I did this last year. I found some time to sit down and write stuff for this year. So if you're curious and have the time, check it out...


January
Thesis 1 class this month. I had thesis brainstorming with Anthony and Kathy during the first day of class...
"But everyone had their own opinions. Qua wanted to do something simple, like a fashion show. Dang didn't say anything yet about what she wanted to do, and neither did Kathy. Anthony and I were thinking along the same lines. We both wanted to do a play, preferably a musical. Honestly, I wanted to do that because doing those simple events were the easy way out. I wanted to experience how hard it is to produce our own show because that's one of my goals in life."
After talking it out with Rain, who joined the class on our second day, we decided to do Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Rain, Anthony and Kathy.
I finally met some of the first admins of the Akafellas forum, Mika, Sybil, Lucia and Teena, along with the active members as well.



I was also being bothered by someone I once considered a friend. I'm already the one who’s trying to stay friends, but that person doesn't even acknowledge any of my efforts and gives me the cold shoulder instead.
This was also the month of Nyoy's surprise birthday party, which was the same day of the release of his second album.
"Sometimes...well, OK, most of the time, I wish things were the way they were before. Hay nako, if only it were that simple. A few months ago, things were easier. Things were less complicated." Now, as I look back at that, I just smile because I actually made it through.
I also got to meet another group of people, this time from the PinoyExchange Theater Club.


Photo courtesy of Ernest.


February
Hahaha, this is the month when I started frequenting Aku near school with Jill, Maika, Dandan, and sometimes even Tita Sherbet and Tito Sunny.
I also let go of some things this month. I knew all good things must come to an end. I'm also the type of person who never wants to let go of friends, but I still had a lot to learn. Quite a number of friends remained, though, and I still love them to bits.
"So easy to say, but very difficult to practice," Father John said with his thick Indian accent. "If someone doesn't like you, either you understand why or you don't, just tell them, 'God bless you.'" That was in one of the mass homilies I heard that month. It was so appropriate concerning what I was going through.

March
Most of my time during this month was occupied with doing initial paperwork for our thesis. It was also an answered prayer, hoping to keep some other issues out of my mind, and yes, it did help.
Hehehe, I did manage to squeeze in some free time for myself to check out at least a couple of gigs, even though I wasn’t really getting into it anymore. Maybe because I started focusing on my thesis more, and turned back to listening to my eccentric music again, hahaha.

April
I started spending more time with a group of friends who now we fondly call the AKAkada. A replacement of the "Mannos' Angels"? I don’t think so. The Angels still have a special place in my heart, but it’s just a matter of branching out.
The summer month was also punctuated with sporadic meetings with my thesis mates, mostly about the production side of our approved show.
I also got to bag a racket with my Playshop friend Jun, which was a concert for their choir.

May
PJ's birthday falls on this month, and it always seems like the perfect opportunity for a Hogi Hall reunion. And I got to see people from our high school clique that I haven’t seen in ages.



The summer really flew by during this month, considering that I didn’t really do much.

June
This month, I got to meet David, an independent film director (still amateur, I believe) who was visiting Manila. I met him through Anthony, whose friend's aunt was dating the guy. Anthony was supposed to work for him then (but ended up not), and got me to tag along as well. I got in as one of the actresses in the wedding-themed film he was doing. I also got Ari to tag along during the first script reading and he ended up getting a part as well.
Aside from that, we finally completed casting of our thesis. Hahaha, I got so excited with the turnout that I couldn't wait to start rehearsals.
So the whole month, I was juggling two major subjects (thesis included), nightly rehearsals for the actual thesis, and the shoot for Wedding of the Century.

July
To add to everything I was juggling the month before, I bagged a racket, which was another Akafellas concert.
And of course, it was the month that our thesis was going to be shown. Heated conversations, annoyances, whispering and all that... It was all too much. But of course, I didn't want to show that I was ready to break down. This was our thesis, and I wanted it to be great.
At the end of the month, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat opened at the Agusto-Rosario Gonzales Theater at DLS-College of Saint Benilde. Everything fell into place, even though some stuff actually fell through.




Photos courtesy of Mimay.


August
Plans of tying up with St Scholastica’s drama org to restage Joseph were brought up by our thesis adviser. But this plan fell through once again because the group had to back out.
Still having a slight withdrawal from the show, I realized that I fell in love with the entire Joseph cast. I enjoyed their company that it seemed like there was never a day I wouldn't get a "San ka?" message in my phone from at least 2 of them.
Oh yeah, our entire Tecthe4 class flunked the subject the year before, and to our relief, we all passed the class!

September
Most of my time was spent with the Joseph cast, just hanging around Taft, and we would do so even until 1 in the morning, hahaha. Pick-up rehearsals haven't started yet because we were still lacking cast members (some had to drop out because of schedule conflicts), so we got more people to try out.
"On the first hour of September 23, 2004, CLOKWORX was born."


Logo design by Drei.

What is CLOKWORX? It stands for "Creative. Live. Organized. Kinetics. Worx." That's what we started to call our group, and hopefully turn it into a registered company.

October
Small workshops and rehearsals for Joseph began. I had bruises on my knees because of Nicco's dance workshop during the early part of workshops, hahaha.
After rehearsals were mostly spent talking over food at KFC, and Starbucks still past midnight. Sometimes we would even trek to the videoke place at Providence to kick back.
This was also the month I felt the challenge of being a friend, co-worker, and buffer, all in one. I always felt as if I wasn't doing enough for everyone, be it as a friend, or professionally. I was a wreck. Every night, I leave the group refreshed, but when I get home, I would feel bothered. I sometimes felt that the things I was doing weren't good enough. I was ready to go crazy or break down, but I kept it from everyone.
This was also my "Little Secrets" month. Hahaha. I've been noticing a lot from the cast ever since our thesis began, and everything began to fall into place when people willingly told me what their own little secrets were. Hogi's secret files section of her brain was open for business.
Our cast met the "Dasma group" for the first time, and right from the very beginning, we loved them. I loved their eagerness, and they’re always game for anything, plus they're pretty cool to hang around with.






November
Prod week of Joseph during the first week mostly focused on marketing the play. I couldn’t find time for myself because I was too busy with that, plus rehearsals, that I sometimes forget to eat. Gak. The show day wasn't an exception. I didn't know where to start, and while everyone else was already getting into their costumes and makeup, I was still scurrying everywhere backstage. And I didn't even get to eat until after the afternoon show.




Photo courtesy of Aileen.

After that whole thing with Joseph, we attended shows at CCP during the National Theater Festival. Our group even got inspired by the improv group SPIT (Silly People's Improv Theatre), hahaha.
The rest of the month involved bugging the prod and tech people's Filmpro final project, Garahe.

December
I still visited the Garahe group at their shoots this month. I felt like a groupie, hahaha. But I have to say, these guys have talent. Bow talaga ako sa inyo.
My birthday tomorrow marks the midpoint of December. And the month's not over yet.

All in all, let me just say that this year has been one amazing joyride. I thank everyone who was there with me, through all its ups and downs, craziness and fun galore. I have no regrets with anything that have happened, because all those made me the person that I am today. The people also helped me become what I am, so I’m ever so grateful that our paths crossed.