005. So the last time that I had someone really styled my hair was back in 2002. So, anyway, it feels a bit weird to have this kind of hair style. I feel like I'm back in high school, haha. By the way, this is just the start because I'm planning to let my hair grow long again so I won't have my hair cut in the next 6 months or so. I did it before and I'd like to do it again.

Ciao.

PS:

what I've been up to during the last few weeks:
- played lots of video games (PC and PSP)
- downloaded and watched lots of movies (most of them at the office (shhhh!))
- enjoyed weekends with friends, playing basketball and badminton
- bought a new 500Gb External hard disk to back up files from my PC
- went back to UP to buy some shirts and eat fishballs and other streetfoods (yum!)
- went to gym on weekends, to get myself ready for the holiday season


Until next time.

Okay, I have decided: I will let my hair grow again. I'm not sure if I can make it grow really long again like I did way back college. Damn, that was hard. I dunno. I'll see how long I could let it grow, or when I'm going to have a haircut again. I'm not sure, maybe I'll change my mind again in a couple of weeks or so, but for the mean time, I'll just let my hair grow.

In other news... well, there is really no other news. Same old boring shit.

Oh, I'll start writing again before this month's over, and hopefully, I'll be able to write 2 to 3 stories before the year ends. And also, watch out for my new poetry collection coming by the end of the year, yey!

Just pretend you care, ok? Thanks for reading.

Ciao!

I finally saw the video of Boxxy, the infamous crazy-cute/attention deficit girl that rocked the interwebz early this year. And she just vanished soon after, for her own good, probably. Yeah, so I guess I'm bit too late already, haha. I'd like to meet her personally someday.

Anyway, aside from that, here some stuff that I've done during the last few weeks:
- attended the book launch of 2 of my co-writers in FilipinoWriter.com. Met them for the first time. And I still haven't finished the book, unfortunately.
- became part of a fund-raising poetry reading even early this month for the victims of Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana). I was with some members of FilipinoWriter.com, Km64 poetry collective, and Bayan Muna party list. That typhoon killed more than 250 people, displaced thousands of families, flooded almost all of Metro Manila, and destroyed billions worth of crops and other properties.
- attended an EB with some Peyups.com members and met some new people. I needed that, because I so fucking sick and tired seeing the same faces day in and day out, both friends and just casual acquaintances alike.
- went to San Pedro, Laguna, to be part of a fiesta there. Ate a lot, yey!
- spent the past weekend at my aunt's place in Cubao, QC. Ate lots of pasta, pili nuts, and chocolates, and at one point, became shit-faced with beer.
- downloaded lots of movies and songs. Thanks for the fast internet connection.


Yeah, as usual, I'm too lazy to blog. Because it's easier to post stuff on Facebook. So if you have Facebook account and you know me, add me up!

Cheerio, biatches. 'Til next time, woowoot! :D

It rained the whole day yesterday.

I went out of the office at around 4:30PM yesterday and was really surprised that it was raining hard. I didn't know how hard it had been going until I saw lots of people stranded outside the mall because of lack of public transportation like jeepneys and buses because there were floods almost everywhere. Luckily, I was able to get ride on a public (or possible a colorum) FX. The seats were soaked wet, apparently because the people who rode the vehicle some hours prior were also soaked wet due to the heavy rain. I was able to get home safely. And there was no flood or power interruption or anything that would make me really mad here at home. There was no water, though, but that came back early this morning.

There was nothing on TV but news about typhoon Ondoy (that's the name of the typhoon). I didn't know that Bulacan (that's where I live) was under typhoon signal #2, which means bad but not really bad. There was no flood here, because this part of Bulacan is situated maybe about a hundred feet above sea level and this place is nowhere near any body of water, so it's really pretty safe here. But some other places are not as lucky, like most of Metro Manila, which, if I remember correctly, is below sea level and naturally a swamp or a floodplain so flooding is a norm whenever there is a storm and the like. And yes, there was flood there, in some areas the water would be 5 feet deep. Lots of people had to climb on top of the roof of their houses and wait for rescue as they brave the rain and the cold of the night.

This morning, I found out that more than 50 people have already died and thousands of families displaced by the floods. I feel sorry for them and at the same time thankful that my family is safe and my friends and their family are also safe.

I don't pray much but I hope that things will become much better in the coming days.

...that I didn't win in the 59th Carlos Palanca Awards for Literature for any of my submitted works.

Damn. Fuckingdamnbitchmotherfuckingdamnshit.

Well, I guess I'm really not that good. At least for them judges of the competition. I'm just a fucking nobody, and nobody gives too much shit for nobodys like me.

Hmmmm.... where to go next? What will happen next? Should I try again next year?

Well, life goes on, as usual.

Actually, somehow, I feel relieved that I have finally found out the results. It would have been much better if I won, of course, but what I mean is for the past 5 months, I had this lingering thought on me head about the competition. I wanted to win, God knows I did. I spent literally sleepless nights just to finish my submissions. My eyes were dead-set on the prize. But, poof! Dream's fucking over, mate.

I guess it's just my illusion of grandeur. I wanted to win the most prestigious literary award in the country (if I'm not mistaken) and be among the greats in Philippine literature. Who doesn't want fame and greatness? I do. Everybody does, in one way or another. It's just that it doesn't come too often. Being great is a once-in-a-lifetime event. And hopefully, I'd still have a bite of that event in the future.

Anyway, that's a chip off my shoulder now, or something like that. I feel very disappointed but that's ok. My time will come. Hopefully soon.