Last night, Aris held a cookout at his house to celebrate his returnfrom Senegal plus an excuse for a belated celebration with us. Becausemy dad had to work at the church all night while I had to stay at hometo keep my mom company (as she never outgrew the scary feeling ofstaying home alone), I only got to catch up by midnight when my dad gothome.

Sohalf an hour before midnight, the moment my dad got home, Aris and Iamarrived at my house a few minutes later to pick me up. Found Seph, Joshand Raffy at Aris' house, and while Iam decided to catch up on a fewzzz's, I took her place at the table with the rest of the guys. I nevergot to the actual "cookout" part of the night, but at least I got topick on the leftovers. Plus I also managed to finally open that bottleof Merry's Irish cream from Rosa. And I must say, I loved Raffy'sbarako coffee jelly with vanilla ice cream.

Iam had said that by the time she and Aris had left to pick me up, the rest had been ranting about the Twilight movies, especially this new one. Hahaha, all throughout the wee hoursof the morning, even as our conversation shifted from topic to topic,we still somehow ended up going back to that topic because of howidealistic and crazy-fanatic people can get over the whole vampiretrend. Crazy conversations over beer and Irish cream included Twilight's "sparkling" vampires, the "stealth assassin," the "gay friend," the useless 40-kilometer workout, the ala-School-for-Scoundrels teacher, the text language issue, among others.

Whoneeds the high school reunion plus those unnecessary "reunion planningsessions" when you can just get together like this? One favorite topicwere those very interesting revelations that were only opened up tosome or most of us at least 10 years after they had happened, hahaha.Diane's boys, Avril's boys, and even the uneventful Olive competition.Pre-prom date vows, prom dates, rejections and merely funny heartaches.But hey, as we kept saying the entire morning, "That's high school." Itwas amusing enough that how some had mentioned their own point of viewon what was happening. It could get even more interesting if more ofthe people involved could be there as well, hahahaha!

Now that's a thought. That could make a really awesome December get-together.

Quoting from Chris Martinez' Last Order sa Penguin:"What makes a jologette jologette? Physically? Bordering on thekakatulungin. Kaunting-kaunti na lang, kakatulungin na. And generally,ang mga jolog girls pangit ang skin. Parang loob ng Bar None. 'Yungcross section nu'n--ganu'n ang skin nila. At mahilig sa pink nalipstick. Pansinin n'yo mamaya diyan sa labas. Pink ang lipstick nakutis Bar None at pwede mo nang papasukin sa kitchen."

Wala lang, pinapahaba ko lang yung entry, hehe.

Teena had asked me to blog about my jologs side. I honestly have noidea what part of me can be considered jologs. Though I sure hope I canrelate some certain experiences to that.

Let's see. Being a one-time groupie, I used to follow a local bandpractically everywhere. I went early to bar gigs so I didn't have topay for cover charge and just order one drink for the entire night.Never mind that I sometimes came straight from school with a bag, so Ican just dress up before I go to the venues. And of course, we do maketime to go to all those mall shows, because, hey, that's the cheapestgig you can attend, because it's for free.

But I don't know if I really do consider that jologs. I recall a fewgirls who followed in our footsteps who were way worse than we were.Imagine one girl even offering to carry the artists' clothes and bagsfor them before and after the gigs. Oh well.

So let's see. Jologs.

Oh yeah, I remember back during my first year in Atlantis, Ate Sally,Richelle, Kuya Boni and I would always try to escape and leave theoffice early just so we can catch the latest Sam Milby movie inGlorietta, hahaha! I think we did it 2 or 3 times, just so we can watchit at a decent time. Hey, you have to admit, when Sam Milby was a newfresh face in Pinoy Big Brother, he was cute... until maumay ka na lang sa itsura niya because of too much exposure.

And yes, we go to Pinoy Big Brother. During our free time, Ate Sally and I would always go online to check out regular updates of the first season of PBB,plus the first celebrity season. Effort pa kami to read all updates inthe website, and sometimes sisilip pa kami sa forums para makarinig ngchismis. And laging naka-schedule ang evenings namin so we can watchthe show every night.

Hahaha, now I know why Teena requested this. She has her own jologs side as well because of Pinoy Big Brother. Heck, whenever we would be chatting online, she would even tell me what she's seeing on TV, ahahaha. Di naman ako maka-relate.

Now let's which dare topic I'll tackle next.

I had mentioned a few entries before that I wanted to go back to how Iused to blog. So as an exercise, I decided to bring back the "dare"post I made about a year and a half ago. For those of you who had seenit before, you may remember that I never got to follow through with allthe blog challenges that some people had posted. So I'd like to bringit back. Here we go.

Everyone has things they blog about. Everyone has things they don'tblog about. Challenge me out of my comfort zone by telling me somethingI don't blog about, but you'd like to hear about, and I'll write a postabout it. Ask for anything: latest movie watched, last book read,political leanings, thoughts on TV, favorite type of underwear, storiesI'm working on, travel, etc. Repost in your own journal so that we canall learn more about each other.

Go

Went to ATC yesterday afternoon to meet up with Rosa and Iam. I didn'tmind that it was a Sunday, because considering it was also the day ofthe Paquiao-Cotto match, there wouldn't be a lot of people millingabout. Haha, there wasn't any traffic at all, so the jeepney ride tookonly 10 minutes. When I arrived at ATC, I noticed that Gerry's andItalianni's had blocked their glass windows for the boxing match,having sold tickets for the live telecast.

Rosa arrived while I was hanging out in Powerbooks, and because Iamwouldn't be around until after the boxing match's delayed telecast, weheaded to White Hat to try out their frozen yogurt. Stayed there andtalked until we noticed that a lot of people were already outside,which meant that the match was over. After a little errand at thehardware store, we did a little window shopping and ended up munchingon chicken skin at the food court while we waited for Iam.

Window-shopped a little when Iam arrived, then we went to CANS becausethey were going to have pedicures. Went with them as well, even thoughI have my nails done at home. Sat between them and talked and giggledalong with them as their feet were as ticklish as mine.

After pedicures, we stopped over at the supermarket so Rosa can pick upsome cranberry juice, then we headed to good old Mount McDo to eat.Funny conversation jumped from the Paquiao match, to being aboksingero's mom for instant fame (hahaha), to the discovery of an apoand an older sister, to marriage. It's fun getting together like thisagain, just the three of us.

After a little more walking (with a side trip to Salsa jeans), I bidthem goodbye because they were attending the 7 o'clock mass at St.Jerome (I heard mass before I went to ATC). I ended up briefly meetingwith Lara near the cinemas, as she was there to catch a movie and havedinner with her siblings. Finally met her Barbie-ish older sister andolder brother that she fondly talks about. After chatting over Platowraps, I finally headed on home.

I just love hanging out with my happy thirds, plus spur-of-the-moment meet-ups with other good friends.


Pahabol: While everyone is watching 2012 at the cinemas, I once chanced upon an old 80's movie on the MGM channel a few days ago called 2010 naman. Hahaha.

I realized today that I really need more exercise, so I did a littlebit of walking when I had to go on a little errand this afternoon.

I had to pay our broadband internet bill at the 7-Eleven outside ourvillage, so when I had set off walking along our street to look for atricycle, I suddenly decided to walk the entire way out the village.Thank goodness I chose to leave the house at around 4 in the afternoon,when it was cooler. While I was walking along the street parallel toours, I noticed the cracks on the road and remembered how old thosecracks were. I remembered how bewildered yet fascinated I was of thosecracks when I used to walk along that road when I was kid. As I walkedfurther, I realized that I hardly walk around the area at the fringesof our little subdivision in our village, and I had to admit, thesights are actually pretty when you walk on by instead of riding by ina car or tricycle.

I really have to remember to get a second pair of frames for myglasses, because the pair I'm wearing has thick sides that block myperipheral vision. I've had these since last year, when I used to walkto David's studio for voice lessons. I forgot how dangerous walkingalong the main road was until this afternoon, and I really must havethose new glasses made.

Jhack had posted on her Tumblr about the cast of Glee guesting on Tyra,and I had almost forgotten that it was to be aired on ETC this evening.Thank goodness I was just vegging out in front of the TV after dinner.I was channel-surfing and randomly stopped at ETC, when Tyra was just starting. I was intrigued at Tyra's entrance with the westernhigh school cafeteria clique dilemma, so I stayed put to watch. Theytalked about the typical high school cliques and how the so-calledpopular kids would judge the others and vice versa, and even got abunch of "outcasts" to speak up along with the popular kids. Haha, Iremember how I felt like such an outcast in class during some time inhigh school, so I resorted to joining a whole bunch of extra-curricularactivities, such as track and field varsity, the youth corps, thestudent council's programs and planning committee, and of course,theater.

Seeing the Glee cast made me miss my training. Dave's been pretty busy with teaching at the school so we haven't gone back to regular training. Maybe I'll walk over to the studio for a visit one of these days.

I was looking at my old blog entries from at least a year or two ago,and I realized that I missed blogging like that. I just blogged away,regardless of who was reading it. Un-edited and candid, and neverconscious about what I wrote because heck, I didn't really need to puta disclaimer to say that it's my blog and it's just my personal take onthings. I hope I could blog like that again. Oh well. So let's go withthe flow, shall we?

Oneof the things I love about Tad is that he's not afraid to be frank butstill have the tact. He knows when to say the right thing, and managesto get my head out of the ozone. He knows exactly what I needed tohear, and not just the things I want to hear. I'm so grateful to havehim as my voice of reason when I get too tactless and stubborn incertain situations.

I was chatting with Jenny last night about aprevious blog entry. Hmmm. This is what I love about talking aboutcertain issues with different friends. You find different takes onthose situations, and sometimes they tell you if you could handle themdifferently. Yes, Jenny, I'm too nice, hahaha.

Just for kicks, sometime this week, Nicco had posted Pasencia on Facebook, which was an old video from the old days, back when Istarted hanging out with them post-thesis, when they shot film projectafter film project for class. When we all saw it, comments poured as wecracked up and asked for more of the old films. So today, Drei posted Garahe, the film project that Miko wrote for them that was inspired by the movie Fight Club.I remember tagging along with them during their location shoots atCamille's house and Rian's house, until I ended up doing a silly cameo.Oh my gosh, those were the days. Food trips on isaw and tapsilog, andlate night shoots while our parents were texting us to come homealready, plus the late night commute with Nicco and Drei, with at leastone of them suddenly falling asleep on my shoulder during the trip home.

Speaking of watching videos, so I finally got back my DVD of Our Town from Nicco. I got to watch it again last night, even though I knew I'dcringe and lower the volume at the sight of myself and my own voice.Yes, I'm that critical of myself, hahaha. Even though it was abeginning acting workshop recital, I never seem to cut myself someslack, ahehe. Anyway, while I was watching, I have to admit, for abasic acting class, we actually did pretty well. I was always laughinghalf the time I was watching, seeing all those nuances that everyonedid again, and how we barreled through and gave it all that we've gotso far, hahaha.

Thank goodness for finding this laptop's adapter and fixing it up. Mycomputer's on the blink again, but at least I still have something touse.

I had planned to go to CCP yesterday to get my router back from Tad aswell get my Microsoft Office CD from Betty, but I ended up just meetingBetty for lunch because Tad and the rest of the Actors Company had togo to Assumption.

Lunch talk with Betty, from the annoying weird texts I got, to Chekovreading (aba, pa-deep, haha), to other Betty-tales, which led us toslipping inside the relatively quiet prayer room. Aba, confessional baito? Ahehehe. Well, at least hanging out together that early afternoon,even for a brief time, brightened both our spirits a little.

I had told Claire that I was planning to visit Atlantis that very sameday, so it was off to Makati next. She had mentioned that Nicco wasalso going there, so I told him to drop off my Our Town DVD (which he has for the past year and a half already) so I can justpick it up at the office. Apparently, he was going there to pick up hiscustom-made Spring Awakening jacket, but because the delivery guy was super late, he was still inSan Juan and I had to wait for him to arrive. Hehe, ended up checkingout photos in Ate Sally's laptop from their Hong Kong trip. Kuya Boniand I even laughed out loud when we noticed a magazine that was sent toAtlantis that day. My name was still the addressee, hahahaha!

The jacket delivery guy finally arrived after at least 2 hours, soClaire had to sort everything out because the sizes sort of got mixedup. When she finally sorted part of the groups of jackets, Nicco andKelly finally arrived. Hahaha, syempre it took a while for Nicco tofind the jacket that fit him, because the size order got a littleconfused.

One observation, it's so funny to see Nicco actually speaking straightEnglish to everyone, and being so OC with the jacket that will fit him.So unlike that Nicco I knew from years before, back when I was the onewho was talking to him in straight English and being so OC witheverything in sight. Pseudo-siblings have switched certain traits,hahaha. And to think that he used to tease me because of my"burgis/conyo" accent. Hey, I only adapt certain accents depending onthe people I'm talking to, which also applied to him. I bit my tongueand decided to not to tease him in front of everyone... and told him sowhen we found each other online last night, hahahaha!

I was planning to wait for Tad to get out of Assumption, but then heand Riki happened to have a recording with their voice teacher in Cubaothat very evening, so I found myself walking to SM Makati because Teenahad mentioned in her Facebook about Gonuts Ice Cream, which wasreminiscent of good old Coney Island Ice Cream, so I immediatelyignored the strawberry (my favorite flavor of any ice cream) and wentahead and bought a scoop of bubble gum, which was my all-time favoriteConey Island flavor. And it has bubble gum bits, yay! Hahaha, I justhad to ask to put it in a cup so I can save the bubble gum bits forlast.

Man, that bubble gum ice cream made me feel like a kid again. But nowthat that craving's gone, I'm now craving for one of Peaberry'scheeseburgers again. I wonder who'll be my next victim that I can dragalong with me to the cafe, hehehe.

Courtesy of Peachy's spamming, hahaha.

So please make us happy and buy tickets. =) See you in February!

Text message yesterday from some stranger: Eow poh kamuzta na poe u? Kaen nah poe u ng deener ahh. c",)

So I politely asked: Sorry, who's this please?

The reply: Wow galeng poh u mhag izpell ng wordz ahh. Parah poe niu pinapah mookah zakin nah ang julogz coe. Haha!

Annoyed, and somewhat thinking this was someone's idea of a weird joke, I asked: No, really, who's this please?

The reply was: Nasl poe?

I stopped replying. Ano ba yan.

First thing I thought, what the heck is this person doing? Is this someway to find a textmate? Ang cheap mo ha. And please, what is it withthat weird text language? I mean, I'd understand if you shorten wordsso you can save the space and put everything in one text message. Butthose weirdly-spelled words with the unnecessary extra letters? It's asannoying as those Q's and X's that people use to substitute otherletters that still seem fine on their own.

At aba, before it was just "ASL." Ngayon "NASL" na? Takot na ba ang mgamay gusto ng textmate sa anonymity? Baka takot sa mga "hologram" (asTad and Chrome would call them).

It's so sad how some people's spelling just worsen with the use of textlanguage. Sure, you can shorten words when you send text messages, butthere are still some people who still use text language for emails,chat, and other stuff where there really isn't any valid reason toshorten certain words. People won't take you seriously if you keepdoing that.

Oh well, just my two cents. And if ever that anonymous texter reallywas a practically joker sent out just to annoy me, may araw ka rin.

My last Facebook status had read: "... is amused at the fact that nomatter how long you've known the people you love, you still learnsomething new about them. It makes your friendships and relationshipsmore interesting and exciting day by day."

So true. Even though you think you know a person inside and out, nomatter how close you already are, you still discover something newabout them, like a new quirk, a new hobby or talent, or just somethingthat they've been keeping for quite a long time. Or it just tells usthat we still grow and learn something about ourselves and others everyday. That's what also makes me love my friends and loved ones even more.


Randomness. I inherited a laptop from my brother 3 years ago, then itcrashed and when I was about to have it fixed, we couldn't find theadapter because my mom had misplaced it along with a whole bunch ofwires and cables. Never got around to buying a new adapter because Ihad resorted to using the PC again. Even though every file and rawphoto in the laptop was very precious, I learned how to detach myselfand have a clean slate again. The laptop stayed in my room, untouched,like a huge paperweight or bookend.

But surprise, while my mom was looking for a spare antenna for one ofour old radios, she finally found the bag that had the laptop's adapterinside, along with an extra mouse, a USB cable and two 3 1/2 floppydisks, hahaha. After 3 long years, my laptop was alive again. Ofcourse, I had to check and reformat the darn thing and re-install somestuff this entire evening, but yay, at least I have a working laptopagain. And to think that before I had to look for the adapter 3 yearsago, I was about to pay someone to do all that stuff for me, when Icould actually do it myself.

I caught an episode of My Boys on ETC this afternoon. The subplot was about this "decathlon" of boardgames that Brendan, Kenny, Mike and Andy play at Crowley's. They wereplaying these classic board games and other crazy games, such asSorry!, Candy Land, and I think they were also playing Taboo at onepoint.

The last time I played a board game was about 3-4 years ago. Someoneleft a Snakes-and-Ladders game in the office, and we would play acouple of rounds after lunch. Then there was also that time when Carms,Jay, Grae and I went crazy over Jenga when we met up once at Hobbeslast month.

I miss board games and those simple game nights with friends. I want toplay Clue, Uno, Monopoly, Taboo, Jenga, Pictionary and Twister again!To anyone who's stumped about what to give me for my birthday (not tobe joined with Christmas, hahaha!), those classic (I mean the realthing) games are also on my wish list. Then let's have a game night!

I had mentioned in my previous post about worlds about how worldscollide, like when I took Tad to Peaberry Cafe last Sunday to meetRonelli.

Ronelli had been a friend of mine from Trumpets Playshop Alabang'sfirst musical theater class under Tita Menchu. It was the firstacting/musical theater workshop I had ever taken. I was onlycomfortable in class because I had friends there. Other than that, Iwas quiet as a mouse. I had too many inhibitions that I was afraid thatI might do all the exercises wrong. Part of the reason was that I knewall of us weren't in the same "skill level," as some of them hadalready done this before, even professionally. I was even careful aboutthe way I moved and talked. But hey, I did make a lot of friendsthrough that workshop. Good friends, though not as close, save for acouple of them. I even put Putting It Together (our showcase) and the class' bond on a high pedestal even after thefew workshops after that. Sure, we bonded, but I felt as if there werestill walls separating some of us because of certain differences. Justa feeling. It would sometimes seem as if there was something's wrongwith the way that girl stared, or how that guy spoke.

Fast forward to several years later. I started from scratch andattended a beginning acting workshop under Tanghalang Pilipino. Again,I was sort of comfortable at first only because I had a couple offriends enrolled in the same class. During the first couple of days, Iput up a wall because I was still used to the Playshop environment. Butday by day, the wall came down. I realized that all of us were on thesame playing field, just there want to learn, and just have a go at it.I was no longer afraid to try anything. My eagerness and enthusiasmremoved my inhibitions. I stopped listening to people's accents becauseto them, I was the one with the weird accent (hahaha, Mimay and Niccocan attest to this, because they did this often). This was a class thathad no pre-judgments over you, or wherever you came from, as long asyou knew how to get along with different people, wear your heart onyour sleeve, and give it all you've got. So we have the passion. Wealso had that crazy bond, the type that you can never get sick of eachother. Our crazy glue? The girl with the amazing voice and upbeatpersonality who played my alter ego, and the guy with so much passionin his bones and loves his friends til the end.

Two workshops that were so different from each other.

When Ronelli, a former classmate from Trumpets Playshop, and Tad, myboyfriend from Tanghalang Pilipino, met at Peaberry last Sunday, I hadno idea if they had anything in common. Ronelli talked the way shealways did, straight English with a slight accent. Tad was merely beinghimself and compromised, and didn't mind stumbling over the occasionalEnglish words. I was actually amused at the fact that it was the firsttime I heard Ronelli say anything in Filipino. When we started talkingabout coffee drinking, coffee routines, and the different kinds ofcoffee, the "language barrier" disappeared.

I have yet to invite Ronelli to a TP show. Hopefully when Flores Para Los Muertos does a rerun, I'll invite her to come. She did say that she hasn't seena play in ages. And I have to check out Peaberry's acoustic nights.Maybe I could get Tad to sing during one of those nights, hehehe. Andwho knows, maybe Ronelli can overcome her "singing trauma" as well,even if I have to hold the microphone for her, hahaha.

During this morning's homily, I heard Father Gerry say that heaven can be found in simple contentment.He's right. I always find bits of heaven in simple joys--a sincere andcomforting hug, a welcome visitor, spending time with a loved one,meeting old friends, pigging out to good food, and hanging out at acoffee shop.

I found all those in one lovely Sunday afternoon such as today.

Tad had been kind of busy with Madonna Brava and Flores Para Los Muertos that we haven't spent much quality time together, let alone drop by myhouse for a visit. He's been feeling kind of down and out lately thatsometimes he could get pretty cranky, even though it was his birthdaylast Friday, so I persuaded him to come visit so he can let out somesteam, chill and basically just hang out. I told him I wanted to checkout Peaberry Cafe, this coffee shop that my friend Ronelli had justopened here at our village, and I thought that we could go there as mybelated birthday treat for him.

I knew Ronelli from the first year Playshop opened an Alabang branch,as we were both in Tita Menchu's musical theater workshop. I haven'tseen her in years, so this was a good excuse to see her. I've seenphotos of Peaberry on Facebook, and the place looks pretty promising.It sort of reminded me of Central Perk from Friends, plus the "Kopihaus" from Kopihaus # 8 (Drei and Nicco's thesis).

Thankfully, Ronelli told me that Peaberry was open today even though itwas a holiday, but when we got there, I actually thought that they wereclosed (even though the sign out front said that they were open)because there was hardly anyone there except for this middle-aged ladysitting in one of the couches, and one of the employees behind thecounter. Oh well, they're open anyway, so Tad and I each ordered iceblended coffees, then sat at a table outside so he can smoke.

I got the ice blended black forest while Tad played it safe with awhite chocolate mocha. Thankfully the black forest was sweet enough formy taste, because I don't like it when drinks get too sweet. Tadthought thought that the white chocolate mocha was pretty OK as well,though I knew he was looking for a certain taste. While we were sittingthere, a group of girls arrived and also sat at a table outside.Finally, more customers, hahaha. I guess we just came at lazy hourduring a holiday, which was why there wasn't anyone there. Anyway, whenI saw the other group order a plate of mini tacos, I was dying to trythose as well, but I stayed put. But a few minutes after Tad hadfinished his drink along with a couple of cigarettes, he wanted toorder another drink, hahaha! We waited for a few more minutes then hestood up to order the mint java chip this time. I, on the other hand,was curious about their cheeseburgers, because the photos and commentson their Facebook page sounded so appealing.

No sooner after the cheeseburger (that came with a side order of Frenchfries) arrived, a car pulled up right in front of the cafe. It wasRonelli and her husband Paul. Man, it was great to see Ronelli again!Haha, when she saw the cheeseburger (which was untouched because wewere still on the fries), she affirmed that the cheeseburger was theirbest selling item on the menu. Once she stepped inside for a while, Ilet Tad have a go at the cheeseburger first before I did. And yep, itreally was awesome. The burger patty was thick and juicy, and theentire thing was bursting with flavor. No wonder it's their best-seller. Yummy.

Ronelli sat with us for a while and talked and caught up on news as wefinished off our food and drinks, so she got to know Tad a little more.Haha, Ronelli from my past world of theater and Tad from my current. Ilove it when worlds like these collide. Tad was a little tongue-tiedbecause Ronelli spoke straight English most of the time, but they werein the same wavelength when we started talking about different kinds ofcoffee. Hmmm... maybe some time, after a few more visits, maybe Ronellican teach me to do latte art, hehehe. Plus we could definitely hold aPlayshop MT '99 reunion there.

We never got to hang out inside the cafe as we chose to sit in thesmoking area, but I have to admit, the interior of the cafe is reallygorgeous and had that cozy, homey feel. We'll surely come back andfrequent this place, because it's got a lot of promise, from thecoffee, the food (I have yet to try their pasta), the ambiance, and ofcourse, the friendly owners.

Shamless plug... If you guys (especially the ones in the South) want tocheck it out, Peaberry Cafe can be found at 511 Capitoline Hills, BFResort Village, Las Pinas City. They're open everyday from 11:00 amuntil 11:00 pm.

Chat session with a friend. Well, this is not to be taken tooseriously, but part of it is really serious matter. We just took itlightly to ease things up. Hindi pa rin talaga maiwasan ang mgaganitong tao. Or worse, mga ganitong kaibigan.

Friend: o kumsta pala sya?
Friend: ako hindi na nya ko tintetext
Friend: nakuha na nya gusto nya eh!!
Friend: user si _____!
Friend: hahaha
Me: wahahahahahahaha
Me: i-text siya ngayon, dali
Friend: ayoko
Me: ay, tampo
Me: hahaha
Friend: wala syang kwenta
Friend: user sya
Friend: HAHHA
Me: eh parang hindi ka na nasanay kay _____
Me: magpaparamdam lang yan if may kailangan or if you sing [him/her] praises
Friend: ewan ko sa kanya
Friend: tse sya!
Friend: haha
Me: sabihin mo tampo ka, magtetext yan
Friend: hindi nga ako mgakatext . huhuh
Friend: sira ba ang globe?

Ahahaha, then we dropped the subject.

Well, some things never really change. So we have no choice but to moveon and get used to it. But because we're still friends, we still lovethem no matter what.

Brief exchange from last Saturday...

Kath: May kamukha ka na artista... Sa ABS...
Me: (*shrugs*) Uhm, wala akong alam sa showbiz eh. Kakahiya, ahehe.
Kath: Mas nakakahiya naman pag masyadong marami kang alam, hahaha!

I admit, I used to be a groupie of some artist at some point in my life.I know at least a handful of people who can attest to that. I had someaccess to certain information, being friends with some of the "innercircle" and the artists themselves. But at least I know where to drawthe line. There are some who don't. While I was chatting with Teena,she had even mentioned a particular "R" from our past. That person'sstill out there somewhere, and even though R had drifted away, thatsame person is still lurking in other people's interests to the extreme.

My advice to people who tend to go crazy with their fanaticism--pleasedon't go overboard. I mean, it's alright to do research on people youadmire, but there's a fine line between researching and stalking (toinclude other people that are connected to that object of obsession aswell). It could start off as funny or amusing, but it could come out asannoying to some.

Just a thought. Not to point fingers, really, but just to state apoint, because I'm really concerned about some people who could beinvolved.

"Nakakapagod magtampo."

That's a line that I haven't used in over 2 years. And sad to say,that's what was running in my head the whole day. I hate it when youthink things will be OK that day then it all just goes pffft. I alwaysput off one day to spend the time just to be there, and I guess I wasexpecting that today will be like that. But I guess it wasn't so Iwasted the entire day just brooding, right until the very last minuteof the day.

And to make things worse, I think this damn computer monitor is readyto give up on me. It keeps flickering and changing colors and it annoysme like hell because it's hurting my eyes. I just want to slam my fistinto it not just because of that but because I've been brooding. Anyonewant to buy me a new monitor?

Went to Carms and Jay's wedding pictorial at Jay's house this afternoonuntil evening. Nope, don't think that these are the pre-nup photos, butthey're just a little extra with the people involved in the wedding.And even before today, I knew I would have a blast. And I was right.

The pictorial was supposed to be scheduled for tomorrow, Sunday, butbecause some people couldn't make it, they had to stagger the schedulesso each one can make it on a specific day. So I was one of the peoplewho were rescheduled to a day earlier, which is today.

Jay's house was all the way up north, but somewhat familiar due to(very) occasional visits to the area. Thanks to Opa's specific (andNicco's super vague) directions, I suddenly realized that I sort ofalready knew my way around. Thank goodness Carms got Jay to pick me upat the gas station outside their village, as the tricycle fare insidethe village was pretty pricey.

Went straight to this recreation room (as I called it) where Carms andKath were fully armed with tons of make-up. I breathed a sigh of reliefwhen Carms had said that she and Kath will be doing our make-up, as Iknow I'd make a mess of it if I do it on my own. While Carms wasputting foundation on, she even offered her and Kath's make-up serviceswhen it's my turn to get married, hahaha! She and Kath were quite thepros, and once Kath was done with me, I told them, "You're hired!"Hahahaha!

Aside from me with the bride and groom, 3 other people were in thepictorial--Yas, Ila and Alex. All 3 of them will be hosting the weddingreception, while I'll be handling the more technical stuff. Because Iwas the first one in the make-up chair, I ended up watching Kath workon Ila and Yas. Man, I envy girls like these who are make-up pros.Well, like Kath had said, she easily learned it because of constantmake-up application in the theater. Please teach me, hahaha!

Watching Ila and Yas, I easily realized why Carms had picked them tohost the reception. They're very conversational, easy-going andcharming. Alex, Jay's friend and 3rd choice as host, on the other hand,is quite the goofy clown. Ang kuliiit! His upbeat personalitycomplimented the 2 girls', so all 3 of them make quite a perfect team.

Pictorial time! After a set of photos of the couple with some of Jay'sfamily members, I was then prompted that it was my turn next. When Iheaded to the adjoining bathroom to change, I found the door locked.Hmmm... maybe it was left locked by accident, so Carms let me gothrough the other door in Jay's room. Eep, also locked. After knockinga few times, we realized that there was no one inside, so it was lockedfrom both doors by accident... and they can't seem to find the key! Sowhile I dressed behind the bar table, they tried to search for the keybut ended up in vain, until one of Jay's helpers decided to climbthrough the window to open the doors from the inside. Hahaha, success!

So anyway, I had to have solo photos taken, and I honestly had no ideahow to pose, hahaha! I think I just stood there like a tree stump for awhile until Jay had set that metal stool in front of me. I still had noidea what I looked like, but I just tried to go with it. I must'velooked awkward in some of those photos, but Tito Ernie said that itcame out pretty good (awww, thanks). I didn't want to see it yet,though, ahehe. I think I'll just wait until, say, February, hahaha!

After my photos with the couple, it was the hosts' turn. I only got towatch Ila's solos, because I had to change into a 2nd outfit, but shewas a natural in front of the camera. I heard that when all 3 hostswere doing the group photos, they looked like they were starring in asitcom, hahaha! Well, just watching the 3 of them together did looklike a sitcom, ahehehe.

There was one more set of photos, the group cocktail attire. Haha, atfirst, we were instructed to wear "Sunday dresses," but for the life ofme, I have no proper Sunday dress in my meager wardrobe. Thank goodnessthat Carms almost immediately changed the attire to cocktail dresses,hahaha. Even while we were shooting that set, we still cracked upbecause of Alex the walking sitcom.

After the group photos, we wrapped up and it was time to eat. Hahaha, Ithink I filled up and cleaned my plate about 3 times. I'm such a pig.It's just because the ham was pretty yummy. Hahaha, I even did the"Filipino way" and left one piece for any other takers, but it stillended up on my plate. When I was finally done, I joined the rest (as Iwas sitting with Kath at the other table with Jay's niece, Anya) asthey chatted away. Man, I wish I had enough space here to blog all theAlex antics, but I can't. Every quip that came out of his mouth waspunctuated with everyone's laughter. I think I managed to digesteverything I ate just by sitting there, laughing. I even quipped atleast once or twice that I have a feeling na kay Alex ako mangangaragduring the program because of his crazy antics, hahaha. But even withthat, I have a feeling that with these three, I'm sure it's going to bea fun program.

When we were finally done, Carms, Jay and Kath gave me a lift all theway back to the south. Super thanks, you guys! Road trip ito. Haha,probinsya ba? Kasi pati gas prices nahiritan natin eh, hahaha!

I had such an awesome time today. My one-on-one date with Carms isalready a couple of years overdue, but being with her during theseoccasional days until the big day really makes up for it. But I surehope that one-on-one date will happen sometime, whenever she's not toobusy working on her wedding plans. Friends like these are quite thetreasure.

Betty posted a note on Facebook with that title. This was what she wrote:

I don't say I love you and I miss you enough. Wala lang, I just missyou guys terribly. Lalo ka na Mimay! Mebbe got something to do withwatching Nicco rock it out in Spring Awakening this afternoon. SeeingTin accidentally in Bonifacio High Street nung gabi while waiting forthe young cinema festival chuchu.

I remember Carme's Christmas text message that year saying somethinglike what I am paraphrasing: One of the most memorable moments of mylife was that summer.

Hay, naiiyak ako.

Then she posted a photo of a book cover of Thornton Wilder's Our Town.Our workshop recital back during that summer with the experiences thatwe can never seem to top. And since then, I've always put that summerexperience on a very high pedestal.

It made me miss all the same people too.

With Betty as my constant textmate, chatmate and "boyfriend," my mom fromthe quaint town of Luntiang Parang has been always there since ourBatman and Robin days. We've even shared crazy dreams with Opa andMimay, we've conquered our "nemesis" and managed to pull one heck of anawesome and memorable show for Mimay's final class before she graduated.She never fails to drop me a line almost every day, even though they'rerandom texts about her lovelife, or projects, or even rants just so shecan let out some steam.

I miss my alter-ego Mimay more and more. It still hasn't quite sunk inthat she's out there in California for good, and to think that onrandom days, we could just meet up at Burger King in Glorietta and hangout until the wee hours in GloriaJeans. It's so funny how I always try to match her hype abouteverything we do. I love how she has so much energy for the both of us.

Of course, how could I not forget my then-hubby Nicco, who's now a "rockstar" in his own right? HAHAHA. When I saw him in Spring Awakening as Moritz, I knew the spark he had back during the good ol' days wasback because he had claimed that he lost it. Don't get me wrong, henever lost the passion, but I knew he had found that happiness he waslooking for, which was why I was (as he had said) "jumping for joy"during the curtain call. He's still one of the most awesome people Iknow, and I'm darn proud of thisguy, and he still remains to be my baby brother despite the many crazydisagreements and tampuhans that we had over the past years.

The last time I actually saw Carmela was over a year ago when Mimay andI were shooting Mimay's thesis film, and I had decided on a whim tosleep over at her house because it was really late, and then in themorning, I had left while Carmie was still asleep (but hey, I sent atext message, didn't I? Hahaha). She claimed that she wasn't the typeto really delve into theater, but she had a lot of spunk and knew shecould do it as well as the next person can. When we reconnected over aweek ago, we ended up reminiscing about that amazing summer thatbrought us all together.

I can never leave Tin out in this entry. It was great seeing her when we both watched Spring Awakening along with Hil, and she's still the same upbeat young lady (who canstill talk super fast) that we saw grow up. And it was still a blasthanging out with her at the Rent auditions even though I had to leave way too early (despite hercomplaints of my being "corny" or "boring" just because I had to leavemy post to support my boyfriend at his play, hahaha). I've seen myoffstage baby sister go through a lot of emotional stuff that firstyear we were friends, but I knew she could always manage to pick herself up and go off even stronger than before.

I wish I could catch up with the rest of the BA gang.

In Our Town, the Stage Managerhad said that "We all know that something is eternal... There’ssomething way down deep that’s eternal about every human being." I hopewhat's eternal between these amazing people I was with was the bond wehad formed that summer. That bond that Ian and Miss Tess had noticedwhen we were all strutting our stuff.

In the play, Emily had asked, "Does anyone ever realize life while theylive it... every, every minute?" I don't think we always do. That's whywe really should cherish those precious minutes, those times when wewish that time would just stop so we can just look and appreciatecertain things even more.

I love you guys and I still miss you like crazy. At ang ganda pa rin ng moonlight.

Text exchange with a friend about a common friend that we have a few days ago:
Hogi: Nako, si _____, ayaw na nya maalala yung panahon na yun, hahaha.
Friend: Actually, si ____ din. Hahaha.
Hogi: Haha, maraming ngang ganun sa kanila. Ang funny pa, kung sino pa sa kanilayung ganun, sila pa yung mga hindi talaga directly involved sa nangyari back then.

Honestly, I didn't get it. Kung sino pa ang hindi involved sasituation, sila pa yung mga tumalikod dun sa past na yun at ayaw nangmaalala. Yung tipong pag tinanong kung paano kami magkakilala, ayawaminin dahil parang lumalabas na nakakahiya. Mga friends, hindi dapatikahiya ang mga yan, dahil it doesn't make you less of a person. It'spart of what made you who you are today, so bakit mo kakalimutan, diba?Bakit ba kayo masyadong nagpapaapekto nung time na yun? OK, sige, Iunderstand that you were sympathizing with the ones directly involved,but wag naman masyadong magpaapekto.

It's weird how I just pondered over those friends of mine who were inthat circle. I still love them to bits, we still talk and even try tomake the effort to stay in touch, but I just don't get why they do this.

Wala lang, bigla lang ako napaisip nung magkatext kami ng isang friend na yan.

"Will I lose my dignity...?"

Hahaha, that line from Rent's"Will I?" was possibly running in the minds of the auditionees thispast weekend. A huge variety of people in different states ofnervousness, anxiety, excitement and calm came and went at PhilippineOpera Company for 9Works Theatrical's auditions for Rent.

Auditions began on Friday, at exactly 10 in the morning. We came inearly to set up the front desk, the waiting area and the auditionvenue. I was stationed at the front desk, so I was the very firstperson the auditionees encounter upon entering the gate. That firstday, Kyla and Eric were already there even before we had set everythingup.

Randomness: Kyla was sitting at the outside waiting area, and then sheasked me, "Aren't you auditioning for this also? I thought you alsoperform... I read it somewhere in your blog." And I just laughed it offand said something about this wasn't really for me.

Anyway, it was awesome to see different people signing up to auditionfor this musical. The people were so diverse. True, there were somepeople who signed up and audition "just because this is Rent," but there are still a lot of real undiscovered talent out there that really deserves a second look.

I held the fort at the front desk by my lonesome all morning, whileGing (OJT-ing with Bek) joined me after lunch, and it was amusing towatch and greet all the people come in. Some calmly or nervously walkedup from the street, while the others came rushing in as if they ran thewhole way. May mga nakita pa kami ni Ging na parang mala-action starang entrance, like that guy who literally hopped out of the cab he wasriding even when it hasn't stopped yet. Kulang na lang gumulong siyapapunta ng front desk para complete ang eksena, hahaha. The guy whocame in after he did was running and panting and panicking as he rushedto our table, apologizing for coming in 2 minutes late.

After the auditions, I even had time to drop by RCBC to say hello tothe front-of-house and to hand something over to Nicco. Hahaha, kamustanaman si Claire na parang nagbabantay nung papunta ako sa dressing room.

On Saturday morning, I had to meet Tin at the MRT station so we can goto POC together. Hahaha, she ended up half an hour late at the MRTbecause she had to baby-sit a neighbor's kid for a few minutes. Ididn't mind being late at POC, really, but I sort of hate waiting atsome odd place like the MRT platform, haha. 8 trains had already comeand gone by the time Tin had arrived, ahahaha! Oh well, never mind thatTin was late, I was just grateful that I have company at the frontdesk, plus it's back-up because I had to leave early to catch thematinee of Flores Para Los Muertos at CCP. Haha, we didn't even have breakfast yet when we reached POC, sowe looked at Peach and Rob's Jollibee takeout in envy for a couple ofminutes, then ran to the phone to have a couple of Sausage McMuffinsdelivered. When Nar arrived before his audition, he mooched some orangejuice from Tin and a couple of bites from my McMuffin and kulitangalore before and after he auditioned.

Anyway, Saturday was also Peachy's day to audition. She was so funny,as she doesn't have a second song prepared, and all 3 of us were justsitting there at the table, trying to think of whatever she could sing.We were randomly suggesting songs, and Peach was randomly listening todifferent songs and switching to another after listening to it for afew minutes. We even joked na baka maging jukebox si Peach by the timeshe faced the panel.

I arrived at around 12:30 pm on Sunday because I had to hear mass withmy mom in the morning. Haha, when I got off the MRT station inMagallanes and was walking briskly towards the entrance of San LorenzoVillage, I spotted a dirty ice cream cart and couldn't resist buying acone. Yay, dessert muna to tide me over before the long lunch break,hahaha. This time, Teena was manning the front desk by her lonesome. Westill ended up nibbling on wheat crackers that she brought becauselunch was still quite a long way away.

We had a huge break that day from 2 in the afternoon until 6 in theevening because Rob and Peach were watching the matinee show of Spring Awakening.So when they had left, a whole bunch of us (Jon-Jon, Santi, Anna,Teena, Bek, Sundee, Carlos and me) headed over to Andok's for lunch.Yummy liempo and "cream of sinigang," ahahaha. Panalo pa rin talagayung pang-commercial na first bite ni Jon-Jon of his siomai, ahehehe.After lunch, Anna, Santi and Jon-Jon had to hear mass, so the rest ofus went back to POC to hang out and sleep. Teena, Carlos, Bek and Iended up lying on the bare floor of the audition room, which was finefor us, until Sundee came in with his heavy feet, making the floorbounce. Then I sort of fell asleep again... until I felt the floorvibrate with Carlos' snoring, ahahaha. So I headed back outside to siton the couch.

More auditionees came and went, then I had to leave for home shortlyafter Lao and Riki's auditions. Hay naku, they seemed to be in a rushto leave because Lao had left his cap on the bench. I had to bring itwith me for safekeeping. Hmmm... it's a pretty nice cap. I wonder if Icould keep it? Hahahaha! As if I'm really a cap person.

Anyway, thanks to all who auditioned for Rent! I can't wait for all the exciting things to come!