the 2011 yearender

2011 was Awesome.

The post-birthday post

Turned 27 yesterday and was with family. Played LazerTag at the Alabang Town Center with sibs and cousins and respective significant others where applicable, then bowled at Starmall before eating at Army Navy for snacks. Then met up with the uncles and aunts at home in the evening after their respective work shifts.

BTW--Best up-side of being officially out to immediate and extended family: The question, How old are you? doesn't get automatically followed up with, When are you getting married?

In summary: All's gooooood. Nothing beats family. :)

ALL RIGHT. PHOTOGRAPHS!

mix: momoxmas 2011

Due to insistent public demand: Your Christmas Makeout Mix.

Because baby, it's cold outside.

DOWNLOAD: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 (Going down [lol] 3 Jan 11)

twenty-seven

Last day at 26, as tomorrow I'm turning 27! Wow, time flies so fast. Right now, I've just come from a drinking session with Max, and nothing makes me feel older than when I'm out with younger people haha.

So here I am, three bottles of beer later and halfway through a glass of wine.

(Cut for drunken blather, kindly indulge)

because the best things in life are Libre!

To cap the party season we had Libre's "toned down"/"subdued" party on Thursday!

To summarize: Beer, giant pizza, truncated Christmas songs (Free app kasi! Hanggang fifth day of Christmas lang haha!), Ang Siko ni ZsaZsa, a makeshift photobooth, limpak-limpak na PASABOG (mahaha) and of course -- endless videoke! I got home around 5 a.m. -- feeling nineteen! (cue Tegan and Sara here)

ANYWAY: A few photos to illustrate the night, if you please. (Thanks to Almi and Mau for the photos!)

(Under cut)

we interrupt this program: lost girl 2.12

It's our favorite succubus' birthday, and if there's anything Buffy has taught me, it's that birthdays are never good days. Le Sigh.

Anyway, this is why I shouldn't be left alone watching things. By myself. With wine in the fridge. I need to cuddle huhu.

Oh, Bo. Come, cuddle.

(Cut for spoilers. And FEELINGS.)

party (fuel) rock: make your own (editorial) party

Editorial peeps pitched in to hold a simple Christmas party in the office on Tuesday night -- simple but thoroughly fantastic, btw, even if I didn't win anything at the raffle-slash-Sendong fund raiser.
As always, the best part about any Editorial party: Old and new friends, TOGETHER! So fantastic to see some "alumni" in the house!

Also: Back due to insistent public demand: Party Fuel cocktails.

(Photos under cut! Thanks to Almi for letting me gak some of hers!)

december so far

So much to be thankful for these past few days: Girlfriend introduced to me to the wonder that is Katsu House's superduper delicious teriyaki makis and they. are. AWESOME. Shoutout to Laura and her fantastic cooking/discovery skills! You should all go and try some for yourself! Check out Katsu House's Facebook! (Don't walk -- run!)

Part of my December-long Birthday Celeb! I love you love! This was awesome and supernom!

Sunday was Annual meet up with the Ates Day a.k.a. M & V's joint birthday celeb! Here be a photo of us inside Abe's in Serendra. A hearty lunch laced with laughter -- thank you as always!

This group around one table -- always a riot!

Abe's Knockout Knuckles. I can still feel you in my system oh gad.

Abe's lechon. Omygad pampabata talaga ang menu nung Linggo. XD

Speaking of the holidays -- the Department has released the Official Christmas Greeting ID for 2011! Seasons Greetings from all of us! (LOL me official greeting? Mamaya may video na yan. Jaraaan!)

Happy Holidays! Lab, Schatz, Maryi, Ana, Me, Almi, Ma'am, Lawrence.

Real life note: I guess I'm totally pushing through with graduate studies this coming January at DLSU. Here's hoping my studying/social skills aren't entirely outmoded yet. Haha. (I've been [over]thinking this -- it's been years since I've been That New Girl, and I'm sort of out of practice.)

Dork note: I am in the middle of a Major Online Revamp Project or something or other. Will probably launch around my birthday (My 27th! Can you believe it!). Stick around for details. Heh. Kala mo naman iPhone 4S ang ila-launch ko (HUHU IPHONE 4S.)

Miscellaneous and potentially cryptic: "We would make the strangest of friends."

That's it. Big day tomorrow and I'm just kind of jittery and all over the place. Wish me luck!

sabado nights!

This year's block party was yet another videoke party! We dougie'd, we super bass'd, we party rock'd and even tried to get the other rooms to conga line with us! Hahaha! The photos would probably do it no justice, so here are a couple of photos I nicked from these Facebook albums. Maraming salamat for letting me gak!

(Photos under cuuuut!)

last friday night

The Inquirer turned 26 yesterday! Aaaaand as has been the tradition for seven straight years now, we usher in the December party season with the Grand Anniversary Party!

But before that, here be the Inquirer's Page One and the readership survey we wrote for the issue. :)

We're Number One!

And before we proceed to illustrations of last Friday night (heh), a summary: We ate, we laughed, we cheered (Editorial won! Nice one guys!), we danced like we were in a workout class, and more importantly: we drank.

ONTO THE FESTIVITIES.

(cut for photos!)

the little team that could

Here be Monday night's Quill crew:
L-R: Sir Chito, Me, SPR, Ruth, Margie, Ta Nitz, Ms Miner, Bianca, Ate Ellen.
This photo taken from Ms Margie's Facebook post. Thank you!

Let me start by saying that this time last year, we were literally on our knees, packing boxes to be shipped to some 20 other venues outside Metro Manila in preparation for the 25 simultaneous sessions last Dec. 4.

Of course, last year, while dutifully checking lists and counting notebooks and cutting packaging tape and printing labels, we weren't even thinking about the Quill awards -- what we just wanted to do was, of course, just send out the 60 boxes to the 20 venues and just get this thing off the ground.

(But really, my choice moment, and I will never tire of retelling this: I found myself sitting in an Inquirer truck at 4 in the morning outside the domestic airport, waiting for a man I knew only by name, whose family was boarding a flight to Batanes. As we all know, that flight eventually got canceled -- I woke to a 9 am phone call telling me that, and I spent most of that day looking for another guy to take those boxes to Batanes, because, hey, it's From Batanes to Tawi-Tawi. Batanes was not an option, it was a requirement.)

It's been roughly a year since we pulled that off, with the help of hundreds of Inquirer employee-volunteers, partner organizations and of course the Inquirer bureaus. In last year's Post-Mortem, I wrote:

That said -- I wasn't kidding when I said many hands have kept us afloat -- what I've seen in the past few months while organizing this thing is something I'd never forget. I guess it's true what they say -- Build it and they will come.


They all did. And as they say, the rest is history.

At the time, I knew I was in the middle of something huge, and last Monday, when the team bagged an Award of Excellence at the Philippine Quill Awards, and was eventually named Overall Winner for Division 1 -- there are a few things that could rival the utter joy of that moment. More than the trophies and the photos and being on stage and all that -- it's the fact that the team was there to celebrate together that really got to me.

2011 Philippine Quill
OVERALL WINNER
Division 1 - Communication Management
25 Simultaneous Inquirer Read-Along:
Telling the Story to Empower,
To Inspire from Batanes to Tawi-Tawi
Philippine Daily Inquirer

You know how they say that you're the sum of the people you spend the most time with? Well, how about this: Since 2007, I have been spending a ridiculous amount of time with the most creative and hardworking group that I have ever had the pleasure of working with, and as with all things that end up to be surprisingly amazing, it all started with a small idea.

(Rest under cut, with Photos!)

we interrupt this program: lost girl

I am in love with this doctor. Yep. I love how she wears her confusion on her proverbial sleeve. Fantastic, Zoie Palmer. Fantastic. I love your face. Also: In any given show, I always fall in love with the girl... who reminds me of me. #fact

And now for an even briefer news round-up, just to get my journalist-y feelings out of the way: This day has been insane I tell you -- in the morning the Commission on Elections voted to charge former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo with electoral sabotage in connection with the alleged rigging of the 2007 senatorial election results in Maguindanao. And then the Pasay RTC released an arrest warrant for her. ALL IN THE SAME DAY. I mean, this never happens in this country, really. By 6:30 p.m. we were watching the cops say they'd just served the warrant in a fucking hospital. Unbelievable. It's like Grey's Anatomy and Law & Order rolled into one. Just saying.

OKAY. Now we have that out of the way. Care for a little Doccubus action?

midweek round-up, 11.09

Undas 2011. Requisite "Hi mom" photo. Hi mom.

This better be a quick one because I am up to here in plans: In the tradition of Outdoing Ourselves with Every Outing, the ever creative Read-Along team is putting up a two-day marathon of reading events (this, from last year's oh, let's do 25 of them nationwide AT THE SAME TIME.) by the end of the month, so until then I'll be, let's say, a bit all over the place. I can't wait for December. Seriously.

Just a rundown of things -- spent Undas 2011 with the family, watched the pseudo-MGB Halloween special (pseudo because it's not MGB, just something that Kabayan happened to host, hehe, but in all a good effort, that) then reported for work on Nov 1st, because it was a Tuesday.

On Nov. 1, my Research brethren and I did a bit of a Halloween photo shoot: (The rest under cut, for your own good hehe)

dear lost girl 2x06,

This via http://fuckyeahbo-lauren.tumblr.com/
I officially have feelings.

(spoilers for Lost Girl 2x06 under cut, though I'm sorry that GIF has to stay out of it -- because, hello.)

WARNING: INCOHERENT FLAILING.

mix: parties are made for mashups

 

Oh man, I've been having too much fun on Grooveshark lately. Here be a playlist of wicked mashups: Parties are made for mashups (and vice versa) -- ngl MGMT, Far East Movement, Enya, Prodigy, Eurythmics, Lady Gaga, Nelly Furtado and Robert Miles. How am I still alive. How are you still sitting there and not dancing?!

video dump, 10.26

Jeez, how is it only Wednesday? Haha. Here's a story to tell our mother when I come visit her grave this weekend: Ma, true to form, Nobyembre na naman at nababaliw na naman ako. Haha.

Anyway! Here be a massive video dump: M83, What's your number? and a few miscellaneous things under cut:

monthsary weekend round-up

I took this photo hehe. ILU love. 49 months! That's longer than my college education already! HAHA.

Marked our 49th month on Saturday and spent most of Sunday walking around (30%) and eating (70%). FORTY NINE MONTHS. I know, right, who'd have thought we were here for the proverbial long haul? Haha. Love is funny. Here's Andrea's account of the fantastic food-trip-Sunday over at her LJ (complete with photos!)

*

Also on Sunday, Andrea joined in the bi-annual Read-A-Thon and finished six books. Hurray for avid readers!

*

Meanwhile -- I've been considering my battle plan for the upcoming Nanowrimo 2011 (a.k.a. November! Let's torture ourselves!), primarily because, looking back, I had fun last year. (And I even have proof of it right here) I can't believe I just said that, but there. 2011 hasn't been a big year for writing AT ALL (except for a couple of things I finished earlier this year), and I happened upon a PDF of maps, letters and a brief guide to navigating scars while cleaning out my harddrive this morning and I'm all inexplicably weepy. JFC I need Happy Lemon in my life right now.

Anyway, last year's piece was, mostly: heat, beaches, quiet. This year, let's go for the opposite: cold, deserted roads after dark, and, well, running away from explosions and robots and gunfire.

Or maybe not. Which is the best thing about this exercise: It could be about anything.

mix: frightened rabbit playlist

What? No love for Frightened Rabbit hereabouts? RIDICULOUS.

• Nothing Like You | this is a story, and you're not in it.
• The Twist | you twist and whisper the wrong name
• My Backwards Walk | i'm working on erasing you
• Things | like new skin from old skin that'd barely been lived in
• Floating in the Forth | i'll steer myself through drunken waves

Grooveshark ILU - [Playlist]

mix: endings

This photo taken during Lilie's wedding. Nice shoes, Budi.

• The New Radicals - I hope I just didn't give away the ending
• Earlimart - It's okay to think about the ending
• Taken by Cars - Logistical nightmare 

this week, on the Internets

USB Cassette Converter by CD-R King (Php780)

Discovered earlier today that, not only does CD-R King have practically everything -- it has something that'd convert your old cassette mixtapes to MP3 FORMAT. (And while you're at it -- also a safe box disguised as a cereal box. Really.)

Indeed, this has been a rather interesting week for online finds. (More under cut: Longreads, etc etc)

more wedding photos!

As promised, I'm grabbing a few of the photos Francis took during Lilie's wedding. (Incidentally: It's his birthday today! Happy 20th birthday, Francis! Haha!)

Here's to the lovely years ahead!

(Rest under cut)

domestic injury time!

Excuse this "baby-book moment" (ever had one of those? you know, the ones pedias used to track your vaccines and your checkups and your prescriptions? I remember my pediatrician telling me when I went to her for a check-up one last time a few months after I turned eighteen: You have to get an adult doctor. Oh well. This is why we self-medicate, guys!)

Just putting a note here: I injured my right knee on Sunday night -- put simply, I was sitting Indian-style on the bed when something heavy dropped upon it by accident. Oh wow. That was a shock. Haha.

Anyway -- first time to encounter such an injury; in the past, I've always injured my ankles. (Remember that latest time I injured my ankle last year when I missed a step and fell down the stairs with laundry? YEP.) So yeah, when I woke Monday morning, I could barely move it. Tried a little dance and it hurt. Huhu. So much for hoping I wouldn't have to see a doctor for it.

And since it was my knee and I haven't injured it before, I figured I should have it x-rayed, for my peace of mind. Which was what I actually wanted to do, but the pleasant guys over at Healthway in Greenbelt 5 told me the Ortho was in and I should just ask him what to do with it. (Turns out it didn't need an x-ray, which is nice since Healthway isn't covered by our office healthcard; it's just conveniently located in a mall.)

The Ortho twisted my leg all sorts and checked for pain. Apparently it's a sprain. Nothing torn, nothing broken. Oh thank god. Here was his explanation:

This is my personal "artist's reimagination" LOL whatever I forgot to ask for the drawing from his pad sayang.

So yes, it should go away in a few days. I should try walking the best way I know how and not, you know, limp around because the muscles around it would cramp if I don't. OKAY. Wag i-baby ang injury. Gotcha.

So far, I think it's getting better. Or maybe it's my knee support (aptly branded, Manly. Tawang-tawa ako, Landmark, pero whatever, it's the cheapest sort on display).

/end baby-book moment. Stay safe, you guys. :)

a wedding!

Lilie's last words outside the church: Ngayon pa lang nagsisink-in. Kagabi lang, single pa ako.This girl is ALWAYS a laugh.

 

Lilie and Budi got married this morning! Ran a bit late and nearly bumped into Lilie just outside the door but arrived just in time to sub for Andrea, who was subbing for Elaine, who was supposedly the Mass commentator but unfortunately got the wrong Christ the King Church that morning. Haha! Ako na ang late na, may role pala dapat. Haha! Anything for you, kids! Pasensya na at hindi ko masyadong kabisado ang misa, kung saan-saang point tuloy ako naluhod (kung kelan dapat nakatayo ako at sumasagot kay Father, haha! Kaaliw.)

ANYWAY -- Much thanks to Jo and Francis for letting me hitch a ride from the Fort this morning! I'm excited to see the pics Francis took; from the few I've previewed, I am confident that they're all going to be awesome (and I'm grabbing all of them once they're uploaded! Whee!)

a welcome

Yellow cab! I missed you! :) Also in this photo -- me with THREE JACKETS ON. What is Antarctica.

L-R: Birthday celebrant Ana, Marielle, Almi, Lawrence. (We missed you in this photo shoot, Schatzi!)

On Monday, we welcomed the latest addition to the Research section family -- apparently, just in time for her birthday! Ana treated us to pizza, chicken wings, pasta and coke on Thursday. Thanks Ana! *burp* Here's to the pounds ahead! (Hehe, kidding. Half.)

all the pretty things that we could do

BOY - Little Numbers from Grönland Records on Vimeo.

We have been obsessing about this song by girl duo BOY (Valeska Steiner and Sonja Glass). And why not, really? In our heads, this video was shot in Rio de Janeiro, and they're secretly lovers. Too adorable. Andrea likes the lead singer, while I like that girl with the mini-piano (predictable taste is predictable haha). Wait for that one moment by the escalator -- brb trying to contain my kilig like whoa. 

Other things I also love here: riding through narrow streets on a bicycle (!!), walking on the beach at night, chalk pianos drawn on the pavement, street football (!!!)

ALSO: Check out their trailer for their album, "Mutual Friends."

new tv: the secret circle

Teenagers with magic powers. CHECK.

Caught the first episode of The Secret Circle over the weekend, and I must say I'm totally spellbound.

Story so far: Tragedy strikes a young girl's life when her mother dies in a fire while home alone. Sixteen-year-old Cassie goes back home to her grandmother, who lives in the town Cassie and her mother left after her father died shortly after her birth. She runs into teenagers in her school and is subsequently subjected to That New Girl treatment -- which apparently includes getting her car set on fire. Yep, these kids are freaky, and despite the fact that they all seem evil to me, I kind of like them. Especially that hot one in a leather jacket. YEP.

So. Secrets? Check. Teenagers running around practicing magic by setting things on fire/causing major storms/making water droplets float in a forest? Check. HOT GIRLS IN LEATHER JACKETS. Yes please.

new tv: awkward

Jenna Hamilton is awkward.

Just caught the first episode of MTV's Awkward -- ngl, my first worry was: This isn't going to be Skins US, is it? The good news is that it certainly isn't. The acting, for one, is actually pretty good, and that's what makes this series enjoyable. Lead girl Jenna keeps a blog called Invisible Girl Daily, but when she shows up at school with half her body in a cast -- well, guess who's not invisible anymore?

It's like Mean Girls, but with social networks. Also, who doesn't like a funny thing set in high school (and doesn't involve singing, for a change?) *hands up*

the midweek round-up, 10.11

I can't get enough of that guy who's napping flat on his face. For serious. I can look at him all day and ponder existential questions. Really. (Source: Huffingtonpost.com)

And just like that, it's October already?! Oh, wow. Time flies. We're eleven days into the tenth month and in those eleven days: the Ateneo Blue Eagles won their elusive four-peat, Sunday Inquirer Magazine transitioned from a weekly to a monthly magazine, the Philippine Azkals finished second in the Long Teng Cup, we lost Steve Jobs, I was compared to Charice Pempengco while having my picture taken AND I actually took that Graduate Admissions Test. Kind of a packed first few days, huh.

Caught Raya Martin's Buenos Noches, España! at the Spanish film festival in Greenbelt last night with the girls. Can't say I enjoyed that (walked out of the cinema some twenty minutes into the film because I was starting to feel physically ill, literally) but then again, don't we all need movies like that to get all introspective about cinema -- what is the point of filmmaking? Was there something wrong with me as a member of the audience because I wasn't able to appreciate that? Will anybody be ever ready to sit through a 70-minute film with those sort of visuals and that sort of audio? Is there any other sort of success other than to make your film understood in the best way possible by the most number of people? Etcetera. To compensate for the nausea, we had drinks at Cervezeria instead. Drunk on a Monday night! FAB!

10/15 EDIT: A PHOTO!

L-R: Cy, Almi, Ice, Me. Scarf is not my fault, for the most part.
This photo nicked off Almi's Facebook, thank you! :)

Anyway. Speaking of movies -- what I did enjoy, however, was Anna Faris in What's Your Number? -- especially that British part. Hilarious! Caught that one in Rockwell on Sunday with Andrea, who treated me to my first Cocoa with Rock Salt and Cheese at Happy Lemon. I'm officially in love.

Work note: Today, we welcomed our newest researcher Ana into the fold -- here's to meeting new people and keeping all the old ones :)

Also -- the Azkals played a monster 4-nil game at the Rizal Memorial against Nepal tonight! Phil Younghusband scored 2, his brother James scored a fantastic goal from just outside the box at the 29th minute, while Matthew Hartmann put in his first goal for the country at the 89th minute. Good game was GOOD.

(Note to self: Nearly done with 2011 (what the fuck, did I just write that??) and I'm looking at at least 2 more huge projects before the year ends. Excitement abounds!)

new tv: the lying game

Yet another show with twins. YAY.

Sutton and Emma are twins separated at birth, and the question is: Why? I love Sara Shepard's (also of Pretty Little Liars) story formula: A secret, and a bunch of girls trying to keep it. As we all know, Girls/Secrets=OTP.

Also, it helps that the girl who plays both girls (Alexandra Chando) reminds me a bit of Sarah Michelle Gellar on Buffy -- the head tilt, the pauses, the inflection. Stellar. Main boy Ethan (Blair Redford) reminds me of Caleb (Tyler Blackburn) from PLL, and the requisite girl posse also reminds me of PLL, but then this is a Sara Shepard show, so.

In summary: SO SOLD. Hanging tight, and loving it.

an unsolicited letter to young girls who like girls

This image is from Tumblr, and is originally from here.

Saturday afternoon, overheard in a table full of twelve-year-olds:
Girl 1 to Girl 2: Ano, may crush ka sa girls?


Dear kids,

Here's where I say: It doesn't matter, don't let anyone tell you otherwise -- yes, you can like that girl/that boy/whoever you want.

steve jobs (1955-2011)

Steve Jobs: Innovator, visionary, icon. 1955-2011

Woke to news this morning that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs had just passed away. Such a heavy feeling. Just how big is this loss? Time Magazine stopped their presses on the issue they had just put to bed that afternoon and called an emergency meeting to devote a new issue to Jobs. If that doesn't make the hairs on your arms stand, I don't know what will.

I'm not what you can call an Apple fan -- my first Apple purchase was the iPod touch I gave Andrea for Christmas a few years ago. I bought myself an iPod classic soon after, then bought Almi's iPod nano as a gift to my brother -- and that about ends my list of Apple products. (10/10 EDIT: Ugh, I forgot about my sister's iPod touch, and our not-so-brief obsession with Tilt to Live! Haha! Still no Android equivalent, boo.)

I have iTunes on my non-Mac netbook -- an old version at that, since I'm too lazy to get an update -- and have since warded off my desires for an iPad or a MacBook: Too pricey, would probably burn a hole in my pocket for a long time, and, as my girlfriend often reminds me: What do you need it for? (For the record: She's right. I get by just fine on Windows, an old Nokia qwerty phone, and my trusty Android tablet.)

But more than his products, to me Steve Jobs is primarily an inspiration -- a man diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2004, he lived SEVEN YEARS MORE (a whole lot longer than his doctors expected, at every front, A MIRACLE) to introduce the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad -- and to inspire an entire generation.

This generation includes me. Thank you, Steve Jobs.

Here's a link to his famous 2005 commencement address to graduates of Stanford, and my favorite passage from that speech:

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

I'll be sure to remember, sir.

that beeconomic guessing game!

Take the quiz, change your life. FOREVER.

It is rather unavoidable for one to have inexplicably stress-filled afternoons, but here's a fix we discovered just this week: That Beeconomic newsletter that lands in my inbox every afternoon.

Allergic to Groupon offers? Impulsive online buyer with a recently activated PayPal that you've been trying NOT to use? Well. Good thing I've devised a guessing game so you could still enjoy Beeconomic's, um, out-of-this-world offers. (No, seriously -- out. of. this. world.)

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Beeconomic, I'm just a regular email subscriber who reads these things instead of letting them go automatically into the spam folder. Haha. :) All in good fun guys!

things i'm glad we didn't have in '01, no.1: twitter

I had a lot of fun doing this. Srsly. Obvsly.

Truth be told, I'm kind of glad we didn't have Twitter when we were younger -- for one thing, it would've clobbered my poor attention span. Secondly, I couldn't imagine the amount of ill-advised Twitpics I would have taken under the influence of various substances. Thirdly, well -- I've said it before and I'd say it again now: the fact that there is no record anywhere makes it all the more special. Like this moment is really just about you and you and you and you and me. You know? :)

Also, also -- man, the amount of drivel I could have subjected all of you to while I was in the middle of SO MUCH TEENAGE HEARTBREAK. Oh, lord. To quote Ice -- I shudder at the thought. :)

Anyway -- this fantasy Twitter thread was fun to do! (Jobert and libraries. OTP! True story! Peace bro!) Also -- check out that TEN YEAR OLD ID PHOTO OF ME. I wonder where my UP ID is. That is the exact same face, I kid you not.

a toast to sept 29th ten years ago

Handwritten, September 2001.

I remember my introduction to gin -- I was sixteen, sitting in a friend's seventeenth birthday. We were in her house (Cleng, this is you) and we were this small group of girls sharing a liter of gin. Sabi nga ni Almi, who was with us that night -- Grabe, ang bata pa natin noon!

Over lunch today we were debating whether The Great Gin Drinking Spree Prior to the Great Kas 2 Field Trip happened on Sept. 28th or 29th, the 29th being Cleng's birthday. To settle it, Almi asked me to check my old blogs. And I really would have -- had I been already blogging at the time. I started blogging in 2002; before that, I'd been greatly into making these really corny and juvenile "class websites" on Netscape Composer, mostly for myself, because at the time I knew very little HTML, and NOBODY WAS ON THE INTERNET, REALLY. No Twitter, no social networks, not even Friendster, which I joined in 2003 and has since been packed up. Geocities, my initial host -- God bless its digital soul. (Though aminin niyo guys, most of us heaved sighs of relief when it went down -- I know I did.)

Anyway -- I finally decided that the Great Gin Drinking Spree was on Sept. 28, 2001, and the Kas Field Trip was on Sept. 29, 2001 -- A SOLID TEN YEARS AGO, GUYS. My first year in college was hands down one of the best and most memorable -- and the fact that it's all in our heads makes it all the more special: only a handful of photos and ZERO SOCIAL NETWORK UPDATES plus NO TWEETS AT ALL.

Which brings me to: I wonder how my social network feeds would have looked like had all these things existed when we were at our craziest. Oooh. A reimagining, anyone? :)

the midweek round-up, 9.28

Double celeb for Wy and Auntie

Wy turned fifteen on Monday while Auntie turned twenty on the 27th (haha) so we decided to make Sunday extra-special with a buffet lunch at Matsuri on Morato. Andrea has edited and labeled all the food photos over at her LJ post here -- needless to say, for a Japanese food junkie like me, THIS PLACE WAS HEAVENLY. A bit pricey at P595 per head, but man, you don't even have to stand to get to a buffet table, you just ask the waiter for bottomless refills of everything. That said, I'd totally do it again.

Afterwards, we met up with Andrea's former officemates at Cubao! They were awesome and we ate at Bellini's and I took their group photos, etc :) Awesome mini-reunion, thanks for letting me tag-along love!

Monday, I was at work on my day-off to finish something we're cooking up for the Read-Along -- I'm actually thankful I finished bulk of the work plus approvals on that day because as it turns out Tuesday was Pedring day.

Woke to scary winds Tuesday morning, and Andrea was just about to go out to work when her boss texted her to stay home. Lucky. I went to work early to escape power outage in the condo, tried to finish up leftover work from Monday, monitored the news, etc. Andrea was at work with me (it's like a mom taking her kid to work / a kid taking her mom to school kind of deal) and I'm thankful to have someone to ride the scary trike with at 9 p.m. that evening.

Today, two back-to-back meetings and I'm kinda spent. Oh, also caught Glee season 3 episode 2 (meh, as usual) and The New Girl pilot episode (meh, it's as bad as Skins US! I'M SORRY ZOOEY!)

Oh, oh and this -- Read-Along with Remington Friday morning! Geek Fight Friday night! Here, have photos:

Whee with Mart Escudero

With 7 Nation Army at Geek Fight!

Anyway, interesting finds on the Internet these past few days:

- Thought Catalog: "Why is it when we lose lovers, we lose places?"
- Tumblr: Gotye's "Hearts a Mess"
- Poetry: Eliza's "Prayer" on Stone Telling 5 
- ... and Mashable says: No, you aren't quitting Facebook (and I kind of agree.)

blogger's new dynamic views

My posts tagged "beach" in Blogger's new "Magazine" dynamic view

Just a quick note to say -- I am digging Blogger's new Dynamic Views.

Read more about that on Blogger Buzz

and now, for something that will make you feel old (really)

Trust your sister to use a seven-year-old photo to illustrate her point. Hey you look adorbs in your tie! Just sayin'.

Most of you would probably remember my younger brother as that small kid who used to visit me during PTC / this little boy who used to suddenly show up in my college boarding house / that kid you probably kissed during my graduation / that boy who used to be MUCH SHORTER THAN I AM / etc.

Well. He's turning fifteen on Monday. Oh wow. Time flies.

Happy birthday Wy! I'm still looking for your pictures!

the midweek round-up, 9.21

Anniversary week! ♥♥♥

A few things:

- Went to the Manila International Book Fair on Sunday with her folks. Not as outstanding as our previous visits, but thoroughly enjoyed just the same. I got my friend Caloy's "Corpus" from the UST Press, while Andrea got Lourd's "Super Panalo Sounds," which, from what I heard, is also super panalo.

- As part of my anniversary loot for her, I gave her the Samsung Galaxy Mini that came with my new Smart unlimited data plan, which she is currently thoroughly enjoying. (e.g. by taking photos of herself as twins, etc.)

Hello there!

- Exchanged anniversary gifts a few days early! On account of our low EQs hehe. I did this series of 48-word stories for her on Tumblr a.k.a. mixed media (LOL -- there's an Issuu file, and audio files everywhere, because I secretly like reading things aloud, etc) also, meta: It is easier to write something lengthy than it is trying to trim things down to a certain word count. This was a new experience for me as a writer. /end meta.

48-words on Tumblr.

48 words on Issuu

- But as usual, I have been trumped yet again by an AWESOME 365-DAYS-IN-THE-MAKING COLLAGE MINI-BOOK. Shet. True to form, love. True to form. It has collages and drawings and stories and, believe it or not, scratch and sniff portions.

I love you, my multi-talented loverrrr.

n.b. Here's Andrea's account of the weekend!

(There are more things under this cut!)

app crush

I'd like to introduce you to my latest app crush, If this then that. Basically, it's a site that allows you to automate tasks over the Internet. How? Simply put, it lets you define an "if I do this" task and an "and then this happens here" result.

REALLY!

So far here's how I use it: If I tweet anything on my @thegshift account (excluding @replies), then IFTTT automatically ships the tweets to a notebook I keep on Evernote -- incidentally, also an app crush.

Why I like this automation: I used to be able to collate my tweets via LoudTweet (which used to ship the compilation to my old LJ), but that service was interrupted when I decided to turn my Twitter account to private. Which was a bummer, but now, it seems like I've found a way to compile my tweets without having to open up my account. Which is nifty. VERY NIFTY.

the pottermore post

So last week, I got into the Pottermore craze when I finally got my welcome e-mail (after weeks of whining, heh).

The experience so far has proved to be very magical indeed -- the graphics are awesome, you get to find things by zooming in, there's a lot of meta going on about J.K. Rowling's process as a writer (a personal favorite, absolutely -- I have enjoyed what I have read so far about things not in the book), PLUS I totally got my wand and GOT SORTED.

Well, as far as SORTING goes, you all know how that turned out:

Slytherins: Sleek, powerful, misunderstood.

(Here's why I agree with the Sorting Hat's decision-- WARNING: SPOILERS. Just in case you care.)

the weekend round-up

Rare these days that I have ~a social life, so I take every opportunity to blog about it whenever I have one! Haha! :))

ANYWAY!

Friday night

Happy birthday, Ate Chona! Various photos with Maricar, Val and Drea -- same guys I went to Nagsasa with this summer! Every lakad is an adventure, charot! :))

First time to get to visit the famous Midnight Mercato at The Fort on the occasion of Ate Chona's birthday. It was a rainy night but we braved the puddles nevertheless. It was jampacked! I had fantastic steak with rice, and then we had cheese flautas, and then we had chicken skin and then we had smores cake and then we had BEER ICE CREAM. Which tasted weird, but hey, awesome idea is awesome, innit.

Saturday morning:

After the session, we talked about her experience as a young Muslim woman growing up in Australia during 9/11 and what being a "fully Muslim woman" means to her. Surprising and inspiring.

I usually shy away from late Friday night outings whenever I had a Read-Along session set that following morning, but thankfully I was able to wake early enough in time for that Saturday morning's session with Kylie Padilla.

(Oh, look. The paper ran the story today on Page One. Thanks, editors! -- on PDI: Read-along session marks Peace Month)

Session was with Service for Peace, a non-government org advocating peace through community development. The kids we had were from their Muslim community of peace in QC and their Christian community of peace in Mandaluyong. As with every session -- an eye-opener, this one. Thanks for coming over! :)

Saturday night
Just the same, I shy away from late Saturday night outings when I've been awake so early in the morning for the Read-Along (man, I'm getting old), BUT Arigatohato's EP launch at B-Side was too awesome to pass up! Got home at 4 in the morning! (Naks, at B-Side. Kala mo parang bente anyos lang. Haha!)

Went to the thing with Andrea, who knew Arigato, Hato singer Cat (When we were introduced I was a total dork, starstruck etc; I shook her hand and flailed at how awesome her set was. Haha.)

When I got there after work, Andrea was with Marie and Poxy, and then we bumped into Nayna and Mak at Wabisabi, and then into JC and Cass at the gig itself. Awesome night was awesome. A few notes:

• That Techy Romantics set! - *swoon* That girl sure knows how to move. Christ, I can't even.
• That Pedicab set! - *pants* -- Oh wow, that sure felt like a workout.
• That couch was an awesome idea -- if I were a smoker. I wouldn't have moved AT ALL but damn, the smoke got to choking level. Yo kids smoking is bad for you, etc. Charot, you'll quit on your own when you're 25 or something.
• Also -- got filmed by a group doing a documentary on Meiday! While having a round of beer with JC and Cass while Outerhope etc were playing above our heads. Talking (more like, yelling over the roaring music haha!) about web startups and geek fight and stuff.
• Had too many bottles of beer! San Miguel Apple is Cali Shandy with Alcohol, which is nice, if you're into that kind of thing.
• Got home at 4 a.m.! Naks, parang bente anyos lang.

Anyway -- PICS OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN!:

(Photos and Sunday, under cut)

the 9/11 post

The Inquirer's Sept. 11, 2011 front page

For the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 bombings, I condensed profiles from various sources (The New York Times mostly - link to their 9/11 interactive website here) for the twenty Filipinos who perished in the attacks. (On PDI: Roll of Remembrance: Bells toll for 20 Filipinos)

Spent Friday afternoon reading through every story -- some of them shouldn't have been there, some were in the middle of wedding plans, some found their love in New York, some had families in the Philippines waiting. All the stories were still heartbreaking even after all these years. (One of them was a former boss's sister. That was the most heartbreaking piece, IMO.)

*

Other interesting reads about 9/11:
- The 9/11 Commission's final report (More than 2,600 dead in the WTC alone)
- The Losses of 9/11 by the Numbers - NYTimes
- Via The New York Review of Books (@nybooks): Joan Didion’s “Fixed Opinions, or The Hinge of History”
- Wikileaks released text pager intercepts covering the 24 hours surrounding 9/11/2001. It's a massive read, but chilling just the same. I still get goose bumps reading things like, Please call home in between announcements of planes hitting the towers.

*

Here's a personal 9/11 flashback: At that moment, I was in my boarding house, preparing for the following day's class. I was a freshman in UP and I got the heads up from the weirdest person -- a boy I used to like in high school texted me to say I should turn on the TV to CNN because the Twin Towers in New York just got hit by planes.

That was the last time I heard from him. It felt odd, getting that text; I guess I really was That Girl from your High School Whom You Text About CNN. Haha.

Anyway, so I went to the boarding house's main living room and asked the landlady if we could watch TV, and then there it was. What a sight.

the midweek round-up: 9.07

A quick round-up of what has happened since last week:

- Lawrence created this poster, in which we invite you to "spot your newest fave teen stars" (zoom in for total effect of Things that Cannot be Unseen) -- http://t.co/FbF0st8 

- So I've been watching Kim Chiu do a bit of cross-dressing on My Binondo Girl. Quick summary/spoilers for the uninterested: So Kim's character dresses up to be a boy (a very pogi boy LOL -- I mean, see for yourself) so she would be recognized by her Chinese (Filipino-Chinese?) father, who has been aching for his first-born son Yuan (who is Kim's brother and who has already died). My question -- Is her character technically lesbian -- since she wants to be male for acceptance's sake? Or do you have to be a girl who is attracted to girls to be lesbian? My head hurts. Meanwhile, I saw the guy who plays Kim Chiu's dad at Rustan's in Power Plant. He is pogi. Hihi.

- This awesome link find via my friends on Twitter: http://t.co/6ubB1yN

(The rest under cut)

the long weekend update

So the girlfriend was out over the long weekend, so I rightfully spent it getting monumentally wasted with a bunch of twenty-year-olds I just met. Sweaty dancing, second-hand smoke, and out-of-this world alcoholic concoctions whose names I can't remember. Miraculously managed to climb several flights of stairs so I could pass out in my own bed. And oh, the Hangover of the Morning After. That said, I'm not touching anything with alcohol for the next ten million years. Or something.

Or... maybe not.

ghost month

So as we all know, August is Ghost Month.

I'm not a stringent believer of superstitions (though I often take the 'wala namang mawawala kung susundin'-route) neither am I an ardent believer of ghosts.

What I do believe in, however, are hauntings.

Aside: I was so certain I had written something about this, sometime around 2006; I was looking for it in the dotcom and couldn't find it there. Apparently, it's in my [now locked-down] LiveJournal. Dated 2nd November 2006, it goes:

alone again on an october night -- nights like this, i could not sleep. i am kept awake by sounds of footsteps treading my worn carpet with a familiar, calculated pace.

i get up to take a look. as expected, there's no one there.

there's a haunting i fear more than i do poltergeists and spirits, and that is the kind that involves a still-living memory. it is a haunting that is defined as hearing voices, and seeing and *feeling* things that are not there.

you are most likely the only haunting i've ever come across. that makes this apartment the most haunted place i have ever been in.

i heave a sigh as i head for the kitchen to heat water for my coffee. out of habit, i take out two cups and not one; i put the other one back in upon catching myself.

there are habits that are hard to let go of -- habits a lot like this, formed through several late night trysts, few and far between. years hence, they are still here, embedded, recurring every now and then. especially on nights as haunted as this.

(a faint but familiar laugh, a swish of a pale blue sundress in the corner of my eye, a knock on the door, the feel of coldwarm hands.)

there are ghosts in this room, and they're all you.

Oh dear young self -- please use proper caps. HAHA. (Though that ending is too true. To a degree, I'm still looking for this girl who used to write like this -- have you seen her? What, she's on indefinite vacation? That. Sucks.)

(More hauntings of same sort under cut)

and at once, i knew

... i was not magnificent.


BON IVER "Holocene" from nabil elderkin on Vimeo

Damn, this Bon Iver video is beautiful.

hot damn

Andrea Corr in a bathtub in the middle of a grassy field.
HELL YEAH.
(And yes, if you recognize that quote from somewhere, please just -- let it be. Hahaha.)

(Obsession under cut)

galaxytab must-haves

I've had my Samsung GalaxyTab since February this year and these days I've been using it for doing basically everything on the go -- keeping up with social networks, taking and sharing photos, syncing docs with my home and office desktops, reading comic books and ebooks and even a bit of word processing on the side.

In light of Eliza's recent purchase of a Galaxytab (and her subsequent plea on Twitter for app recs), here are the stuff I use more often. Under cut---

(Ang hirap-hirap-hirap hindi mag-flail. Kailangan daw respectable ang tono ko para galangin. ANYWAY.)

the mid-month update

Just a few notes on this month -- halfway through August, and I just wanted to grab a few photos off Facebook and put them under cut. Heto na naman ang caption-based blog entry making haha.

ocho

A summary of things for today, under cut

oh, wait

Most of this post is in the form of a caption. To wit:

Oh, LOL. Not like I have plenty of free time (only that I am forced by poverty to stay indoors this weekend and do this)
Oh wow. So I redesign my dotcom roughly every year. Entirely too rusty, I had to use cheatsheets with my CSS, etc. but man, Notepad++ is my new best friend.
ALSO -- who is this dork who makes a Twitter feed for her dotcom? That would be me. Finally, somewhere I can stash my cleanwebsitelayout-pr0n, or something.
Version notes: Oh, handwritten logo! It sucks, but you should've seen the earlier attempts. And man -- 2002-2011? NINE YEARS. I'm so throwing a decade-old party next year.

sport is beautiful

Just in case I cannot stress it enough -- I love sports. These days, most of the things I love watching on TV (outside of the usual teleserye marathon that follows the evening newscast that follows the day-long news monitoring on cable) is a good game -- may it be football, basketball or volleyball, my top sports of choice (and the occasional nailbiter of a tennis game, I suppose).

The thing I like best is the down-the-wire basketball game -- nothing that can make me happier than switching to a channel by accident and finding a ball game in its dying seconds with the score tied. ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT.

holocene