on palindromes*

This was one of our first photographs. In 2001, no one had a digital camera, and CD writers were still this new in thing for them rich kids (namely, Alloy LOL) and this photo had to be taken by a point-and-shoot one with film. (Whose was that? Mine? Julie's? Hannah's? Kat M's, according to Almi, whose memory is still astounding LOL.)

I still have the formal version of this (A formal version! Like a class picture!) tacked to my old orange file case. The only things that changed about that panel of my file case were the class schedules posted around it. I think if I were to retrieve it now and open it, it would have mine and Julie's sched for the last semester of our college lives taped on opposite sides of that other block photo. How's that for thesis partnership/efficiency heh.

It was 2001 then, and it's 2010 now. On the surface, it's a simple switching of digits, (because I'm a dork like that) but we all know how much times have changed, yeah? New lives, new loves, new jobs, new babies, new girlfriends, new boyfriends, new husbands, new wives. Hell we even have a new president coming, something we haven't had in NINE YEARS. Isn't that something?

But yeah. Sometimes I miss waking up and going to class and having exams and having new classmates and retaking women's basketball as a non-credit PE just for the heck of it and hanging out under the skywalk in between classes and the baked mac at the CMC canteen and walking to AS because the Toki jeep takes too long and watching films at the Film Center (yes, that too, sometimes) and sitting by the Sunken Garden and getting grass stains on my shirt and smoking in the lagoon (yes, among other things) and smoking cheap Winston Lights (P1.25 lang!) outside the Music building while eating fishballs and waiting for the sun to set and going to those SONAs to rally (yes, that too) and getting lost while on field assignments and getting lost in the chatter with friends after, getting lost and getting tired and sleeping over and eating Tita Tes' nice food and eating one too many packs of pancit canton at Julie's and Cleng's mom's cooking and her good-looking dad, and Tagaytay at Jaycee's and ensaymada at Wendi's, etc, etc, etc. Insert Puerto Galera here, insert rappelling at Kampo Uno here, insert lantern parades here, and more here, here and here ---

But then again -- maybe I don't miss college that much, because college is more about the people than the place, and when I go to work these days, half my co-workers are old friends (the other half are lovely little sisters, hehe), and Julie and I still text a lot, some serious, most gago, and Jaycee's still sabaw on Twitter, and yeah, there's a whole lot of you on Twitter and when I open my EchoFon and I read something like "Legolas Cage" from Jaycee, or hear about Hannah's and Mhel's new adventures, it's like I never left the place, and I am glad, I am so glad to be able to take so much from that past life along with me into the new ones I enter.

Last month, I marked five years in my job. On the 22nd, Andrea and I are hitting 33 months (that's one-third of a hundred already, love! We're so close! LOL I love you.) It's been give or take two years since I stopped smoking, and I've been having less alcohol lately and even less caffeine. Sometimes, I smile to myself and think, Who is this person?

And then I opened my closet. Today, I was supposed to wear something that isn't a shirt or a pair of blue jeans and I found... um, next to nil. I have a trusty pair of slacks, a decent looking job interview-esque top, and I just found out this morning that I CANNOT LOCATE MY BOOTS. (Jesus. I need to have more adult-looking clothes and shoes, seriously.)

But yeah. Good to note there are things that haven't changed, alongside things that have. (But I'm still getting a new pair of boots one of these days. Hehe. Shoe shopping - How's that for a change? ;) )

* EDIT: 2001 and 2010 are not even palindromes. As to how that title got there, I'll chalk it up to creative license. PWEDE. \o/