Look Me Up A New Revolution

There should be a number you can send an MMS to that will accept a picture of any vehicle that uses that damned siren and/or police "protection" to get through traffic. And after n number of "reports" from different mobile phones, an inquiry of the supposed "government emergency" should be made. Something like that U-S-O-K hotline, except for "wang-wang". K-U-P-A-L, maybe?

Which reminds me, I need pictures on this thing.

How Sweet It Is!

...Not. Ok, so we lost, again. Which isn't real surprising, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I didn't even watch past the first quarter because it looked from the get-go that our guys were outclassed. There, I said it. If you don't think so then images of Jec Chia making game-winners are still rerunning in your heads. Get over it. We need a game plan.

I don't really mind being in the middle of the pack again, like it was in the late 90's. I'm used to an Ateneo team that shoots the three as a first resort. Nothing says school spirit like lowered expectations.

But after the finals please let no one quote Rudy T. It's annoying. Sports and slogans. Ugh.

Now onto actual sweet things:

Attended the Art Seminar for Non-Artist's Seminar on Illustration (sponsored by InK) at the Ateneo last Monday. Inspiring, is all I can say. Better time spent than say, Mobile Pilipinas 2005.

Went to the gym for the first time in my life last Tuesday. And promptly went to Country Style Donuts after. Why the other big donut names in the country don't offer old-fashioned sour cream I'll never know.

Bought an obscenely expensive pair of sneakers, because I was so pissed that the obscenely expensive jacket I've been eyeing disappeared from the racks.

To end the week (sort of), watched Fever Pitch/Perfect Catch last Saturday, and then a couple of rounds of beer. Cute, simple fun. Everyone should have weeks like these.

Eight Hours, For What?

Yes, I saw Footloose. So out of character, but then again, this career sloth just joined a gym, so really right now anything is possible. Jon Ray 4-point-oh.

There should be an additional scene at the end of the play where Ren asks the minister "Yo minister, now that we've trashed that anti-dance law, let's see what we can do about this no-drug policy." I kid. Yeah, it was funny the first ten times I heard it, too.

And that was just one of the strange things that went on over the weekend. Drank wine with flight attendants while watching Sex and the City on Thursday, drank wine after watching Jay-R and Iya and everybody cut, everybody cut, everybody cut, everbody cut footloose on Friday, drank beer with surfers on Saturday, and hung out at Mobile Pilipinas 2005 this afternoon.

Actually, being around a play isn't that strange for me. Consider:

• Two years ago, I watched a Koine play by myself (I forget the title), at the request of an then-officemate, and I sat next to a girl who was bawling her eyes out by the end of it.
  
• In 2001, I was an usher at the CADS-sponsored production of Fame, and almost picked a fight with the head of the front-of-house. Sorry!
  
• Our college tambayan was right next to Niel de Mesa's (sp?) and his Flounder (from The Little Mermaid)-decorated acoustic guitar.

Okay, that last one I realy had nothing to do with.

The best play I've seen? The locally-produced, rock star-studded Jesus Christ Superstar, for obvious reasons.

Sucker

Due to insistent public demand (and by public, I mean two people), I've gone off to join a gym. And I got suckered into committing myself to this for a year. A year! I can't even commit to a job that will pay for this for a year, what the hell am I thinking?

Maybe I just wanted an excuse to buy gym wear, I'm not sure. My mom has another theory that I just wanted a new ogling venue, and she's probably right. Hmmm this is bothering me more than it should. Excuse me while I rationalize:

• First off, I get to go to the gym.
• Second, I hope to spend that time with new friends.
• I live near one branch and work near another.
• Paying that much will force me to actually work out.
• It's practice for when I actually will need to cut that much out of my salary.
• It will hopefully turn out more useful than say, an iPod Nano. Blasphemy, I know.
• I hear endorphins make you happy.

And boy do I need endorphins right now. When do I start?

Meanwhile...

I've been getting calls from more headhunters this week. Where were these people when I was unemployed? And why can't I say no to these people? I'm not really looking right now NOW.

Maybe it's because one day I hope to get suckered into something nice.

Welcome To The Fallout

No, there's no fallout. I just thought it would make a great title. From Switchfoot, from the line that injects life into the otherwise dreary Dare You To Move.

I made a jeep piss me off on the way home from jogging, when I could have clearly avoided the whole thing, but I let my righteous indignation get in the way. One of my many issues. But really, the/more idiots come out on Sunday.

And to think I was going to write about how...adult this past week had been. And again, I won't get into the details. This isn't PostSecret, you know. But the events of this week do remind me of that quote from a Jason Lee movie whose title escapes me, which quotes it from another book whose title also escapes me: "True love cannot be found where it truly does not exist, nor can it be hidden where it truly does". I love how it cuts both ways nicely.

Other highlights (of a lesser degree) from the week:

• Yet another meeting with the business partner at yet another Starbucks
• Avoided the whole EDSA mess last Wednesday by taking the MRT (Still the only way to travel in this city)
  
• Jeans purchase, except that it was two freakin' sizes bigger than I imagined
• First ever internet purchase, except that it wasn't for me
• Grandmother's birthday (yes it's that time of year again)
• The Olde Spaghetti House, cozily situated near AIM. Probably the best of its kind. Almost ordered pasta-flavored pizza with a side of pizza-flavored pasta, just to be able to say that phrase out loud.
• Won not one, but two games of pool!
• Watched Red Eye with future gym mates! I didn't know Wes Craven did comedies.
  

I'm having more and more of these event-filled weeks, and don't think I'm not grateful. One of the few regrets this week was not attending the company sportsfest, on account of being emotionally drained. Remind me next time that it's possibly the dumbest cop-out ever.

I'm Going To Hell

Because people who feel this guilty usually are.

I can't get into it in detail, but it has something to do with last night's cryptic post, the one that only merited a spam comment which I just deleted. But enough of that.

I want to talk about entrepreneurship. I am not an entrepreneur. I know that people who've just recently met me seem to sense that I give off that kind of vibe, but really I'm not. I graduated from a management course, and was pretty good at the subjects. But it ends there. I don't think about business opportunities all the time, or even at all. I'm not proactive. I don't raise my hand to ask questions and I don't smile a lot and I don't have a firm handshake. I sleep at meetings and I just say yes and nod my head to everything and pretend to understand stuff. I can't take red tape and the inefficiencies of starting a business. I don't dress well and I can't hold my liquor and I can't sell shit and I can't handle money.

I can think. All day. I can prepare an argument with the proper research. I can talk any prepared speech (, except the one that ends with "I love you"). I can put pen to paper and come up with something that will slightly resemble art. I can string words together to make a sentence, and string sentences together to make paragraphs. I can program web applications. I can fake a guitar solo using minor pentatonic. And that's it.

I know I should grow up and expand horizons and all that, but it has to still fall within the realm of what I know I can and want to do. Of what direction I want myself to take. My strength isn't in making things happen, and everyone should know that by now. If you can't understand that, give me a pen and a piece of paper, and I'll draw you a diagram.

Question

Is doing the right thing at the wrong time the wrong thing?

A Story Of Magic And Spiralling Ships And Stars In The Night

Ok, I'm cheating. I made an empty draft last Thursday so it would look like I was updating regularly. Especially because I wanted to put Wolfgang Night in here somwhere (see how!).

Because Mindy tagged everyone...

10 years ago: College freshie, and in that small point in time between June and September 1995 where I was closest to actually being happy.

5 years ago: A year removed from college and studying Java in IBM-ACE because I was too unmanageable to land a job in management.

Yesterday: ...and this morning. Watched Wolfgang Night with KC in Makati but had to leave before the Karl Roy-fronted set. I can still hear the guitars in my head.

5 snacks I enjoy:
1) Boston Creme at Dunkin Donuts
2) Reese' Peanut Butter Cups
3) Three mushroom pizza at Yellow Cab
4) Ben and Jerry's Cookie Dough Ice Cream
5) almost anything at Krispy Kreme

5 songs I know all the words to:
1) The Fly - U2
2) Little Pieces - Juliana Hatfield Three
3) Round Here - Counting Crows
4) Darkness Fell - Wolfgang
5) Patience - Guns N' Roses

5 things I would do with 100 million dollars:
1) An extensive library of music and films and books
2) Move out of the house (see next set of questions as to where)
3) Ferrari 550 (for the weekends) and a Peugeot 206 cc (for everyday use)
4) Buy love
5) Oh yeah give to charity: the Jon Ray Library Fund

5 places I would run away to:
1) Pais, France
2) London, UK
3) New York, USA
4) Vienna, Austria
5) August 1995

5 things I would never wear:
1) Size 28 pants...ever again
2) Bryant No.8 jersey
3) Speedo
4) Suspenders...ever again
5) iPod Shuffle

5 favorite tv shows:
1) Veronica Mars
2) CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
3) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
4) The Simpsons
5) OPM MYX

5 bad habits:
1) Let's
2) skip
3) this
4)
5)

5 biggest joys:
1) Let's
2) skip
3) this
4) as
5) well, because I don't want to pull a muscle trying to think of an answer.

5 favorite toys:
1) Jedi Starfighter
2) Sci-Fi from G.I. Joe
3) 1:64 scale DeLorean from BTTF II
4) Donatello and Raphael TMNT, the original series of toys
5) Although I had it for just one night (as an overnight trade), Ravage from the Transformers

5 fictional characters I would date:
1) Almost every X-Woman as drawn by Jim Lee, including intergalactic teleporter Lila Cheney and reporter Trish Tilby
2) Jordan Two Delta from The Island
3) Charlotte from Lost In Translation
4) Kim Bauer from 24
5) Max from Dark Angel