Posted 11/25/10 - "112510 - Ode to the Alleys"

goodbye metal alley

it will be the last time i'll be seeing you

you've been there till i reach 4

but now i want to see some more

thanks metal alley

i'll be forever grateful to you

i remember you concrete alley

me and my friends laughed with you

at 6pm, 15 pairs of footsteps talking of forever

when the sun sets until the lamplights flicker

thanks concrete alley

i'll forever remember you

i miss you wooden alley

forever i'll look back to  you

9 lbs grabbed by the bowler

10 pins he tried to shatter

thanks wooden alley

for the memories i have with you

hello unknown alley

would you please be kind as i pass through you

friends from the alleys i've been to

made me loved every alley just like you

thanks unknown alley

for opening the gates to know myself better through you...

Posted 10/18/10 - "Some Do's and Don'ts"

If you are walking along Taft Avenue and someone asked you of a certain place and you have no idea where it is, don't tell them that you don't know. Tell them it's just around the corner and move on. If they asked you where you live, tell them just a few blocks away from where you stand. If you try to be honest you might end up giving them your cellphone and wallet just for them to keep the ice pick and blades away from you.

If you are walking inside Shangri-La mall and someone smiled at you. Don't ever smile back. Reader's Digest article on smiling back to strangers is not applicable in this place. You might end up cursing and wanting to kill someone who wanted to "pick" you up. The thought of you thinking of killing someone will not, in any way, give you comfort.

If you are riding an fx going to TriNoma, make sure it is really going there. Make sure it is not white and tinted. Make sure it doesn't flash the signboard from the side window. Make sure you did that gesture that you intend to ride the vehicle not the other way around. You might end up standing with your knee shivering along E. Rodriguez avenue without your phone and your half-month salary.

It's okay to be paranoid. The unsuspecting, more often than not, loses.

Posted 10/02/10 - "The JM Experience :)"

Well, it's not a secret that there are people that i really admire their talents (Neil Gaiman, JK Rowling, John Mayer, Jack Johnson, Sarah Mclachlan and The Beatles).

Of course I will never see The Beatles (all-four) perform but had I been born on those years they are on top of the charts, I probably am a fanboy too.

I have two books signed by Gaiman. Awesome.

I am still hoping to have my HP books signed by Rowling.

I have no idea if Johnson and McLachlan will also have their concerts in Manila. I think the chance is very slim.

But that's what I used to think (maybe 10 years ago) with John Mayer.

But tonight, I just experience his music. :)

It was december of last year when I heard John Mayer will have a concert in Manila. It was postponed twice and finally it happened. And for some reasons it was on the same day of my birthday.

Some people asked me what is it that made me like his music (parang generic naman daw and paulit ulit lang).

Well, i can't explain it but i think it is the "POETRY" in his songs.

So there, I admit I am a fan.. hahaha.

Before going to the venue, I met up with Mon who's a fan also. I remember the two of us talking about the "Room for Squares" album way back in college.. hahaha when almost everyone is so much into LP.

So I went to the venue with her and Josh but we're on separate 'boxes'.

Front Act: Aiza Seguerra.

After hearing her sing Runaway, Bilanggo and  Bette Davis Eyes, I am convinced she's the right choice for the front act. I might search for her album after writing this.

The Main Event:

The first song is VULTURES. wow! it is on.. since no one around me knows me, i really was singing along (and at the top of my lungs) while the other were screaming.. lolz...

then there's a drizzle..

i dont have an umbrella... i just had my "rockstar" jacket with me... but who cares?

then everyone started to stand on their seats.. i had no choice but to do the same (alam na!)

then i saw John Mayer about the size of my hand.. yes that's how far my place was!

luckily i have a clear view of the screens :|

then the music just took me...

and then it rained.

i let the music and the rain drenched me.. hahahaha

one thing i noticed, on my right were teenage people they sing along with songs from the continuum and battle studies album.

the people on my left are the moms and the dads that i guess are older than me, they sing along with the songs from room for squares and have chitchats with JM's latest song...

I got all the songs covered.. hihihihi...

it was a beautiful suprise when he sang "Don't stop believing" and everybody had it in a very Glee way.. hahaha

It was fun dancing with people you don't know...

It was fun singing with the crowd...

It was fun hearing those songs again but this time not on your cd or mp3 player...

It was fun feeling like you belong.

I was wet all night but that's okay. I never felt hating the people who causes climate change..

I even saw some officemates and said hello.. kahit di ako sure kung kakilala nila ako.. but luckily nakilala naman ako.. hehe

Then the night is over.

I had "dinner" with carlo and mitch at metrowalk. :)

AND

for the very first time in my life. I voluntarily wore a RED shirt... hahahahahaha

I never bought a piece of my clothing colored RED. And my twisted mind just decided a week ago that I would wear red on Oct 1.

and so i did...

-adik

Lyrics Posted 08/28/10 - Perfectly Lonely

Had a little love, but I spread it thin
Falling in her arms and out again
Made a bed made for my game round town
Tore out my heart, and shut it down.

Nothing to do, nowhere to be.
I sip a little kind of free
Nothing to do, no one but me
That's all I need

I'm perfectly lonely
'Cause I don't belong to anyone
nobody belongs to me.

I see my friends around from time to time
When their ladies let them slip away
And when they ask how I'm doing with mine
This is always what I say

Nothing to do, nowehre to be
I sip a little kind of free
Nothing to do, no one to be
Isn't it hard to see

Why I'm perfectly lonely
'Cause I don't belong to anyone, nobody belongs to me

And this is not to say there never comes a day
I'll take my chances and start again
And when I look behind on all my younger times
I'll have to fake her arms that led me to a love so strong

I'm perfectly lonely
'Cause I don't belong to anyone, nobody belongs
 it's the way that I want it

- John Mayer, Battle Studies

Posted 07/11/10 - "The Night Watch"

Movie Poster

Book Cover Art

I've never seen a movie adaptation of a book so clever as the Night Watch...

The way this russian film weave the characters and the events from the book is so surprisingly perfect. The events were not altered (which is good) but the way they made the characters closely related to each other made the movie interesting. And they dubbed it in english so well too! 

This is the first novel-turned-into-a-movie that i genuinely liked both....
I can't wait to watch the sequel, the "Day Watch" (they say it's a tetralogy). Hoping na antukin si little kurt so cartoons will be over...

too bad. i don't know kung meron na nung third movie, ("twilight watch" or "dusk watch")
hope they'll make the remaining two a movie version...

by the way, if you are wondering how I end up reading this book, well - i like vampire stories.. i mean vampires that don't glitter... i was so disappointed with the glittery vampire that i wanted another story. With the help of Shelfari and a little research, it lead me to this series... this is not entirely a vampire story though... Russian unrealism rocks!

Posted 05/09/10 - "Before this day ends"

i want to greet all the mothers in the whole wide world a happy happy mother's day...

* * *
you carried me for nine months...
you might have shed bucket of tears during my birth...
you cried a lot when i am sick...
but still there are times that i get mad when you just don't understand.

you still iron my clothes even i just ironed it the other day...
you still wash them though they have been in the cabinet for months...
you still arrange and rearrange all the things in my cabinet over and over...
and yet i get pissed when i just can't find my socks...

you enjoyed listening to MYMP
you enjoyed watching PBB
you waited for "are you smarter than the 5th grader?" every weekend
but you still let us have the remote control...

there are times that i wanted to lock my door so you can't come in and rearrange my things...
there are times that i don't want to listen cause you kept on saying things over and over...
there are times that i want to go far away from all these..
but at the end of the day all i need is you and your unconditional love...

sorry
thank you
we love you
words were not enough...

happy mother's day, nanay.

Posted 03/17/10 - "With The Master Storyteller"

The Poster

See my name? No. 6 there..

Neil Gaiman signing my book

Priceless Possession 1

Priceless Possession 2

Well... 
I AM A NEIL GAIMAN FAN!

hehehehe and I envy those people who get to ask him questions about his work...
and because of this inggit i dared to join the 3rd philippine graphic fiction awards, prose category thinking, who knows? i might have a chance to be in that 'exclusive' party...

but as it turned out.. i did not make it...

so there,, waited more than a year for this night...

and it has come...

I am glad I decided to go to rockwell and try my luck...
and for the very first time in my whole existence, I WON A RAFFLE
I WON A SLOT for the book signing...
I WON the 6th SLOT!!!

2 books lang ang allowed, i brought my copy of Neverwhere and Graveyard Book.
I am really wishing to have my books be signed.. but knowing it's a raffle and never experienced winning, I convince myself that seing him in flesh is really worth it...

then they revealed the first batch of winners... and my name was flashed sa screen...
gusto ko picturan.. pero dahil sa excitement ibang pangalan na ung napicturan ko..
wahehehehe...

so there i went to the verification area and claimed my slot..

nilabas ko na ung book ko and marked the page where i want him to sign...
but i realized Neverwhere is too small for a dedication...
i rushed to the selling area and bought sandman volume 1... now he got a bigger page to write his dedication...

but

the host announced he's not gonna be writing any dedications... he will just sign it...
IT'S OKAY!!!

then i started practicing how i will take a picture of me beside him...

but when it was my turn
i just stood there 
looking at how he draw on my book
listening to every words that he said and thinking
AM I ACTUALLY STANDING BESIDE THE CREATOR OF STARDUST, CORALINE, NEVERWHERE, GRAVEYARD BOOK, SANDMAN AND A LOT MORE????

IS HE REALLY TALKING TO ME AND CALLING ME "LEK"???

i forgot that i have a camera...

then i said thank you.... and he said something like "never stop dreaming"
i wasn't so sure as i have the "bad ear" on his side as i was leaving the table...

this night is really awesome!

Thank you mr Neil... your works are really remarkable... helps me remember about imagining and dreaming... and taught me what fantasies are for... and taught me where reality begins.

Posted 03/13/10 - "The Face I Wear"

(This is actually one of the activities from My Masterpiece Movement's "Musings, Warnings & Imaginings", a Neil Gaiman evening. A fill in the blanks poetry.)

I am your mask.
You wear me to ________________________________________
Some (people) are ________________ by my ________________
Others see through me and recognize your __________________
Did you know that each day...
I watch you ____________________________________________
I listen to you __________________________________________
I feel you ______________________________________________
For in your hearts of hearts I know you ______________________
You created me. I am your _______________________________
I am your mask.

(TRY IT!)

Posted 02/17/10 - "The Long Wait is Over"

I remember rushing to the fort to submit my entry one day in September only to find out that the deadline was extended till November...

that was 2008...

Of course, having the deadline moved means no awarding at December..

I was told by the fullybooked team that the awarding will be sometime at the first quarter of 2009.

I've waited...

Then I remember seeing the pile of submission.. I never thought na ganun kadami ung sumasali... syempre I really am not hoping to win. IT IS  A NATIONAL COMPETITION. Everyone can join. PRO, Established writers and hundreds of hopefuls like me.. ang habol ko lang naman is makipagkwentuhan kay Neil Gaiman... whahahahahaha!!!

natapos na ang 2009... wala pa din result...

then last week Jadee told me that Neil Gaiman is coming in Manila to award the winners for the 3rd Philippine Graphic Fiction Awards... I was ecstatic!

now... hoping i have a chance to bag the grand prize! hahahahaha (feelingero nga kasi!)

then i started stalking people's blogs... and it was confirmed that people i look up to in these genre joined the contest... nyay! my chance is really slim now...

then few minutes earlier I received an email... the finalists were announced...

GUESS WHAT?!

I did not make it! =)) hahahahahahaha....

asa?!

well, five people who's previous works really impressed me made it... (can't wait to read their entries) including Dean Francis Alfar... (I am a fan sir! and it was really a surprise you followed me on twitter and now we're contacts in facebook! whahehehehe)

so there, sana meron pa ulet... sasali ulet ako... this time hindi na ung unang gawa ko which was written when i was 18! whahahahahahaha... adik lang kasi... parang "the fur" is my first baby on that genre.. hahahaha...

so ngayon... wala nako chance makipagkwentuhan sa kanila... sasali na lang ako sa raffle!

=)

Posted 02/14/10 - "02-14-10"

It’s Valentine’s Day again
Chocolates and roses, dinner by candlelight
But not for everybody
There’ll be three less roses given away tonight
‘Coz Jimmy’s girl got on a plane
He tried to stop her from leaving but tried in vain
And he’d hand her those roses now
But she lives so far away
To a lonely heart, how does one say
Happy Valentine’s Day

It’s Valentine’s Day again
Long-time lovers lighting the fire once more
But it’s gonna be cold tonight
For someone whose lover had walked right out the door
See, Ana’s fighting back the tears
Broke up with her beau of nine long years
And she’s throwing her dreams of walking down the aisle away
To a broken heart, how does one say
Happy Valentine’s Day

Cruel, oh so cruel
Be with your lover and be glad
And if you’re without a lover
Well, that’s just too bad
Cruel, oh so cruel
No other day like this
Can make you long so much
For the one you miss

It’s Valentine’s Day again
Jay’s got the flowers, but somehow it’s not the same
Though he knows April’s happy
‘Coz all he can do is set them on her grave
It’s been two years since she passed on
But somehow the pain just lingers on
And no other day can magnify it like this day
To a grieving heart, how does one say
Happy Valentine’s Day

How do you say
Happy Valentine’s Day

-By T.Belamide

Posted 02/07/10 - "Cirque De Mes Pensees"

Dehins ko na alam kung pano gagawin
Engot lang siguro talaga ako
Alam ko naman kung bakit ganito
Remember all the things that i said.
Chance? di ko alam if i ever had one or i just missed it
Hay buhay... why does it have to be this crazy
Always felt like gambling.
Sabi nila life is never easy, yeah! nobody said it is...
Day by day, I am afraid that i have to admit that mine could soon be a life lost.
Over a cup of coffee, maybe we can measure the life of me...
To be honest, i might be late and the train has left million years ago
But i really think that not trying again is a life to lose..
Labo ba? hehehehe! di ko maexplain...
Okay lang naman na di ako pahalagahan
Given naman na pag may gusto ka di dapat na gustuhin ka din nya
Sayang lang kasi pano malalaman ng gusto mo ang mga bagay na nakikita mo..
Paano nya malalaman yun kung di ka man lang kakausapin.
Only after one shot, one conversation, one heart felt conversation
Things will be clear. You can say 'No' or 'Stop' or whatever...
Do tell the person why you think it ain't possible...
Or tell the person you need to do the thinking...
Try to understand that there are words left unspoken.. things left undone...
Can't wait any longer. Silence hurts.
On and on, i still be hoping/waiting for that day that everything will be okay
Might not be the way i want it to be, but at least take a look at things that i could see.

Posted 01/23/10 - "A Day in a Cab/ A Race for Dorian Gray"

It's a Saturday!
This is the schedule I set for myself for a simple personal treat.
Yeah! treat ko sarili ko kasi i've been eating oatmeals for dinner for more than a week! Yeah... sandali 

pa lang but it's like an accomplishment. wahhehehehe
So yun! I planned to eat burger and snicker ice cream at Eskimo Bob then frozen yogurt and some crepe. And 

some pasta and siomai and cake. Sobra ba? whatever!!! it's my choice anyways.

I planned to eat all these late in the afternoon
But it was a boring morning.. i got bored with my reading...
i dont want to sit in front of the boob tube too.
So I decided to go out.

With nowhere to go and too early for the ice cream and burger, I decided to go to The Venice, Piazza and 

see for myself what's with the new food haven.
I get a cab and told manong to bring me to McKinley.

With less than 10 minutes i was in venice..
It was breezy.. i love the breeze.. i saw teenagers skating in front of the piazza... it was a pretty cool 

sight.
then i walk around to see where the big canal maybe..
but...
there's none...
not even an excavation...
i was so gullible to believe there is something like that..
wala!
dang it! excited pa naman ako! 
the only work in progress in the piazza is for the new restaurants...
the thought of not having the gondola ride in the near future is frustrating..
then i smell pizza.

i went straight into carlo's pizza.
awkward as it may seem there's only 6 customer's inside.
me on one side and the other 5 sitting in group..
all eyes on me...

whatever..

they handed me the menu..

i dont know whats in there..
then sabi nung isa meron sila something like 'sampler meal'
i forgot how he said it.. pero parang patikim meal

a pizza, pasta and chicken meal for P175.

so i agreed to try that since it's my first time...
and the serving is nakakabusog for me... though di naman kadamihan...
napaisip tuloy ako.. now that i've tested it.. do i suppose to order na ba?
whahehehe...

bahala na..

after kumain labas na..

i enjoyed walking in that place.. wala masyado tao.. pero di ko alam kung san ako papunta... walang 

jeep... walang fx.. walang trike... puro skateboard lang...
:(

then after a couple of minutes may cab na dumaan..

pinara ko then next stop- bonifacio high street.

nyak! crowded.
super crowded ang high street...
there's a lot of dogs.. teenagers na nakasalampak sa bawat sulok dun..

so as always... fullybooked ako napadpad.
i'm looking at hemingway's man without woman, 
i went to the customer service pero
meron babae na naghahanap ng picture of dorian gray...

heard that it's out of stock, she inquired dun sa branch sa eastwood... wala na din..
so my turn, hemingway's book is out of stock also..
wala ako makita book na feel ko basahin... having a tight budget i need to buy what i really wanted to 

read..

then i went to another bookstore 'a different bookstore'..
i asked for hemingway at dahil epal nga, ung dorian gray na din...
wala daw ung kay hemingway and last copy ng dorian gray was sold earlier..
and meron din daw babae na kakatanong lang...

hmmmm.... something funny came up to my mind...

i want to have oscar wilde's The picture of dorian gray NOW!

i went to market market, both were out of stock...

i decided to go to ortigas to look for that books..
plano ko suyudin lahat ng bookstore.. from shang to megamall to saint francis to podium to galleria.. 

hehehehe

it's almost 6pm, me a little hungry... i get a cab from market market to megamall.. eh traffic sa julia 

vargas... baba ako malapit sa saint francis..

kain nang siomai and inquire dun sa bookstore dun..
wala 

then tawid papuntang megamall..
sa powerbooks wala din... di ako nakapag-inquire sa ibang branch i went straight sa national bookstore.

there! may isang copy ng dorian gray.. a penguin classic.. the kind that you'll buy if you're still in 

highschool...
i would want a better copy... well better in terms of covers, papers... yung ganun ba...

so nagdalawang isip ako na bilhin yun, though it was pretty cheap.. P99 but complete and unabridged.
i decided to attend a mass muna...
but before that...
i remove the book from the stack and hid it in mark twain's books.. magkasing kapal kasi sila...

after the mass, naglakad ako papuntang fullybooked shang... it's 8pm

the last copy was just sold this day lang din... out of stock na
(what's with dorian gray?! i got so thrilled!)
then i inquire kung meron sa trinoma or greenbelt branch...

meron sa greenbelt pero graphic novel... i can't afford that..

i rushed to the 5th level sa powerbooks sa shang...
ang dami tao sa customer service..
ako na lang naghanap sa shelf ng classic books..
wala..
then nagtanong nako sa customer service...
out of stock in all branch...

naisip ko sana binili ko na pala ung sa national bookstore sa megamall... anyways i doubt kung may 

makakita nun...

then i went to the national bookstore shang branch..
meron isa sa database nila, it was the same version nung sa megamall... they've been looking at it.. pero 

di nila makita... di daw nila naibigay sa nagahahanap nung book earlier..

they told me there's one sa megamall but they're not sure kung nakuha na kasi dun din nila nirefer ung isa 

kanina..
i asked what time..
mga 6:30pm daw...

oh..

i went back to megamall, and there behind the huck finn books was The Picture of Dorian Gray!

then kunwari i asked kung meron pang ibang stocks..
they were stunned... it was the last and asked me where did i get that..
i said "shelf".

whoever that soul maybe, i am very sorry.. i hid it from you... 
ako naman una nakakita eh...
technically it's mine...

now it's on my shelf. BLEH!