been out for a long while.

but im back :p

beh.

HAPPY 2008!

little jai: 2008 is such a big number!

as if.
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before i jot down my new year's resolution (i haven't prepared one before the year started), id like to post some of my annoying traits. i see these things as gifts actually, even though they are a bit annoying. but whatever.

1. i have a very low pain tolerance level.
the last of my wisdom tooth-s err. teeth? decided to emerge from the unknown for the new year. from new years day up to now, i have been a helpless lump of fat thingy wanting to cry like a kid.
jai: maaa! *sobbing sounds* my tooth hurts! waaaaa.
and of course, mama just stared.
mama: eh wala tayong magagawa. take paracetamol. take one every 3 or 4 hours ok?
seriously, its as if pain shock waves from pacinian corpuscles are having a party around my head! particularly my right jaw and most of my skull. i'd rather have my hair pulled out than being tormented by this stupid tooth. i've been sucking on cotton balls and tissue paper for two days now! im even still surprised i havent swallowed any of it in whole! oh well. at least i'll have 'wisdom' for this year.

2. i can make snow fall off my hair.
i have been blessed with this magical ability to make snow. at least that's what i thought up until the 2nd grade. yes, i did have dandruff that young. and even if i thought back then that it was cool to be mature and all, i hate it now. whenever i'm stressed, i get a very white scalp. i usually produce this very thick layer of dead skin under my hair during exams and other academic war games, but i also have them when i'm in an irritated mode. much like what i feel now since i have nothing to do but to wait for june to come. ok, so i chose to do nothing. but still man, im uneasy just watching movies, smoking and pretending to write.

3. i need long hours of sleep to function normally.
if i dont get 10 hours of sleep, i'd be all grumpy. thing is, i dont think i should live here on planet earth. i dont do well with routines. and having a 24 hour day-night shift is such a weird thing for me. i can stay up (and stay to my optimum level) exactly 18 hours after a 10-hour slumber. now, since im practically like a fungus around my room, i actually sleep and wake up at different hours. every day! mama either doesnt see me awake or doesnt see me sleep.

4. i dont have any more significant things to write anymore other than those 3. plus im bored. this sucks. and this article is too long.

mama bought drinking glasses shaped like vases. actually, i think she really believes them to be drinking glasses even though they really are vases. oh well. so much for that.
...

i still dont have a new year's resolution right now. i dont think i really need or want to resolve anything. though i must admit i did try to start my list writing down 'quit smoking' but i quickly crossed it out as it seemed to be unrealistic. i mean, i'd rather not have an unresolved list with me.
...

my tooth still hurts. im freaking out about it. i feel so helpless really. but then the toothache whine-ings of a 21 year old plum would probably be more irritating than entertaining. i hope i wont die from all those tabs im taking. i'm already gulping down a little more than 5 tablets of 500mg of paracetamol a day.

why paracetamol and not a more stronger pain-killer? simple. im allergic to things like aspirin or mefenamic acid. before, i really didn't mind being allergic to shrimp or crab or chicken or peanuts or chocolate much less being allergic to shrubs-turned-tablets, but now im cursing it. i'm a walking time-bomb with no batteries for an explosion. anyway, my lymph nodes are still currently swollen and it seems my pacinian corpuscles in my right jaw are still partying. my metaphors are hideous.
...

iv just watched bring it on 2. yes, that would be the cheer leading movie. yes, its been what? 2 years? haha! i just watched it for the first time. poor girl, she doesn't grow up at all! she's stuck to being a cheer leader even for the heroes series. what if she gets older? would her role turn to be an old cheer person? damn im rude. its the tooth. forgive me. oh. ive also just watched stomp the yard. ha! at least ive become a less loser now. i think.

..and that would be the highlight of my day, thank you very much..
...

..but im still on the roll.

have i mentioned that we had our fates read last dec23? nothing much, i just wanted to share. also, im 'sharing it' so i'll have an excuse for actually writing down my fortune forecast.

she told me that i would:
- marry at 27 or 28 years old.
- be known internationally, with a note that i should get along with black people.
- become a millionaire philanthropist and helping very very many many people.
- become a doctor for children.
- be financially stable
- be and more.

what i meant with the 'be and more' part is this: she (the card reader) told me that i should "continue to dream" and that i "have faith in fate".
funny thing is, i really DO dream of these things. i actually do.
i actually believe in them. i don't focus my dreams on being accomplished. though i do want to be rich enough to have a house in britain, italy, paris, washington and LA.

for me, goals and dreams are different. i dont know if i ever even HAD a goal. i say the word often but i dont think i used it in a way it was meant to be used. i dream. i want. but to get myself together and charge head on with all my power to a single, err, goal would be just fictional for me.

i do have mini-goals in life: like wanting to win a taekwondo or chess match; saving up for a must-buy thingy; or finishing a requirement for whatever. but to say me having a real goal, a long-term goal of whatever, is simply idiotic. yes, i do want to get rich and famous. but i dont really see myself doing things intentionally to be all that.

ah. but i do have faith in fate. i believe my life is written before hand. it is however, just written one chapter in advance. i still call the shots a little bit, but what has to be will be. options are presented and i seem to be choosing 'em but the what am i to the story has already been decided on. i really believe this to be true. i know some people are scared of that thought because they feel helpless about everything. that what is written could not be changed. that even by how much i fought, they would still only be at that level.

well, too bad. but for me, i believe im meant for greater things.

call me whatever you like, but at least im happy believing that whatever i do, as long as it's in the bounds of sanity, i'll be ok. more than ok. im a great character. i dont think i have a story of my own, i believe im part of A story with the writer endlessly twisting, modifying and editing the plot. im still what i am in the end.

dont get mad or whatever. maybe my thoughts on life is only an excuse for being the bum i am right now.
...

that rambling was a bit off topic. but no matter! haha!
...

oh well, i do sound like im saying what? bullocks? but hey. anything to get me un-bored once in a while.

bahing means sneeze
...

I've been a bit lazy typing new entries. obviously.

Sister Berta, our infamous card reader will be dropping by later to reveal what will be in store for us in 2008. mama took off to fetch her. guess she needs to earn.

now this sister berta is not really a nun. however, she's still called 'sister' because she worked for nuns before, running a cafeteria for high school catholic students.

she was the one who 'read' the fate of ate ---lyn, our former katulong (err, i think she'll be working for us again now) who went to singapore to work as a domestic helper.
...

ate ---lyn's employers were a british national and a korean office woman. she took care of their 2 children. the british man, who was the one who stayed home.

ate's agency said that she has a salary of 330 singaporean dollars a month, half of which will go to the agency. upon arriving at her employer, she was then informed that she was to receive only 20 singaporean dollars (less than 600 Php) for 7 months. afterwhich, she will be receiving the promised 175 dollars until 2 years has passed.

they said she owed them money, even though she already paid a 30thousand pesos placement fee from her agency here in the philippines. (we found out later that her philippine agency is not registered)

once, according to ate --lyn, her no - good - stupid - british employer went inside the bathroom while she was about to take a shower. she is not stupid btw. her employers forbid her to lock rooms. anyway, she ran and hid herself inside her room, which she jammed closed to prevent the guy from entering.

she was the 22nd maid of the couple, the last one got fired because the british man got her pregnant. this was according to her neighbor filipina maid.

after receiving her 3rd month pay, she ran off to the philippine embassy and stayed in their safe-house for 2 weeks. we came to singapore and fetched her last weekend. before her release, she signed a waver stating that she was a runaway and was not going to press any charges to anyone. the labor people there told her that if she pressed charges, her 'release' would take longer.

we arrived from singapore last last night.
...

unwanted point:
singapore is a rich country

trivia:
>>each philippine embassy (per country) receives a budget of 5k dollars or higher. (the phil embassy in britain has a budget of around 10k dollars a month)
>>'runaways' staying at the safe house ate 'upo', tilapia, and other cheap filipino food. there were only 40 of them staying at the safe house.
>>food in singapore (or anywhere for that matter) is cheap. note that we are talking in dollars and not the embarrassing phil peso.

i received an invite to apply for this uber cool music err... i dunno what to call them. just visit them here: http://www.pulse.ph
its for a 2month writing position. damn! if they had only invited me last november, i would have tried.

why not try still? because ill be somewhere other than in front of my computer for 2months starting feb8. im on a free trip to see snow in pennsylvania. i actually won a trip from a pack of cigarette. yes, im kidding.

anyway, i browsed around the site and my love for pinoy music re-emerged. i swear, when i start to bring home bags of money (does that happen if i become a medical doctor?), i'll friggingly buy a franchise of NU107 for our province.

*slap* now back to what i was saying... i browsed around the site and decided to hang around the forum area. the context of this entry was in reaction to this post:

There were a number of noteworthy independent bands that released excellent debut albums in 2007. Which of these is your favorite?
« on: December 14, 2007, 03:25:42 AM »
- Bagetsafonik - Travelogue
- Giniling Festival - Giniling Festival
- The Out of Body Special - Is Love
- Overtone - From Inside the Fishbowl
- Salindiwa - One

see that? it was posted dec14. that was ages ago wasn't it? oh well.
they have this poll and i clicked on Giniling Festival. the group received 100% of the votes. either they are the ones people know, or im the only one who voted. haha!

i left this post there:

notes from a La Union person:

as expected, them Giniling Festival guys are the most popular. (err.. so far?) :D

well, i say this partly because G-Fest was part of my memories when i was still studying in UPDil. The UP Fair would definitely be lousy if by some weird reason, the G-Fest gang were not invited.

i congratulate the group for being one of those bands which rose into fame without help from music label companies. yes, they are actually getting famous fast. they already are receiving 'istardom' in our province ;D

you see, i grew up in the province. particularly in my province, the only [s]unworthy[/s] music that receive airtime play on the radio are songs of artists seen on tv. bands rarely have the chance of having their music played. exceptions are of course parokya ni edgar, the (former) e-heads, rivermaya and those 'new' bands marketed by music label companies.

well, Giniling Festival is amazingly 'sikat' (famous) in our province. imagine the shock i got when i heard a group of high school students actually singing the song. you must understand that in our city, only one channel is clear and cable companies actually charge for the length of the 'cable'.

i saw those province kids goofing around while singing the g-fest anthem and i smiled. i thought: wow, Giniling Festival really reached this part of the universe? later, i found out that some province-local band was doing covers of their songs in barangay-battle-of-the-bands competitions. yes, we still call those things battle of the bands.

it's just too bad that because Giniling Festival is an independent band, no label company is marketing their music. thus, no performance invites for the city fiesta.

please tell these guys they're great and some of La Union loves them.
one more reason for them to stick around the pinoy music scene.

-end of post-
.....

what i wanted to add was:

radio stations in la union have sister stations from manila. these head stations sometimes compile a number of songs for those in the province to play. obviously to have the current music trends. while the local-pinoy-bands music scene is amazing in manila, it is sadly sad sad in ours.

the head stations do send a great compilation cd of the current pinoy bands music. these head stations 'pick' what they believe are the best music and compile them in the cd.

now, upon arrival on our provincial station, the station manager then selects specific songs (4 out of 20) from the already strained-out cd compile, which s/he believes to be good for the radio.

debate all you want over the stupidity of the comment but that's what they believe. how do i know? around 2 or 3 years ago, i went there with a UP friend and gave CDs to the stations. (chubibo, urbandub and all those.. my friend had contact with) though they didnt turn us down, they still didnt promise these type of music to be played. the woman we talked to even showed us the compiled CDs their head station sent them to play. she also told us the thing about the station manager i wrote above to explain the little black check marks on the cd case. check marks for those lucky selected songs.

the woman (she was not the station manager), even told us that there are individuals (there were many, she said when i asked) who came to them with samples of their songs but got turned down even if the recordings were of quality.

hai. a wonderfully frustrating experience.