I bought an extension cord for the phone line yesterday so I can have the laptop in my room and go online without bothering to go in the other bedroom. I had no idea what length of cord to get, so I got the one that's 50 meters long, hahaha.

When I got home and opened the package, the entire cord fell to the floor while I was trying to unravel it. So I ended up spending quite some time untangles the entire length of the cord before I managed to plug it from the phone line to the laptop. But patience is a virtue. And soon after, I finally got everything all set, yay!

After work today, I got to meet up with Kassy, Tamille, Teena at Figaro. Dave and Ems had dropped by while we were there. Then we moved to McDonald's in Glorietta, because Ate Tere was there with some of the Akafellas. When we got there, the only guy with her was Robi. We sat with them and talked and laughed and joked around, then Robi had to leave. Jhett joined us soon after that and even showed us some funny pics from his phone before he went to find the other fellas for the Pre-Need event that's going on at the mall's activity center. We then went to watch the guys sing a few songs, then I had to meet with Dave at Greenbelt.

Yay, dinner at Haiku. Thanks, Dave! It was a blast. Sushi and tempura, yum... Funny tech and production stories galore. Til the next time. Too bad Ems and the rest didn't get to join us.

Proof is now showing in cinemas! Yay! I'm watching it tomorrow after work. I had borrowed Krys' script from our production in 2002, and judging from the trailer, it's probably just the same as the play. We'll see.

Uploaded a new userpic. Hehehe, courtesy of Dave, heeheehee. Sadako, cartoon version.

Met up with Nikki and Mish at Glorietta after work today. We had planned to watch Proof, but we got inside the cinema a few minutes late because we had to wait for Mish to arrive via the MRT. Plus we also went to get food as well, hahaha.

Hmmm... The movie was OK. Yeah, just OK. I mean, yeah, it's true to the script, but I sort of didn't like the treatment. I already knew that there would be flashbacks here and there, because I know the script backwards and forwards already, thanks to that first OJT. But sometimes you couldn't really tell which scenes were flashbacks and which scenes were in the present time if you weren't following the story closely enough.

Well, no offense, but I liked Gwyneth's Catherine than Lea's. Probably because Lea's portrayal was a little too angsty. Then again, that was the play and this is the movie version. Though some of the funny lines weren't as funny when Gwyneth delivered them.

Hehehe, to Mish and Nikki's annoyance, I found myself muttering half the lines. Even before I had borrowed Krystal's script, I could still remember some of the dialogue. Whoops.

Oh yeah, I know this sounds geeky, but I couldn't help but laugh out loud when I heard Hal mention that "i". It suddenly reminded me of that John Cage composition that Sir Jed mentioned in our Music Studies class before. It was called 4'33". A math joke actually originated from that, coolness. Ew, I sound so geeky. And I actually googled the title just to get the numbers right. Now what's geekier than that?

Hahaha, Joel dropped by the office today to return the videos he had borrowed. When I looked through the peephole to check who had knocked, I didn't recognize him because I knew he was bald since Beauty and the Beast. He had hair! And then when I opened the door, I didn't realize I was gawking at his hair until he said, "Looks real, no?" Hahahaha! So it was a fake! Apparently he struck some ex-deal or something, and he was trying out the "hair" that day. That's when I noticed that the netting near his left ear was visible, so I had to get a mirror to show him. He just had to show me the almost invisible netting on his hairline above his forehead before leaving the room, ahehehe. Well, it does look real, and it does suit him, but he said he likes being bald now, oh well.

Time to hit the sack. It's finally Friday, yay. Here's to the upcoming weekend.

I joined Peachy and her Rep friends for a rehearsal of Looney Alley (formerly known as Ave. Q Highlights).

Peach and I met up at Shang before we went to the venue, and I finally saw that "hum" waffle at Pinoy Waffles that she had mentioned in her blog. Wahahaha. HUM.

Anyway, after purchasing waffle dogs (man, they were pretty small and wasn't very filling), we took a jeep along Shaw to their rehearsal venue, this house that belongs to Meynard that was used in that movie Kutob.

Chit-chat with Peachy, Tricia and the others, then Meynard arrived. More chit-chat, then Meynard conducted the warm-ups. Hahaha, I just had to laugh at that "Jackie Chan" thing because of the name.

Meynard started rehearsing things per scene. I sat next to him the whole time so I could watch everything. Hahaha, I missed seeing those puppets. Kate Monster still looks as if her chin is hardly there, and Princeton still creeps me out when he stares blankly and happens to be staring at me, hahaha. Like Princeton and Rod, Lucy wasn't dressed, but she's a "gifted" female puppet, hahahaha!

(Photos from their rehearsal...)

I'll update more later. I gotta sleep for now.

Mike's birthday isn't until later in the week, but he invited us over to his house last night to celebrate it earlier.

Rosa and Aris had picked me up at ATC 15 minutes after I had arrived there from Wack Wack (I waited until Looney Alley rehearsals were done), then we were off to Mike's house.

When we got there, we immediately heard Mike's loud voice combined with laughter. Yep, there they were, Mike, PJ, Seph, Karlo, Arlo and Hofi. There were a bunch of other people inside as well, either huddled up at Mike and Dave's PC or at the just-switched-on PS2.

Barry and Dave had appeared 15 minutes after we had arrived, after leaving the house for a few minutes. Whee, there wasn't just the Hogi Hall and the track boys, but the Funky Bunch was there as well.

Then after a while, we realized that Mike didn't have food in the house. He only had coolers of beer and soda, and packs of Boy Bawang. AHAHAHAHA! Some birthday party. The only thing I ate after that Pinoy waffle I bought with Peachy was a bag of Tostillas with C2 Apple.

Seph had to leave at around 11 for work, so we all saw him out the gate, then we ended up standing there for a few minutes. Olive and this other friend Jenny arrived (hehe, I keep hearing about this Jenny, but last night was the first time I met her and saw in person). They hung around a bit, then before we knew it, Rosa, Aris and I were the only Hogi Hall people in the house. Mike had joined PJ, Olive and Jenny for a walk.

We sat around near the front gate and chatted until we saw a Domino's Pizza guy pull up outside. As it turned out, Dave had ordered pizza because of the lack of food in the house. Hehehe, Dave took the 3 boxes of pizza to the back of the house where he, Barry and Karlo were hanging out, and Rosa, Aris and I followed the pizzas in hopes of getting some. Well, maybe it was just me because Rosa and Aris had eaten before they left.

So the 3 of us ended up the 3 guys, sitting and talking while Mike was still nowhere in sight. Gonx had appeared minutes later and joined us as well. It was been a while since I hung out with the Funky Bunch, but I guess it was still the same. Uber-serious topics punctuated with funny quips. When we heard Mike's loud voice again coming from the front of the house, Rosa, Aris, Gonx and I then joined the group there.

Rosa: I miss Seph and Josh.

True, we're friends we're both the Funky Bunch and the track boys, but we felt more comfortable if Seph and Josh were there. Their company was different, more laid back. We couldn't relate with the Funky Bunch with their uber serious tones, and the track boys younger interests.

Oh well.

But still, it was nice seeing old friends. The ones who have seen you at your best and at your worse, and during the times when you were all still naive about the world around you.


In other news...

On Friday night, I heard that an employee of McDonald's Taft shot the manager due to some work-related issue. I only heard it from Rain through text, and form my aunt who was watching TV, so I don't really know the entire story.

Then when I had met up with Peachy yesterday at Shang, she mentioned the Wowowee stampede at Ultra. I kept hearing it from various people throughout the day and into the night, and it was plastered on the entire front page of the newspaper this morning.

It broke my heart just seeing the photo in the paper that showed a young boy weeping next to his dead mother amidst the group of dead people. My heart goes out to the family members of the victims.

People's initial reaction was "Mga Pinoy naman talaga." That was my reaction too. I mean, if they already knew that the venue was already full, why would they force themselves to get in? I mean, true, they were all vying for some prize to lift themselves from poverty, but come on, what are the chances, even with the hundreds of prizes?

From the information that I heard, there were a lot of people trying to get in, so they let the women and children enter first. The place became packed, so they closed the gates, but people outside were still too persistent. The gates gave way, and everyone got pushed forward because of the ramp that raked downward. Because the women and children were the ones inside, they were the ones that got trampled on.

Some blamed the people, because of their greed. Yeah, they were in desperate need of money, but why would they rish their safety and others' as well just for that?

Some blamed the network, because of the lack of crowd control. Crowd control? They already closed the gates because the place was packed.

*sigh*

Whatever people say or do now won't bring the back the lives of the people who died from the incident. I guess to those networks who plan to organize similar such as this, let this be a lesson.

Oh well.

I suddenly remembered a memory of Ultra. Track days from when I was a junior in high school. I was in the walkathon (I forgot how far it was though), with Marielle, Eleanor, and this other girl from another school. It was so funny, because I was always trying to get ahead of Eleanor. But whenever she sees my shadow catching up to her, she's speed up again, so I came in third. After a while, a whole bunch of us sneaked out to grab a bite from Megamall without permission from our coach.

I got to talk to a couple of my favorite cousins today.

First was when I dropped by Ate Shang's house this evening after I had attended Mass. It's been a while since we hung out and talked, so we did so, and Tita Lyn also joined us. Well, actually, Tita Lyn was the one who mostly talked while Ate Shang and I kept making comments and funny quips.

They had donuts and fishballs on the table when I arrived, so I got to grab a couple of donuts. But after a while, Ate Shang ordered pizza for the three of us with an extra box for me to bring home. Thanks, cuz!

But before this evening, we got a call from Ate Shirley from Washington. It's been a while since I last heard her voice, and I was so thrilled to hear her on the other end of the line. She got my email address, because the last time I emailed her, she didn't know it was me, and she deletes emails from unknown addresses, hahaha. So we sent her an email right away after hanging up the phone.

Hopefully, Ate Shirley will be the one to help me go places. I thought so back in high school. But I wasn't approved of doing so then.

Segue to what I've been thinking since the beginning of last week.

I want to make a drastic change of routine. I want to do something different. I want to go somewhere else.

I've been thinking about a few things. Trying to map out what I should do. First plan A, then plan A1. Plan A would involve leaving a lot of things that I won't be able to accomplish. Yes, things. Not just one, there's a lot.

The hardest part of all this would be talking with the parental units about it. They've been raising eyebrows at all my decisions in my life ever since I had to transfer schools after my first year in college.

I do want things to happen.

But... Oh, help.

I was in my room earlier this evening after dinner, having quiet time. And I realized something.

If you're capable of lying through your teeth to that special person (even those little white lies), how can I trust that you won't do the same to me?

It's funny how you can do that. Have you ever done the same to me before? I'm beginning to think you had.

I may be paranoid, and I could be wrong. But...

Oh well.


====================


Thanks to Rony, Kristin Chenoweth's rendition of "The Girl In 14G" is playing in my head, over and over and over, since I first heard it.

My goodness, she's funny. She's amazing! She made it look as if it was as easy as breathing.


====================


I was looking through CCP's calendar of events earlier in the office because we had some vacant time. Hahaha, I marked the shows and events I want to check out (Ooooh, Il Postino's showing again on Valentine's Day!).

Then I looked at the upcoming workshops. I remembered Sir Edmu telling me to try taking the stage management workshop. I've been thinking about it since the other year, but my schedules kept conflicting with everything. Then the theatre workshops. I'm so out of shape. I miss doing theatre.

Once again, schedule is a hindrance. Sure, the workshops are only about a month long, but how will I juggle everything? I mean, it's easy in April, but what about in May, when rehearsals for Doubt start? And what if Ate Sally needs me? I just can't leave her on a whim.

Arrrggh...

First of all, thanks to Lye for listening to my ramblings last night, hahaha, even though I sounded kinda trivial at one point. It's nice to have a good casual conversation with a lot of essence once in a while. Good luck with your job hunting!

When I got home this evening, I realized that I my CDs were all cluttered, and half of them are unlabeled. So I had to look through all of them one by one, and label them.

Among those I had to sort through, I finally found my back-up CD! All my old files from the PC were there, specially all those old photos that I thought were gone forever. Wheee! As I looked through those files, I kept laughing at all the memories behind the photos.

Another CD I found in the bunch was an audio CD I had recorded from the closing show of our thesis. From the opening song until the last, I got the entire show recorded from the video our school had videotaped for us. Hahaha, listening to the singing, you could tell whose voices could be heard among the rest.

Rawr, I have yet to fix the stuff that I need for tomorrow night until Saturday. But I'm too lazy. I haven't even prepped up for it. Heck, I don't even know if I can pull it off. Oh well.

Just woke up. Haven't slept since Friday.

Mimay had gotten me to act for Irene and Sheena's thesis, a film called Maria Milagros Barbarosa, so we started shooting it last Friday night.

The shoot was somewhere in Fairview, so I waited for them to pick me up at McDo near the Quezon Avenue MRT station. Hahaha, I even ran into Mervin while walking there from the station. He even told me briefly that Nicco's dad's birthday celebration was that night, and that he was going. Nicco even texted me to join, but of course I couldn't. Oh well, happy birthday, Tito Jose.

Anyway, I had to wait a few more minutes for Mimay and Irene to pick me up from there, because they still had to pick up the equipment. Got to meet their other friends who were also helping out in the production. I couldn't remember all their names, but they all put their names on their shirts with masking tape so we know who they are. Anyway, after picking me up, we had to pick up Ate Naomi (who plays Mrs. Consolacion), then it was off to the location, this duplex that was owned by the guy who plays Mr. Consolacion. I don't really know his real name, but Mimay calls him Papakins. Met the rest of the people involved, and then we got to eat dinner. While we were eating, Lamer, the guy sitting next to me, told everyone to buy his album. As it turned out, he was a member of Live Sound, one of the acapella groups that was part of Jam 88.3's The Blend CD.

Soon after, we had to start shooting. Barbie, my character, is the maid and the main character of the whole banana. So they got me into this pink maid's uniform that looked a whole lot like the ones Ate Alona has. Plus it was made of thin material, so it was really breezy.

The first scenes just involved Ate Naomi and me, and I still don't know how my character was supposed to sound like. Irene and Sheena never gave me anything. Thank goodness for Mimay.

The hardest scenes weren't until later that night. Barbie was supposed to be crying, and it was pretty difficult. I mean, the last time I had to cry for a film was back in 2001, and it was easier because the monologue helped me gear up for the crying. And the last time I had to cry while acting was in Beauty and the Beast, and that was also easy because everything was in chronological order.

It took me a while to internalize, but it was really tough because I'm the kind of person who easily gets distracted, and there were a lot of people talking and milling about. For one external scene, I had to go back inside the house and sit in one corner just to help me. Nothing. What did I do? I had a helper, through phone. Thanks, Thumper.

No offense, Mimay, but I wasn't listening every time you were trying to motivate me. For some reason, sense memory works better because I get numb at certain situations. But you were a big help just by being there.

There were a bunch of scenes like that, but because we were shooting external scenes, it was harder. The cold night air dried my tears so fast.

Then there was one scene that involved me getting rained on as I leave the house. Pressure. I had to do it in one take because once I get wet, it's gonna take a while to get me dry again. BRRRR!!! That night was already really cold, and just looking at them test the sprinklers made me even colder. And my costume's material, hello? I was looking at the rest of the people in envy because half of them were wearing jackets.

One take, with dried tears, arg... Put down bag, close gate, then stoop down to pick up bag. Whoooossshhh... there goes the water. Shout out the line, then the rain stops. I had to keep from shivering because the scene had to go on. Cut. There it goes, I was shivering like crazy, but thanks to someone who handed me cloth to use as a blanket before we continued with the next scene. COLD COLD COLD, FREEZING COLD!!!!

After the next scene, which was a continuation of the rain scene, we were given an hour and a half to rest. Just an hour and a half... at past 3 in the morning??!?? That's because they were running late. Following their schedule, they were a couple of hours late already. Oh well, I managed to get a power nap on the mattress in one of the upstairs bedrooms before someone started saying that we need to go on.

More scenes... at least there was one scene that Barbie didn't look like a wreck, hahaha. They already had a hard time messing my hair up because it was "too straight" and "balik ayos", ahehehe. I then got to meet Lena, the girl who plays daughter Vicky, that morning.

All throughout the day, one scene after the other. I only find out what scene we'll be doing just a minute before we start shooting. Lost.

Then another crying scene. The one where Barbie goes all out with her tears. My phone was out of reach downstairs because we were in the upstairs bedroom. I had to shut out Mimay's voice and dig down deep. Sense memory suddenly kicks in and I felt the tears creep out. OK, I was ready. The scene started, and then the tears suddenly began to pour. My golly, I forgot that once I start crying that way, I couldn't stop at will, like what had happened in Kaye and Abby a few years ago (when I had to keep the door shut until I stopped). But when I stopped, it stopped as well, hahaha.

Oh yeah, during the entire shoot, I was hardly called just "Hogi" except for Mimay. It was always "Ate", "Ate Hogi", "Ate Barbie" or "Tita Barbie" (last name courtesy of Neps), hahaha. Right until I was dropped off at Glorietta last night when our shoot had to wrap up, I still heard "Tita Barbs" from him as I jumped off the van.

So where was I? Oh yeah. We had to shoot some kitchen scenes with the entire Consolacion family (Papakins, Ate Naomi, Lena, and Miguel, this adorable little 11-year-old). I wasn't in the mood to shoot then, but I didn't really want to show it. I was annoyed because there were too many people going around in that small kitchen. It drove me crazy. Or maybe it was just because of lack of sleep. I couldn't even sit down.

By 7pm yesterday, we had to wrap up because they were only allowed to shoot until then. Knowing that I would just crash in my room once I get home, I wanted to end the night on a good note. I had called Nicco earlier that afternoon because he was asking me where I was, and I found out that, Drei, Erik and Cris were in Glorietta, so I asked if they were all still there. Drei was with Erik, but was about to go back to the south for a family dinner. He said that Cris and Nicco went to CCP to watch Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah. But all the same, I asked to get dropped off in Glorietta. Then suddenly Nicco calls me and said that he and Cris were going back to Makati because they didn't manage to get in due to a full house.

So I met up with the two of them at Gloria Jeans. Hung around, just talking. Wheee, we even saw Maryll! She was out with her boyfriend and a couple of other friends. Aw, we haven't seen her in ages, and when we heard her laugh, we couldn't help but laugh with her that it perked me up so much. I missed that laugh, ahahahaha. Anyway, when at around 11pm, we decided to go around and ended up in Greenbelt 3. We even ran into Bryce and Jessica a couple of times. After a while in Timezone, we decided to call it a night.

I was ready to collapse on my bed when I suddenly had the urge to go online because I missed my laptop. Hahaha, ano ba yan, I found Nicco also online. Loneliness is still kicking in, poor guy. Yeah, little bro, you gotta go out more.

Darn it, Valentine's day is around the corner once again.

Man, I'm still beat.

I think I'll sleep some more.

We weren't really planning to celebrate Valentine's Day at the office, but we wanted to do something different. So instead of usually eating in the office, yesterday we decided to make plans to go out and eat at Congo Grille.

We already got everything planned by the time we left yesterday. I had asked the restaurant to fax us a menu and we started checking the food we were going to order so we have more time.

Then Sir Bob called this morning, saying that he needed Kuya Boni to go with him to the hospital. Our plans were foiled because we wanted all of us be there. Heck, we even tried to get Chelley to join us (though she couldn't leave her office). Oh well, so plans have been postponed indefinitely.

Well, that didn't stop us. We started checking what movies were still playing in Glorietta. Once we decided that we wanted to watch Firewall, we quickly closed the office and left at 4pm, hoping that Mrs. Garcia won't be calling (which she usually does minutes before 5pm). Ahehehe, sure enough, she had called both office phones. We knew because by the time we had reached Glorietta, she was already calling Ate Sally's phone. She didn't answer it, and instead we agreed on an alibi we had talked about before we left the office. Then suddenly my phone rings. Mrs. Garcia once again. I was ready to answer to tell her the alibi when she suddenly hangs up and calls Kuya Boni instead. He tells her his side of the alibi and hangs up. Then my phone rings again and I finally get to answer her call. Yep, so there, I told her my side and handed my phone to Ate Sally (our alibi included us leaving the office together). Mrs. Garcia finally lets us off the hook.

So we went to watch Firewall. Interesting enough, but the ending was pretty abrupt. Hahaha, Rich was so into the movie that I could hear her moving around in her seat and even jumping and talking too loudly.

After the movie, we all parted ways. I was ready to board a shuttle home (this year's February 14th was pretty lousy), when I saw how long the line had formed. So I went back to Glorietta to kill time. There was another Book Sale inside near the exit to Park Square 2, so I managed to find a couple of additions to my old book collection. Then after that, I found myself reloading my Timezone Power Card for a couple of rounds of Percussion Master. Then I saw that a crowd had formed at this Stacker game, so I found the other machine and played. Ahahaha, it was pretty addictive. Maybe if I had stayed there long enough, I would've won myself a new cellphone, hahaha! After that, I saw that the Percussion Freak in the corner was being ignored, so I tried it out. I have never played Percussion Freak before, but there's a first time for everybody anyway. It was pretty fun, even though I was pretty rusty at drums. But the drumsticks provided were all bent so I had a hard time hitting the cymbals. Hmmm... maybe I'll go back tomorrow.

I was almost ready to go home then, so I returned to the mall's ground floor. I had to pass by Book Sale again, and who do I run into? Nikki and Remus, hahaha. I ended up hanging with them for a while longer. When we were at Red Lane, I had found this black jacket that fit perfectly. I told the saleslady I'd come back for it tomorrow, ahehehe. I'm still deciding whether I should get that jacket, or the one we found in Bayo. The one in Bayo was a beautiful midnight blue corduroy one, but the one in Red Lane had fit me better. Oh well, we'll see tomorrow.

Hmmm... Valentine's Day.

Some people call it "Single Awareness Day," hahahaha.

It's so funny how couples take advantage of this ocassion. Flowers and candy everywhere. The guys suddenly become gentlemen for their girlfriends, going all out with the dates, looking all proud as the girls lug around those huge flowers all over the mall.

Here's the question. You can do that any day of the year. Why wait for Valentine's Day to show your sweet sides? Oh well.

Was on the phone with Nicco a couple of nights ago. He brought up the fact that yes, he was still lonely, and how lonelier it gets when V-Day is near, among other things.

"Why stick with ___?"
"What kind of girl ang bagay sakin?"

Stuff like that. He started getting contagious by then, rawr. We then started thinking about going out more to keep ourselves from being lonely. My goodness, we sounded so trivial. Oh well, given the time we were talking, it's a good excuse.

I remember one of Mimay's most recent posts about people asking others about being single. I get a lot of that too.

"Ikaw, Hogi, kelan ka magkaka-boyfriend?"
"Wala ka bang plans mag accept ng any guy in your life right now?"

My goodness... What's the big deal?

How apt... "Alone In The Universe" from Seussical is playing again on my laptop.

Going back to that 2nd question thrown at me, I once brought it up with Nikki. She had asked me recently if I did have plans of accepting any guy right now. Well, I just told her that I'm ready, but I'm not just going to go for the next random guy who tries. Let's just say that if there happens to be a guy who makes an attempt, I'll entertain him, and then we'll go from there.

I'm out for now. I'm too lazy to think anymore. Ciao, y'all.

To make up for the postponed lunch at Congo Grille, Ate Sally, Kuya Boni and I had decided to go there today. Too bad Rich wasn't there, aw. But wheeee, we ordered the food that we've been craving for since last week. Wahahaha, we were so full that we couldn't finish the bread we got for our afternoon snack.

I had to meet with Peachy and Tricia that day because I had to give Tricia my payment for my Sweet Charity ticket. So Peach gave me the address of their rehearsal venue (Jorel and Dre's house), so I could go there and watch their rehearsal as well, ahahaha.

Of course, I had promised myself to come back and buy that jacket I had my eyes on the day before. So I went to Red Lane and got it, wheee! Hahaha, darn this jacket fetish. Anyway, before I left Glorietta, I couldn't resist stopping by Timezone for some Percussion Master and a bit of Stacker, wahahaha.

So off I went to Magallanes. Hung around with Peach and Tricia in the living room while everyone else trickled in. A little later, a petite girl that looked somewhat like Ate Maui arrived. As it turned out, she's going to be the show's lighting designer, coolness.

While the rest of the cast started jamming by the keyboard, I got to sit and talk with the lighting designer. Her name was Sueyen (pronounced SOO-yen), and she's a theatre arts major in UP. Waaah, I envy her. Plus she got to work lotsa times with Sir Jay (whom she calls Tatay Jay, hahaha). Anyway, we got into this interesting conversation and I found her pretty cool. Maybe I could sit next to her on Friday night and try to get her to let me man the board, hahaha.

Oh yeah, the Bystanders won't be performing at that prom I mentioned some entries earlier. Apparently they were told that there wasn't enough budget, but in truth, the whole idea was scrapped. Oh well. Doncha worry, guys, there's still Bagaberde next month!

So instead of going to some formal ocassion, I'm going back to my alma mater tomorrow (oops, technically today) to watch the alumni cast of Godspell. Hehehe, I even got Rain to go with me. I can't wait to watch Pam, Ria and the others in action again.

Anyone interested in answering this?

My Johari Window.

My golly, I couldn't wait for work to end (technically yesterday) because I was going back to DLSZ to watch Godspell.

GA dropped by the office during the afternoon, just when we had just ordered pizza. Hahaha, his main purpose was about Doubt tickets, but then he ended up copying CDs and chatting with Ate Sally and me.

After work, I immediately left for ATC, where Rain and I had agreed to meet. We were supposed to meet at 6pm, but it was only 5:30 by the time I arrived. So I decided to kill time at Timezone. Hahaha, I had Percussion Master all to myself. So I kept playing until I finished all the credits I had in my Powercard.

Rain had picked me up at around 7, then we went to Primo's house first to pick up the bags of chicken nuggets he had ordered. Then we had to go to his cousin's house to drop off a suit he had borrowed.

When we got to DLSZ, we went straight to the theater and immediately got our tickets from Mrs. Telen. After I took my tickets from her, I suddenly noticed that the elderly man clad in white next to her was Brother Ceci! Wheeee! He even asked why I wasn't involved backstage in this production, awww... Anyway, a few minutes later, the house was open, and we quickly found seats in the middle of the orchestra. That's when I saw Bunny sitting a couple of rows in front of us! My golly, I missed that girl! How appropo of us to meet again with Pam in a theater.

Aside from Pam, the Godspell cast (alumni) included Ria, Mae and Mikki. The cast was pretty good, but all throughout the show, the technicals really sucked. I mean, the show hasn't even started yet and you could hear the lapels and loud shuffling from backstage. Oh yeah, and Lawyn was also involved in the show, fiddling with the lights.

Once again, I found myself mouthing the lyrics of the songs. Having seen a production of the musical once (in St Scho by DLSU's Harlequin Theater Guild) and working as AD in another production in a Playshop class showcase (where Rianne was part of), I knew all the songs almost by heart.

Pam was adorable, hahaha. It's been quite a long while since I last saw her onstage (take YEARS) that it was quite refreshing to see her as this perky-perky girl following Jesus around. For some reason, Joonee's character annoyed me. Actually, it was practically the same when she performed in You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown as Lucy. She had this certain posture and she never speaks all the clearly because she spoke too fast. The Jesus character... well, he reminded me of those guys who are in these kids' shows, always smiling and always upbeat. There were a couple of songs that made me want to jump up and join them, and some were purely nostalgic. Aw...

Congratulations, you guys! It wasn't the best show, but I enjoyed it a lot.

Hahaha, yeah, it wasn't really that great, but it didn't suck either. When I found Ria outisde the theater when I was about to leave, she had asked me how the show was. I said it was pretty good, but she could see in my eyes what I really thought. But Ria! What made it great was seeing all you guys out there strutting your stuff.

After reuniting with Bunny and Pam after the show (by the way, whose camera was that? Can someone email me the copy of the photo of the 3 of us?), I found Bro. Ceci again, just mingling. He came up to me with some small talk, and added, "When will I be seeing you up there?" as he gestured towards the stage. *sigh*

It was great to see all those people. Familiar faces during my high school theater days. While Bunny, Pam and I were still huddled at the apron, I found Roderik behind the chicken wire. When I was talking with Mikki, he introduced me to Chris (who I knew as Carl when we were both in The Sound of Music). Paging RAIN!!! Then David suddenly emerged from backstage. Now that was a guy that I haven't seen in years, and I really mean years. And when I was outside and was ready to leave, I noticed this tall guy in a pink shirt. It was Gary! Wheeee! When I saw that it was him, a couple of jumbled songs from Pepe en Pilar started playing in my head, hahahahaha!

Oh yeah, ANNA! I saw you in the theater, but I didn't get to say hi. Sorry! I couldn't find you during the short time before I had to leave.

One of the best times I had tonight was after the show. Hanging out at Starbucks and talking, then a pleasant ride home. Having one of the best conversations I ever had with a friend just outside my house. During that time, I now know the answer to that question Nicco asked me a few nights ago.

Time to hit the sack. G'night, y'all!

Got home at 5 this morning. More on that later.

Last Friday, I went to Philamlife Theater to watch Looney Alley with Teena and Kassy. I went there immediately after work, so it wasn't a surprise that I got there at around 6 (and to think the show starts at 8pm). Peachy had texted me that I was to get her camera before the show so I can take some photos. But because they were doing sound checks and a sitzprobe, I hung around at the lobby for a while.

While I was near the stairs that led to the back of the auditorium, I saw the doors open and Sueyen stepped outside. Hahaha, she needed a break, so I went with her to 7-11 to buy something. I joined her at the tech booth for a while when we got back. Here I go again, everytime I come in before their show's run, I find Meynard getting mad and yelling. This time it was directed at the crew. My goodness. When he cooled down, that was when I went over to him and said hi, then asked where I could get my ticket. He told me to look for his wife Joyce, so I went to the lobby to find her and get it.

The show was OK (hahaha, here I go again with my vague comments). Some of the technicals were pretty bad, deadspots and feedback everywhere. And I noticed that Sueyen's lights were sort of hesitant in the beginning, but she got the hang of it soon, even though some of the actors got a little shadowed.

I didn't stick around much after the show. Teena, Kassy and I just went backstage to briefly congratulate Peachy, then we all left for home.

====================

Yesterday was the screening day for Kopihaus # 8. I had logged onto Y!M late Friday night to find Nicco online, and saw through his webcam that Drei and Mervin were also at his house, waiting for Bonkers, the editor. Huwaw, I thought they were cutting it a little close.

I went to meet Ate Sally at Tropical Hut yesterday morning for breakfast before we went to the office. Hahaha, we've been longing to have a taste of Tropical Hut for ages. But my goodness, we learned that taking coffee and pineapple juice at the same time during the first meal of the day wasn't good for the stomach, espeically after walking during a rainshower from Buendia to our office.

Rich arrived at around 10 to work on the books, and then a little after 11:30, we closed the office to watch Close To You in Glorietta. Hahaha, they've been wanting to watch this movie, so I went along with them. The movie was pretty cute. John Lloyd Cruz's punchlines were pretty funny. The flick was kinda cliche and predictable, but it was fine. Juggling a dream and a habit, I like that, ahehehe. Sound familiar, anyone?

At 3pm, I left the office and headed for Greenbelt 3's MyCinema, where Kopihaus # 8 was going to be shown. The guys said that they'll be there at around 2 or 3, so off I went. But hello, when I arrived, only Alvin was there. Oh well. As it turned out, Drei was still in Taft, and Nicco was still editing. Santa banana. They were still editing?!? Oh well. They were really cutting it close, because it was almost 5 and they weren't there yet. To think that the first screening was scheduled at 5:30.

Oh yeah, I was just decked out in a T-shirt and shorts then, and good thing I brought my clothes for that night instead of wearing it right away. When I went downstairs to help Blonski with the stuff from his car, some of the water from the dispenser I was holding had splashed onto the front of my shirt and even my shorts. I couldn't even let it go while we were walking because if I did, people would think I had an accident in my shorts. So I had to change by the time we had returned to the cinema.

I'd rather not elaborate on the whole time where I was behind the counter selling tickets while someone else was serving coffee next to me. The 5:30 screening was pushed 2 hours back. Drei had announced that it was due to technical problems, but the real reason was that Nicco and Mervin were still with Bonkers, and they were still having the CD burned, and it was all the way in Greenhills.

Anyway, during the screening, the rest of us still hung around in the cinema lobby while the first guests watched. Holy kamote, suddenly Drei rushes out of the cinema, saying that there was some goof up in the editing, which was a huge noticable one. Santa banana. Lesson learned, dearies. You should've checked on the whole thing from time to time. I know you guys have a lot of faith on the editor, but hello? You still have to check up on it.

When all of us filed in for the second screening, we finally brought in the popcorn and drinks for everyone, yay.

OK, first of all, the camera made me dizzy. The stuff that were shot by a handheld... my golly, do you have to keep zooming it in and out that often? I know you may be trying the Arrested Development style, but the less movement, the better.

We kept laughing at all those funny characters and their nuances. The most hilarious was Cris as one of the jologs messengers. He kept saying "mocha jaba" over and over again, wahahahaha.

Oh yeah, I couldn't help but notice that the mirrors kept appearing and disappearing from the walls, ahehehe. Oh yeah, for those who watched, during that scene with the messengers where the camera kept moving around too much, that was because it was trying to avoid being seen on the mirrors, hahaha.

Too lazy to make more comments.

Anyway, to Taft Zero, despite the uhm, turnout of everything, I'm still proud of you guys. Congrats to my bros!

After the whole thing, when everything was all packed up, we still hung around the lobby, sitting around, talking about everything that had happened.

When Cris and Nicco decided to get a bite to eat at that place near Muscle Beach (I forgot the name), I decided to join them. We found a table that only had 2 chairs, so I had to borrow a chair from the next table. The girl sitting there looked quite familiar... it was Avril! Hahaha, Aves! It's been ages since I last saw you! Twas great to see you again! Oh yeah, Cris and Nicco found you cute, ahahaha. They said that they had already noticed you even before I went to borrow a chair.

Drei, Nicco, Mervin, Cris, Alvin and I ended up sitting around at Masas at Greenbelt 2 afterwards. They all wanted to go out after the show, so that's where we found ourselves. Some of them wanted to go to Temple to dance and stuff, but we still stuck to our seats. Then Alvin had to go home, then Cris as well. Then Merv suddenly decides to go to Decades in Metrowalk. My golly, then Cris suddenly texted, saying he's coming back. He just went home to change his clothes (he was wearing shorts and sandals during the screening), then appears in a new ensemble.

Off the five of us went to Decades. I was still kinda unsure at first, but I ended up going with them because what the heck, I really need to go out. By the time we got out of the car at the parking lot in Metrowalk, Nicco reminded me that we both needed to go out, wahahahahahaha! So this was our chance.

At first, the place was pretty OK, but because of the thick crowd, my brief enthusiasm wore out. After a while, I decided to stay outside instead. I swear, I can't handle the clubbing scene.

I ended up leaving at 4 in the morning. Let me just say that I got totally annoyed at Drei that night. When we were still at Masas, I was still pondering on whether to go with them wherever or not, because I still have to think about how to get home. Drei quickly answered that we'll go home together. Then when I was already feeling out of it outside Decades, I asked him if he had any plans of going home soon. My golly, he briefly said no, and when I pointed out that he had said we'll leave together, he said he did, but not right away. OK, so I have to adjust to his mood? He took responsibility for it, then that? Santa banana. And then when I really had to go, he said that he doesn't have a choice. Why do I have to be the bad guy? Que annoying.

Anyway, despite everything, I had fun with y'all, right from beginning to end. Thanks thanks, mwah mwah.

Now it's time to go back to sleep.

OK. I'm sorry for those comments before, bro. I shouldn't have rubbed it in. I should've known better, knowing that you've gone through so much pressure. I've been through the same pressure, with goof-ups as well, so I guess I should've put myself in your shoes before mentioning those comments.

Put it this way. You still have a chance to fix them up, right? And you still have another chance to show them what you got. I know what you guys are capable of doing. You can do it.

Usually there's only Ate Sally, Kuya Boni, and me in the office. Twice a week, Rich would also be there.

When we left the office this afternoon, there was Ate Sally, Kuya Boni, Rich, Ate Rose (Ate Sally's cousin), Ate Janine (the auditor), and Karen (the incoming accountant). Ate Sally commented that it would be fun that we would be just as many in the office everyday. Yeah, I totally agree with her. It's nice to have a lot of people around the office.

It's a great change. It keeps me from being lonely outside the office. I hate that feeling. And I just realized that it's spreading like an epidemic among my friends, ahahaha.

Oh, some of you know what I mean.

Stupid lousy useless post. Help. Let's go out.

Went to watch Kapihan sa Loob ng Isang Dula at DLSU's William Shaw Hall this evening. Nicco, Cris P, Russell, and Camille were all in it.

When I first got to read the first few pages from Nicco's script weeks ago, I couldn't understand much of it. All I knew was that there were these directors and actors bossing each other around. So he explained that it's a play within a play within a play. Santa banana.

Nicco gave me one of his compli tickets, yay. Well, I just I sort of obliged him to because I really wanted to understand what was going on in the play. Ahehehe, there were a couple of times that he would read some of his lines or words that he had trouble with, and we would end up discussing his character over the phone.

I found Naomi and Eka just in time. My ID was invalid, and I couldn't get into DLSU without a ticket, so they got my ticket for me. The three of us went to the theater together, and then they had decided to go backstage to bug Nicco in the dressing room. Found him there with Cris and a couple of the other actors, and got to hang around for a while until someone said that it was time for open house. Instead of going around to the lobby, we went to the audience area from the stage and got seats in the front row.

So basically, the gist of the play was what I had mentioned, a play within a play within a play. Cris' character was a director of a play that starred Nicco's initial character. And that character is a director of a play in which Camille is the star, who's a director of another play.

Wait, did that make sense?

Anyway, Cris' character is directing Nicco, who's directing Camille in the play that he's in. So what you see now is that Nicco plays two characters, an actor and a director. Camille has three, an actor in Cris' play, an actor within the play directed by Nicco, and a director.

Gah, I still don't know if I make sense. Basically everyone plays a schizo, ok?

Then lo and behold, halfway through the one-act play, someone shouts from the front row. Russell, the director of the whole banana. Wait... He's the director of Kapihan, and he also plays the director of Cris.

Everyone's character seemed to be neurotic in their own way. Cris keeps smoking and moved as if high on caffeine as Director 3, but keeps fidgeting as his character under Russell's Director 4. Nicco has a tick as the director character under Cris' Director 3, and insecure as hell, but goes all out mad and crazy as Director 2.

Hahaha, this was the third time I saw Russell act, and the second time I saw him perform as a serious actor (the first time was in Intersection). As the maestro/Director 4, he was like some director guy that was ready to toss the stools at the actors, hahaha. But once faced with Camille acting as Director 1, he becomes oblivious of everything and focuses on her.

Cris was a natural, what I can I say? For someone who was mentioned as best featured actor in a play for 2005, he certainly lived up to it. The kid's got great talent. He made everything seem so easy. From his monolgue at the beginning of the play until the very end, he never faltered. No wonder he's called "Master P", hahaha.

Then Nicco, the one I used to call my "favorite burgeoning actor". He seems to get all the interesting roles, and this was no exception. As his actor-chactacter under Cris, I had mentioned that nervous tick as a nuance. Then he managed to shift instantly as Director 2, this crazy director that Camille's character is under who gets annoyed at everyone. One thing I've noticed was that how he got angry at the cast he was in charge of. His patience was short, and kept raising his voice to the point of yelling. Knowing Nicco, he never does that in real life. Wahahaha, makes you think that he managed to bottle up all his anger and took it out there. Another refreshing performance from my baby bro, damn proud of you.

Wait, by the way, what was that you mentioned again after the show when we were out in the lobby? I still didn't figure out what you guys were going to talk about, or even who you're going to talk with.

Interesting play, very interesting. Written by a Japanese playwright and translated in Taglish (or Englog?), it gave a very colorful interpretation of the ranks of God (Russell), Society (Cris), Man (Nicco), and the Muse (Camille). Though I don't think no one in the audience really got its message. Heck, I only heard from it after the show, while sitting in Starbucks.

Congrats, guys. Watching it was worth my time. Thanks to y'all.

Ooooh, Lea's birthday yesterday. Belated Happy Birthday, Manang!

Kassy had invited Teena and me to one of their functions in AKIC, so that's where we went early this evening. I had missed last week's function, so I didn't want to miss this one, which was their Mediterranean Cuisine function.

Teena had picked me up ouside my office building a few minutes after I got out. Then we were off to CSB-AKIC. Ahehe, we got there about an hour early, so we had to wait for Kassy to pick us up downstairs at the entrance.

We usually eat a heavy snack at the office at around 3pm (usually pandesal plus some extra), but because we were watching Brokeback Mountain, we didn't realize what time it was until we had finished the flick. Anyway, so I didn't eat before I arrived at the function, so my stomach was ready to eat anything.

Whee, I loved the motif. Well, not the whole setup, really. Just the color scheme, which was blue and white tablecloths and yellow napkins.

Ahahaha, first of all, most of the food was sour. Well, not too sour... just that the main taste was sour. Starting off with the gezpacho, the soup surprised me at first. Like Teena, I wasn't used to cold tomato soup, but I welcomed it. Hahaha, throughout the entire meal, I was the one who keeps finishing the food on my plate first. The color of the beef inside the stuffed cabbage (don't ask me what the name of the entree was, it was long and I can't even pronounce it) was kind of disturbing at first, because it was gray in color. Kat was the first one who mentioned it out loud, so I said that if you cover it up with the cabbage again, you'd forget about it, hahaha.

Oh yeah, we got to meet Chef Nick that evening too. He was also sitting at our table, and while we were working on the entrees, he first brought up this topic about Tamille's iPod, and then evolved into a conversation about local 80s TV shows, hahaha.

Thanks for dinner, Kass. Kat, it was great to meet you too.

Hahaha, Teena and I ended up bringing some of the "Lekhadnodolmathes" (ahahaha, yes, that's the main entree) home. My mom took it out of my hands before letting me in the house when I arrived, hahaha.

Watching Sweet Charity tomorrow, yay!

I hate rescheduling. Some of you know that. Even those spontaneous "movie tayo" things drive me crazy sometimes, unless I feel like it.

Well, OK, I wouldn't mind it at all if I was already out and restless.

The crazy happenings in EDSA drove me crazy. This is not the way to celebrate People Power.

So because Sweet Charity got postponed until next week, I went straight home.

No, really, I hate rescheduling in general. No offense to the people involved, but I don't like switching things around just to accomodate you guys. I know you're pressured to finish it before the deadline, but hey, please consider other people's time as well. I don't enjoy looking at my calendar every now and then just to say that I'm not available. So I hope this last call will really be the last. I have other plans around that particular time frame.


Spent the day holed up in my room, mostly just sleeping or watching TV. I had slept at almost 4 in the morning because Lye and I had to listen to this new "radio station" via voice conference. Nicco had a little too much coffee to drink that night and kept playing these songs and singing along with them, wahahaha.

Nicco: i play the music, i sing the songs
Hogi: ano kaya name ng radio station?
Hogi: hahaha
Lye: bagay na bagay sayo yan nicco!
Hogi: wahahahaha, oo nga no!
Lye: coffee beans and cute girls
Lye: yan angradio station ni nicco!
Hogi: CBCG... "i play the music, i sing the songs"
Hogi: wahahahaha
Hogi: kulang na lang yung station id jingle
Lye: brought to you by asahi appliances
Hogi: *laughing smiley*

Hahaha, Lye's status read "im a "forced" fan of dj nicco!" while mine said "CBCG... HE plays the music, he sings the songs, HAHAHAHAHA!"

Oh, the things we come up with during the wee hours of the morning. Ey, don't forget our movie date!

I'm getting hungry again. Maybe some mango float that Ate Maui gave will help, hehehe.

I caught the last 15 minutes of The Mighty Ducks on Star Movies when I turned on the TV. D2: The Mighty Ducks is playing right now. Ahahaha, I have a feeling that the third installment will follow this one, like it always does when they show all 3 on Star. Hahaha, hearing the words "Flying V," "knuckle puck," "stick, gloves, shirt" and "Bash Brothers" remind me of those teeny bopper days.

Ice skating in general is one of my frustrations. I once saw some clips of Skating With Celebrities on ETC that featured Nancy Kerrigan and Chris Hamilton a couple of months back.

Hahaha, and to think that one of my favorite movies is The Cutting Edge starring Moira Kelly.

The first time I went ice skating was on course cards distribution day after my first term in CSB. I ditched the day to go with this guy friend to Megamall to teach me to skate. I spent most of the time at the railing, but after a half hour, I managed to let go and join him in the middle, and I only fell down once, yay! Hahahaha.

I believe the second and last time was with Mikki and Zyra in South Mall before we went to ATC for Playshop class. Mikki had texted me to leave the house early to go ice skating, so off we went. I spent quite some time hanging on to Mikki's arm before I managed to go my own way, hahaha.

I wanna go ice skating again. Megamall or South Mall, anyone? Just don't forget to bring your socks.

After almost a year now, I realized that my expectations weren't reached since summer had started. I guess that's why I've been feeling lonely, and learned the art of brooding.

I never really got to meet a lot of people while working. Yeah, there was the cast and crew of Beauty and the Beast, but that was a stint of 3 months. After that, I'm just in the office with a population of 2-4 people. I envied my other friends who managed to accomplish a lot throughout the year with a lot of other people by their side.

I need places where I can go out and meet people. I miss that. I miss striking up a conversation with someone new and hanging out with a bunch of new friends.

I need a big change. I want to do something else.

This made me smile yesterday afternoon...



Dad and Terie asleep on the carpet of the masters bedroom.
Hahahaha.

Met up with Rosa after work today because she had her orientation at Monde in the afternoon. Had dinner at Glorietta then I dragged her to Timezone to play Percussion Master. Hahaha, I got her to play as well, but she chose the easy mode. She also loves Bishibashi, so we had a few rounds at that game as well.

We took the same shuttle together so Aris can pick her up outside my village. Hehehe, they decided to bring me all the way home so they can see how Terie was doing. Nyak, they came to my house to visit Terie, not me, ahahaha. After getting reacquainted, Terie managed to show a certain trick he learned with my dad. Yay, go Terie! Heeheehee...


I used to say that I miss those crazy conferences I used to have with a bunch of my friends a few years ago. We stayed up until the wee hours of morning, talking about what we had in common to more trivial stuff, like siomai and Kitkats. I wasn't into online chatting then unless I knew the person, but I haven't seen the faces of half the group then. I actually had a blast just seeing their messages before I got to hear their voices and see them in person. Now they've become some of my most cherished friends, and even though I haven't seen most of them in ages, I know MagaGANGda pa rin sila, hahaha.

It's been a while since I was part of a crazy Y!M conference such as that. A few weeks ago, Mimay invited a bunch of us to an online voice conference that consisted of some of her friends. Text combined with voice was crazier, hahaha. What's more, we also had singing. But during that first time, I sort of kept aloof. My mind was still set on missing the same people I used to chat with, so I was still sort of detached. Yeah, I listened and participated a bit, but I was still in my own world.

I rejoined their conference again last night. I was a little more active then, minus the microphone. Ahahaha, I have to admit, I didn't have a mic that first time, which was a relief, because no way could anyone get me to join in the singing. But now, even with a mic, I was content with typing and listening to the others. So yeah, I had to admit that I had fun. It helped that I knew half the people there, such as Mimay, Nicco and KZ.

In relation to my last journal entry, I guess Arrah was right. It's a start to meet new friends. It's like going back to trying what I was hesistant to try 3 years ago (my golly, it's been that long already?).


Once again, I'm still trying to map out my plans for the summer. I want an outlet, but I don't really want to leave what I'm doing right now just yet, or even for a while. I guess I'll just have to bring up the topic ever so casually.