2009 Recall

January – flew to Tawi-Tawi for the first time; enjoyed walking the streets of Zamboanga City alone

February – traveled back to Coron, exchanged smiles with the wild animals of Calauit, conquered the 700+ steps of Mt. Tapyas, and shook hands with Pacman

March – had three story development workshops, sad to say up to now, not a single thing has been materialized

April – started my own blog at tumblr.com; got into multiply too

May – joined Facebook and loved it; boarded for the first time a locally-made speedboat while island-hopping in Tawi-Tawi, thanked God for putting off a heart attack; swam off the 20-feet deep waters of Olango Island... sans life vest!

June – practically worked overtime the whole month in preparation for the 2nd Conference of Coastal Municipalities of the Philippines; worked on it with a heavy heart because as usual, my boss opted for the ever primordial and tacky thematic design... ew!

July – Atom got diagnosed with TVT (transmissible venereal tumor); thanks to my generous sisters

August – President Cory died; I got diagnosed with HAV (Hepatitis A Virus); I cried my heart out for both Cory and my HAV... sob

September – hand carried my own utensils everywhere I went, it was funny; the carpenter I hired for the Tawi-Tawi exhibit mysteriously expired even before we could launch, it was weird

October – got a new Sony Ericsson w705a mobile phone for free; published my first book layout after 5 long years

November – an incomplete family reunion with Ites, Jongjong and Noning; missed Bebot

December – met with old HS friends for a Christmas gathering/reunion thing; tried Crown Regency’s Edge Coaster Ride, got thrilled, got scared but smiled each time the flash went off; Christmas rush once more but still made it :-)

2009 wasn’t that bad at all. I now look forward to 2010 - when I'll soon be jobless and hit 40!

Where would you want Ironwulf to take you on a photo safari and why?

"Answer this question and you'll get a chance to win the National Geographic Expedition Journal with the first issue of Mango Magazine. Destination can be any place in the Philippines or South East Asia." - Ferdz Decena

I was a bit excited waiting for the announcement. And finally it came through. I was almost there, a slot shy from the top ten haha! I checked out again the winner's answer - "Idonesia or Thailand. :)" - hmmm... can't even write it correctly. No harm done then.

I'm still happy :-)

It's Back!

It's back! My FB is back!

OA.

Gone Pfft?

Just when I get to reach 300 links @ Facebook, my account goes pfft! Each attempt counters me with "Account Unavailable: Your account is temporarily unavailable due to site maintenance. It should be available again within a few hours. We apologize for the inconvenience." Uh-oh, I've heard of some friends' accounts being hacked and all. Don't they mess with mine. I hope it's only temporary.

Sob.

300

I used to be amazed with people who invite 300 or more guests on their wedding celebrations. I get totally confused at such profusion of social contacts. I always ask how could these people do when I myself couldn’t even name 50 friends whom I think would be worthy enough to be invited at such a special day (as if I had plans of getting married!).

But checking out my Facebook profile today, I found out I’ve already accumulated (unconsciously though) 300 so-called “social friends” — a mishmash of family, workmates, schoolmates, idols and fans as well (heehaw!). Some I’ve known from way back, some I’ve never met but have come to know thru the net. Some I haven’t seen in ages and some, I see practically everyday.

I’ve also noticed on some of my friends’ profiles their list of friends varying from 1000 to 1. Can one person really know (personally) a thousand people? I wonder how exciting or perhaps exhausting their life could be to socialize with such a bounty of associates. And how about those having only 1 friend? How unsociable. Nag-Facebook pa!

Going back to my 300 links, perhaps not even a quarter of it I consider really being close to. But all the same, I see their shoutouts every now and then, whether I like it or not. But who cares? They invite me, I add them up. I invite them, sometimes they add me not.

So, 300? Hmmm, that seems a lot to feed.

Swatch Electro Vibes, Fall 2009 Collection

I wonder if this watch would still be in the market when I can finally afford to get one.

Wish myself luck!

Green Sunday

My nephew Xyriel on a green-clad Sunday.

Why create a new blog when no one even bothers to read the other blog?

I am writing this in the middle of a late, pasta lunch. Late for me means past 12 noon because I'm an early person when it comes to meal consumption. So why late? I bought my lunch around 11 but when I got back, the office was quite packed with people my boss was trying to convince with her advocacy. I had to wait 'til they got settled with their own lunch. I wonder what took me so long to think that I could actually eat on my work table. How uncomplicated my life would have been. Anyway. Why pasta? I happened to eat at sbarro last night, enjoyed their spaghetti with white sauce so much (as if it was my first time!) that I promised myself to have the same stuff by lunch the next day.

So what's with the new blog?

I've tried Friendster way back (I got bored). Then signed up with Multiply (found it interesting at first but found out later on that there's not much you can do around it, or was it just me, who didn't know how to move around?). Twitter? I'm no Ashton Kutcher, so that's out of the list. Then I was challenged to get into Facebook for the simple reason that my 12 year old nephew already had his own page while I didn't. By some chance, I enjoyed FB so much I could not get thru another day without checking my account one last time before I sleep (no wonder my phone bill soars like a space rocket nowadays, perhaps that's the trouble with not having internet access at home). And I'm not even into farming nor any mob yet. It just excites me to be in touch with people I've come acrossed with for the last 30 years or so (sadly I have lost touch with friends beyond that time frame). Who would have thought that Rommel, my best friend in Grade 5 would still be the same giggly gay? That Judy, my Grade 2 best friend is still as funny as we were 8 years old? And most of all, who can ever resist complimentary eavesdropping? Thanks to you, Mark Zuckerberg!

I got into tumblr because I overheard from a friend that if you wanted to do a lot, get into tumblr. My intention was not purely about writing because like most other people, I am not gifted in that zone. I only wanted something where I could put altogether (electronically) stuff that I love such as photos, writeups, newsclips, music, videos, etc. I was already deep into tumblr before I heard of Blogger and found it out rather late. But nevertheless, for as long as everything else here is free of charge, I might as well give it a try. Even if no one actually bothers to read my other blog.

Go.