Catching up

You know you're getting older when catching up with friends is the week's highlight.

14 years have passed since I left the university and though I still keep in touch with my people, I rarely do find the time to be physically present during meet-ups. I get off work late, seven-ish, and the traffic's always bad. So when Mida scheduled dinner at 1:30 a.m. last Sunday, I said, "Really?", laughed at the strangeness of it all, and confirmed. With W in tow.

We arrived a little past 1:30 a.m. in Burger King along Marcos Highway. Mida and Marnie were waving at us from the window, and it was just the best I've felt in months.

There's really nothing like being around people who've seen you at your worst; it's just so much easier. Like wearing worn down sneakers. Comfy, snug, smelly but who cares? No, everyone smelled just fine but, ah, it did feel like slipping inside a time bubble, stuck in that one space in the universe where I never grew old and we never grew apart.

We are all different people now but it's funny our life's objective remained the same. Marnie has always been our writer-activist and now she tells stories through pictures. Mida's the glue of our circle and true to form, she organized this small gathering even if she was probably exhausted from her flight. And she is as brave and bold as ever. And me. I don't know how they see me. Flamboyant? Funny?

It was just great to hang out, singing along to random songs like it was 1991 all over again.

Keith Auf'ed

I'm back to black shirts. I walked in at work with a heavy heart. I couldn't write. I couldn't even listen to music. Everyone's asking: Are you okay?

No.

Keith Bryce got Auf'ed last night.

Project Runway Season 5's only bright spot. Well, hot spot. Not a spot but a chunk. A chunk of hotness. A bright chunk of hotness with a heart more golden than St. Angelina Jolie's. He calls Tim Gunn "buddy." Who calls anyone "buddy"? Only Keith, the saint of swatches.

I guess he couldn't get over his almost elimination last week and just cracked under pressure. And when Keith answered back, "There's criticism, then there's insult," to Michael Kors, I kind of knew it. I felt it. Those judges can't take talking back. I can, Keith. I'll make swatches of rubber mats for you.

So now I have no reason to watch Project Runway. But maybe one last time for Diane von Fürstenberg...

Commotion in the office. Is that ice cream? Is that the new Banoffee flavor? Yay!

Image from squarehippies.com. Go there for more (and I mean shirtless) Keith goodness.

Four the Road

Meme mia! From Dodo

4 Jobs I Would Stink At

1. Anything in sales. I can never hold that smile long enough to sell anything. Kung ayaw mo, wag mo.

2. Macho dancer. Me thinks I would have to pay people to watch me dance.

3. Bartender. I did this for awhile at a friend's bar. I was the only one getting drunk at that bar. Heh.

4. Accountant. Magic Numbers, the only numbers I like.

4 Nicknames I Made Up For Myself/Other People Made Up For Me

1. L.A.
2. Kuhol
3. Mytor / Thory / Thorassic
4. Percy

4 Movies/Tv Series I Can Watch Over And Over Again

1. CHUNGKING EXPRESS. By default. And I really don't know why. I've been watching this movie (almost once a year) since Dodo introduced it to me in 1997. It flows the way your thoughts would. It's an experience in remembering.

2. MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO/SPIRITED AWAY. Pure. Childhood. Bliss.

3. LOVE ACTUALLY. Ehem. Yeah. The title credit always gets me choked up.

4. DELOVELY. Love the music. Delightful. Delicious. Delovely.

1.BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. Even with the dark, pouty Buffy as the series winded down, this show never forgot how to have fun. Must must watch episodes are the gritty "The Body," the suprisingly creepy "Conversations with Dead People" and the (almost) silent episode, "Hush." (Seasons 5, 6 and 4 respectively)

2. DOCTOR WHO. The only show that can be anything it wants to be. From hard core sci-fic to twilight zone noir to epic space opera, this Time Lord does it all. Plus, you know, the Daleks.

3. NARUTO. 200 plus episodes in, these hidden leaf villagers still kick ninja-ass and throw chakra-charged kunai knives like it's nobody's business (and still the most fun ensemble on TV). The kids are all grown up in Shippuuden as some of them rush head-on to their inevitable tragic fates.

4. LOST. I''m torn between this and Battlestar Galactica, but if it's something that I would play on repeat, it would have to be LOST. To look for clues and all.

4 Things I Love To Do On Weekends

1. Cook
2. Customize action figures (working on a Kitty Pryde Barbie)
3. Sleep til noon
4. Toy hunt in Greenhills, Sta. Lucia or SM Megamall

4 Alcoholic Beverages I Enjoy From Time To Time
1. San Mig Light
2. Fundador
3. Red Wine
4. Whiskey Sour

4 Fantastic Vacations Destinations I Would Love To Go To Before I Pass Out
1. Cardiff, Wales
2. Japan
3. London
4. Earth 2

4 Celebrities I Would . . .ehem . . ."Date"
1. James MacAvoy
2. Daniel Wu (Forevah)
3. Won Bin
4. Geoff Johns

4 Things I Could Not Live Without
1. Music
2. Comic books
3. Jowaers
4. And I have to agree with Dodo, HK.

4 Gadgets/Appliances I Wish To Have
1. Tardis
2. Dalek Lamp
3. Hypospray
4. Sonic Screwdriver

Aaron Herr Who?

From he who asks.

1. Go here. The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2. Go here. The last four words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

If you want to do this again, you'll hit refresh to generate new quotes, because clicking the quotes link again will just give you the same quotes over and over again.

3. Go here. Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4. Go here. The first ten links you end up in (minus the .com’s) are your 10 song titles.

Answers:

1. Aaron Herr
2. Possibly Have Gone Wrong
3.

4. Tracklist
Lushlongboards
Black Box Voting
WBRS 100.1 FM
Center for Neighborhood Technology
Jump Up!
K-Rad
Lightning Field
Medium Phobic
The Neurotic Fishbowl That Is My Life
SugarMegs

I'm liking the album title and the album cover (very Belle & Sebastian). The songs have that environmental politics angle that's a little Flaming Lips. But I still go for Mighty Band. Or BGBT. Heh.

Wrist Watch

My left wrist hurts. Finished 130 levels of the Mugenjo and Hidden Mugenjo in the new Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2: The Phantom Fortress! PSP game. (That's a lot of colon.)

I've been doing less copywriting work. It's not that I have less work; it's really just the age of imagery (in advertising). The pictures come first lately. At work and in my head, I'm not hearing myself think. I'm seeing myself in different situations. My thoughts have this over-the-shoulder point of view. I'm scoping and surveying the landscape. I'm plotting tactical courses and pinning down time stamps on this map in my head. It's the Mugenjo's working.

I'm not thinking in words anymore.

Don't Confess (This Thing that Breaks My Heart)

We have finally (if only partially) solved our office's Internet problem. I'm so happy I could MEME the entire day.

An iPod meme from Dodobird Here's the instructions:

1. Put your music player on shuffle.
2. Press forward for each question.
3. Use the song title as the answer to the question

1. What Does This Year Have In Store For Me? Wider Too, Tender Forever

2. What Does My Love Life Look Like? Born Under a Good Sign, Teenage Fanclub

3. What Do I Say When Life Gets Hard? Columbus Avenue, Aimee Mann

4. What Do I Think Of When I Get Up In The Morning? Casimir Pulaski Day, Sufjan Stevens

5. What Song Will I Dance To At My Wedding? As You Wish , Aqueduct (I love, love this. But for tonight, as you wish, I'll beg for my life...)

6. What Do You Want As A Career? Whisper, A Fine Frenzy

7. Your Favorite Saying? I Must Belong Somewhere, Bright Eyes

8. Favorite Place? Not What You Want, Sleater-Kinney

9. What Do You Think of Your Parents? Pilot Can at the Queer of God, The Flaming Lips

10. Where Would You Go On A First Date? Push Up on Me, Rihanna

11. Drug of Choice? It Wasn't Me, Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins

12. Describe Yourself. The Opposite of Hallelujah, Jens Lekman (Hah!)

13. The Song That Will Be Played At Your Funeral? Time Flies, Lykke Li (Not bad for an epitaph either)

14. What's Your Pornstar Name? I'm All Right, Madeleine Peyroux

15. What is Your State of Mind Like At The Moment? Melt My Heart to Stone, Adele

16. How Will I Die? New League of Nations, monograph

17. The Song You'll Put As The Subject? Don't Confess (This Thing that Breaks My Heart), Tegan and Sara

So if I judge my state through the iPod oracle, then I am a quite happy, mostly love struck, I jump to heavy petting on the first date, drugged with denial, and will join the new league of nations where I will die saving the world. Not bad.

Post Shanghai

Shanghai was cold. Too cold. The day we arrived it was 6 degrees. The evenings were almost unbearable; we spent our second night looking for something to cover our heads with. The trip was a lot of fun (there will be pictures) but if anyone were to ask how it went, I would say this: It was too cold. And when we did get back to Manila, it was too warm. 34 degrees warm. So walking pneumonia it was. Hospital and bed rest. First time out after a long while was the Swing Out Sister concert. Nostalgia is overrated.

The best thing about all of this is I got to catch up with my cartoons. Anime, to be cool about it. Finished Death Note. In the middle of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Ichigo has stormed the gates of the Soul Society for Rukia in Bleach. And wrapping up with the Chunin exams in Naruto, though I have gone ahead and started its Shippuuden arc. Never really realized that great TV is alive and ass-kicking in Naruto. I want to get me some ninja weapons.

Adele - Chasing Pavements (Live acoustic)

Something for the cold.

Push Your Head Towards The Air

Decent video when it's not overdoing the theatrics. Decent song though "When Anger Shows" is the better slow song. Tom, he is the highlight of this dreary black and white exercise. Stumbled out of bed unshaven, eyes a little heavy with distance. I feel a sonnet coming.

2007: What Became of the Likely Lad

1. What Did You Do In 2007 That You'd Never Done Before ?
Copywriting. At least not for the past five years. Just like riding a bicycle, which I never learned, copywriting remains a mystery. Wordplay, wit, or whatever the client is privy to. But it does pay for the comic books, so not complaining at all.

2. Did You Keep Your New Years' Resolutions. And Will You Make More For Next Year?
It's always food related. So, no.

3. Did Anyone Close To You Give Birth?
A good friend from the office I left in 2006.

4. Did Anyone Close To You Die?
Two of my dogs. They were greatly missed over the holidays.

5. What Countries Did You Visit?
Hong Kong. My favorite place on Earth.

6. What Would You Like To Have In 2008 That You Lacked In 2007?
A purpose. And this...

7. What Date(s) From 2007 Will Remain Etched Upon Your Memory, And Why?
Ach. Not very good with dates. But the recent HK trip was the year's best. I got to shop all I could for 15 minutes in HMV, W's idea of a birthday gift. Which is the best birthday present ever but also the most nerve-wracking. 3 hours after landing, we passed by an HMV and he went, Okay, start now! I was shaking all over. And confused and delirious. Also got to hang out with Mida: dinner, drinks in Volume, then dessert. So yes, forever etched much.

8. What Was Your Biggest Achievement This Year?
Got an Immortal Iron Fist sketch from Leinil Yu. And won original inks of Superman: Birthright by Leinil and inked by Ed Tadeo! Which is really not an achievement. But it's the first time I ever won anything.

9. What Was Your Biggest Failure?
Life's too short to be let down by anything. Or it's somewhere buried in my subconscious. Sleeper failure.

10. Did You Suffer Illness or Injury?
And I quoteth the Dodo: Nothing you can't pin blame on age.

11. What Was The Best Thing You Bought?
My comic books. They almost always never fail me. You can always drop one and move on the next. Now, that's a perfect relationship. Heh.

12. Whose Behavior Merited Celebration?
My sister, Faye! *Naks* The perfect partner to geek-treasure hunting.

13. Whose Behavior Made You Appalled And Depressed?
Mostly strangers in the lift. The rude ones. There was this one guy who leaned on all the buttons. Took me a whole 15 minutes before I reached my office's floor, the 23rd.

14. Where Did Most of Your Money Go?
See #11.

15. What Did You Get Really, Really, Really Excited About?
Every Thursdays is new comics day! And, err, the Beyonce concert. Clearly, nothing much has happened in my life. And like it that way.

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
Editors' Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors, The Bluetones' Surrendered, Amy Winehouse's You Know I'm No Good, M. Ward's Chinese Translation and Tilly and the Wall's Rainbows in the Dark.

17. Compared To This Time Last Year, You Are:
More relaxed. Happier.

18. What Do You Wish You'd Done More Of?
Sleep. Travel. Drinking. Blogging.

19. What Do You Wish You'd Done Less Of?
Nothing, really.

20. How Did You Spend Christmas?
Parent's house in Bulacan. Made pasta sauce. PSP-ed til my fingers were numb.

22. Did You Fall In Love In 2007?
In love still.

23. How Many One Night Stands?
None (and the heavens opened up to the singing of angels)

24. What Was Your Favorite TV Program?
TV Programs. Addicted. According to order. Here goes why I haven't been blogging much. Doctor Who. Torchwood. Lost. Spooks. Battlestar Galactica. Rome. Brothers and Sisters. Chuck. Life on Mars. Secret Diary of a Call Girl. Gossip Girl. House MD. The Tudors. Reaper.

25. Do You Hate Anyone Now That You Didn't Hate This Time Last Year?
Judd Winnick. Not really hate. But hate his work on Green Arrow. And I love Ollie.

26. What Was The Best Book You Read?
Rob Sheffield's Love Is a Mixtape. The best. The sweetest. The saddest.

27. What Was Your Greatest Musical Discovery?
Lucky Soul! (Thanks, Dodo.) The rest, not really discoveries. more of a new habit---M. Ward, Tilly and the Wall, Midlake, Kate Nash, Bishop Allen and Jens Lekman.

28. What Did You Want And Get?
The Batman Jim Lee Black & White statue. Classic New Teen Titans, and Big Barda & Mr. Miracle DC Direct editions.

29. What Did You Want And Not Get?
Justin Hartley. As Green Arrow.

30. What Was Your Favourite Film This Year?
Movies I saw more than once so I guess they're favorites. David Fincher's Zodiac. Kim Yong-Hwa's 200 Pounds Beauty. These are the only two I recall.

31. What Did You Do On Your Birthday? And How Old Were You?
Downed beer to an Amy Winehouse BBC Special and Temptation Island. Then a Battlestar Galactica season 3 discussion: the cylon reveals, the rescue in Caprica. Am old enough to like the new Rilo Kiley album. Heh.

32.What One Thing Would Have Made Your Year Immeasurably Satisfying?
Justin Hartley.

33. How Would You Describe Your Personal Fashion Concept In 2007?
Geekosexual. A comic book shirt and checkered pants, like Sheldon. (If you know Sheldon, then you're one of us!)

34. What Kept You Sane?
Coming home every night to W. *awwshucks*

35. Which Celebrity/Public Figure Did You Fancy The Most?
Also---Mark Ronson, David Anders (Mr. Sark in ALIAS and Adam Monroe in Heroes), Tom Smith (Editors).

36. What Political Issue Stirred You The Most?
The Manila Pen invasion. Because my friends work from across the hotel.

37. Who Did You Miss?
Drinking buddies from way back.

38. Who Was The Best New Person You Met?
Sandy of Comic Odyssey! (Who let me choose my raffle prize when my name got picked in the Comic Odyssey anniversary---Michael Turner variant, JLA #13 .)

39. Tell Us A Valuable Life Lesson You Learned In 2007:
Old is the new young.

40. Quote Song Lyric That Sum Up The Year:
"When you caught my eye, I saw everywhere I'd been, And want to go to." Editors, An End Has a Start. Short and sweet. Not completely sure about the dangling modifier but it works.

The first month of the New Year is almost over.

That was a quick one, 2007, fast-paced distractions taking up most of the days. The year I took the back seat---enjoying the view, watching the sun come up at least once in a month. Gradual transitions, from dark to light, from blue to gold-speckled pink; I relished the laziness of sunrise.

At least until my blood pressure shot up. Heh.

Now it's early to bed and early to rise just like most. Romanticism is really for the conveniently young.