Relationships

Social, professional, casual, fleeting, sexual - so many kinds of relationships exist. In addition, there are various Facebook relationship satuses - Single, In a relationship, In an open relationship, Engaged, Married, and - my personal favorite - It's complicated.

Defining an It's complicated relationship status is easy - one must simply be unwilling to define his relationship status with another, and not talk about it. In other words, an It's complicated status simply means (to me, at least) that one does not wish to be labeled as Single, is currently seeing someone, but does not want to formally define a relationship with that someone, akin to saying something like "I do not wish to speak about it, therefore I will just say It's complicated and leave it at that".

***********

My relationship status: Complicated guy in a relationship.

One City at a Time

I consider myself lucky that I've been able to travel the country on the company's dime. Although I haven't been able to enjoy my stay in a particular place to the fullest, I'm not complaining - I get to sightsee after the job is done. Since starting my job, I've been sent to Cabanatuan City (twice), Davao City, Legazpi City, Zamboanga City (twice), San Fernando City (Pampanga and La Union), Dagupan City (twice), Cebu City, and Bacolod City (twice). During my travels, I've realized two things. One, I don't like travelling with my laptop. I have that tendency to just stay in, especially if the hotel has free WiFi. Two, I like travelling with companions just fine, but sometimes I prefer travelling alone - more freedom to choose where to go to, and how long to stay there.

----------

I've been playing this augmented-reality MMO game for months, and I estimate that I'm a few weeks before maxing out my levels. Which is perfect, actually - with the nature of my job, I get to travel AND establish my presence on the game, one city at a time. #ingress

----------

I am way behind on my bucket list. Since the first thing one should accomplish on one's bucket list is to actually sit down and add entries on one's list (which I've never had the inclination to do so before), therefore I am behind. But if I were to add items to my bucket list right now, then my first entry would be to travel the world, one city at a time.

Falling in Love (Is So Hard on The Knees)

You think you're in love
Like it's a real sure thing
But every time you fall
You get your ass in a sling
You used to be strong
But now it's ooh baby please
'Cause falling in love is so hard on the knees

- Aerosmith, Falling in Love (Is So Hard on The Knees)

~~~~~

Love is not rational, and never has been. Such is the story why men fall in love with bitches, and women fall in love with assholes.

Back to Basics

Okay, I think I've said this more than a few times in the past already. I think it's time to resume blogging. I've said recently to someone that blogging is a form of stress relief. As I'm feeling quite a bit of stress nowadays, maybe it's high time that I resume writing. Then again, I never claimed to be a writer - just a regular guy with his own insights, and Internet access.

~~~~~

It's been roughly a year since I last posted, and quite a bit more than that since my last proper post, so I think I'll spend a few minutes thinking on what I want to write about. (Time to put the rusty thinking gears in motion)

Scanning through some of my (quite) older posts, I did have quite a bit of early 20s angst, which may have resulted from me starting my quarter life crisis a bit earlier than usual (I think). But reading through them now, I find it funny that I had those thoughts during that part of my life.

~~~~~

There's one thing I missed out on writing about - my 10,000th day of life. If I remember my calculations correctly, it would have fallen sometime in July of last year. Come to think of it, something significant did happen to me during that time. That was the time I finally hung up my BPO headset for good (though I never went back to taking calls after 2006), and embarked on a new career outside of the industry. I met quite a lot of people during that time, and that was also the time when I met her.

Funny how life works.

You call it Valentine's Day. I call it...

...the day before my birthday. Single or not, I know I'm happy on the next day. =)

Ranting for the nth Time

Here I am, supposedly on my 3-day vacation, yet I find myself working on the email updates that my teammates are sending me. Understandable for 2 of them since I left what they're running as incomplete, but as for the other one, I did 5 day's worth of input and all she had to do was update everything. WL P DXPTT ABSN XL DILLYENNW NSNZJXAPYQ? QLND XL DALG GABX HPYW LE GLZHNZ DAN PD. RLUITBPY EPZDX, GLZH TBXNZ.

UVDX KN ZNBT ABYWJ XL ABSN XAN KLDD BD JLVZ KNDX EZPNYW...

Exiting Gracefully

Here comes that feeling once again. I'm no longer satisfied with what I'm doing once again. No, scratch that - I find that I am resenting the fact that my workload is encroaching my personal life once again. It's not just the occasional sacrifices (it's a Philippine holiday, but it's business as usual in the other side of the world, and since my work is kept in sync with the other side of the world, then I have no choice but to report for work). There are a lot more reasons, but suffice to say that I no longer feel security in my line of work.

Time to break out that letter once again...

I'm Back! Well, Almost...

It's been more than a year since I last posted. Not because I didn't have anything to post, but because I've had no time to post. Is blogging even the in thing now? Well, now, there's nothing much to share, but I would still try to post every now and then. Not because I want everyone to read about my inner workings, but because I consider this as a sort of therapy. A way of letting off some steam.

Food for Thought

It's the New Year! Finally I'm back in the blogging world. You'd think, though, that after a year of sporadic blogging, I'd be back in full force. Still, there are few instances that happened in the past year that were blog-worthy (or I chose not to remember them, of course - that's always as good an excuse as any not to blog). But, since I got my home computer back up, I'll be able to blog with a little more regularity than last year.

Anyway, just to share a little food for thought...

"You can take a monkey out of the jungle, bathe him, dress him up in clothes, put expensive perfume... If he chooses not to change his ways, then that's all he will ever amount to - a monkey trying to pass for human."

To the Monkey Man

Man, you really outdid yourself this time. From the first glance I already knew that you were an asshole, but now you've just proven it to the rest of the world. No wonder no one likes you.

The Body Shot Boy is Getting Old!

...Damn. Gone are the days when pulling all-nighters came as naturally as breathing. Gone are the days when drinking beer all day long was my forte (not that it ever was). Gone are the days when clubbing was all the rage. Gone are the days when spending money came as easy as 1-2-3.

Now, it's all about how much OT I can render without feeling like a zombie the next working day and how much sleep I'll be able to get with my schedule. Money never stays too long in my wallet, since it goes to bills (damn this cashflow! My expenses are almost equalling my salary).

Well, that's all part of growing up (and growing old, and hopefully growing wiser as well).

I still miss the old me, though.

16-Bit Heaven

I remember the days when owning an SNES was the in-thing. Of course, the young gamers nowadays would have no idea as to what the letters stand for, and probably would not even recognize one if it hit them on the head. SNES stands for Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo's 16-bit console that was very very popular during the early to mid-nineties. Among the SNES's (then) huge library of games, one title I remember very clearly - Super Mario Paint.

I remember playing SMP with the SNES Mouse, drawing (horrible) pictures and composing (horrible) music. At best, I could make like a kid with a coloring book and choose preset pictures which I could color, or render the birthday song on SMP's music composer. But this video is completely out of my league. Younha's Houki Boshi, completely done in SMP.

Back to Work

As it states above, I'm gainfully employed once more. No more bum days. No more late-night-DVD marathons (at least, not on work nights). No more slacking. Limited time for blogging - but then again, I haven't been blogging for quite a while. At the very least, I'll be paid for rendering overtime (finally! A job with OT benefits - no more OT-Y). And hopefully, I'll be able to focus better on my five-year plan this way.

Spinning the Wheel of Fortune

"Bankrupt! Lose a turn! Big Money! Higher! Nooooo!!!"

Famous words from the Philippine version of Wheel of Fortune. After all the days that have passed, I still can't believe that I was able to go through the whole experience of being a studio contestant (and conversing with Kris Aquino, if only for a few minutes, but that's not the point).

I didn't win the big prize that I wanted (not the car - I'd rather win money than the car), but at least I was able to bring home a substantial amount of money in exchange for all the money and time I spent during the whole screening process. And of course, even if only for a few hours, I made a few more friends. And I had my fifteen minutes of fame.

Life is good.

Now is a Good Time...

...for a bookdrive.

end of the school year na. clear your shelves for the summer. kung di ka naman bumagsak, di mo na yan kailangan. i-donate mo na. go.

pwedeng ihatid sa Saguijo. pwedeng mag email sa books@rockedphilippines.org para ipasundo.

anytime is good time to give books to students who can't afford it.

PS: kung gusto nyo mag rally, mag rally kayo. kung ayaw nyo --wag. pero mag donate pa rin kayo ng libro, maski ano pa desisyon nyo tungkol sa mga politiko.


Text by: Gang Badoy

Updating

Just a week to go before my birthday. Another year to add to my bean counter called age. And, come to think of it, this will be the first time I'm celebrating my birthday while I'm still officially a bum (though I prefer the term "freelancing"). Sorry guys, guess my treat's gonna have to wait. Of course, gifts are a different matter. I accept all major credit cards, check, and COD. Just kidding.

Anyway, it's been years since I've looked forward to my birthdays. This year's no different. I've never really celebrated my birthday with cake, balloons, the works (and I don't plan on starting now). Maybe a birthday dinner with family and a few close friends, nothing too fancy.

**********

Soon on WOF! :P (keeping my fingers crossed)

Bus Ride of a Lifetime

Been to Bulacan last night for business expansion. And after a few months of self-imposed isolation from the business, I was asked to present the business structure to potential business partners. Boy, was I nervous. I couldn't read my notes right, and my thoughts were disorganized, to say the least.

It's kinda funny that whenever I join my business partners for these trips I end up with a more positive outlook in life, however bad my day was before I accompany them. I believe that it's as Kuya Mike says, "You don't have to search far and wide to have a more positive outlook in life. If you know the right people, and you hang out with them more, then you'll have a more positive outlook as well. Hawa-hawa lang yan."

More positive people please! I'll take them anytime of the day.

I Really Should...

...dedicate an entire gallery for my nephew. I enjoy taking pictures of him and, at the same time, perfecting my photography skills.



Picture taken by yours truly, using my (sister's) Sony CyberShot DSC-S40. Roxas District, Quezon City. December 25, 2007.

It's the New Year!

This is what New Year is supposed to be. Glorious fun with family, friends, food, and booze.

Picture taken by yours truly, using my (sister's) Sony CyberShot DSC-S40. Quezon City, Philippines. New Year 2008.

Threesome

Gheof, pa-kopya ng picture! :P

Spent almost the whole of December 16th with Trix and Gheof at the Mall of Asia and Global Fun. A whole day of fun with friends. Makes the whole friendship thing worthwhile (not that it wasn't worthwhile to begin with).

Wishing this could happen more often.

Picture taken by yours truly, on Gheof's mobile phone (sorry, forgot what model it was). Global Fun, Pasay City, December 16, 2007.