This is so epic I can't even find the words to describe it

On music and writing

These two have got me pretty much occupied during the week.

Let's start with the music:

Bagyo Berde, the centennial battle of the bands of DLSU, will be held on February 8 at Amphi starting 6:00 PM (request for leave has been GRANTED!). Cherry Cherry Boom Boom is the last among the 10  finalists who will be performing. Buti na lang - that gives our fans/adoring public/relentless supporters friends and family ample time to come to DLSU to cheer for us.

We're still in the planning stages of our setlist (I have no idea how many songs we have to sing XD), and said plans will have to remain secret until Feb 8. (I mean, you can never tell if someone from the enemy is stalking this blog, right?! LOL!)

The videos of the audition will be posted by the organizers soon. Once that's up, I'll be sharing it here.

I've also resumed keyboard lessons last Saturday. I'm actually enjoying it a lot, but I'm having trouble finding time to practice at home with Angela. /lesigh

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Next up: writing. The second session was really interesting - we had to brainstorm through post-its (a very unconventional method, mind you) in order to come up with our book title and cover. I think I have a firm title for the book that I'm co-authoring (again -  I still cannot believe I'm doing this. /slapface) and a book cover as well. POST-ITS. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT. 

Oh, and here's our first class pic:

Booyaaah

Yup, I have to post it again. Our "band" got in the battle of the bands of DLSU, which will be held on February 8. A little research was done some of the competition we're facing, and we learned that some of the bands hold regular gigs (and have FB pages!). I thought to myself, if one would consider our Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday assignments as gigs, then we hold at least two each week! We just don't have a Facebook page. /heehee

One of the songs we did during the audition was Oo by Up Dharma Down. Learning it was such a challenge - I couldn’t nail the vocal by just listening to it a hundred times, and listening to it a hundred times wasn’t possible, since I was given the song less than two days before the audition date. Oh, and to aggravate things further, my fellow band members did a bossa arrangement for the song. Bossa is a genre I am NOT comfortable singing with.

So, on the eve of audition day, I wrote the lyrics down and “drew” the melody (see left). Then, I practiced it. By the time we did the audition, I nearly forgot some of the words, but at least I nailed the melody. =D

Now that we’re in, we're so excited! They chose only 10 out of 46 bands that auditioned! For sure, wala na akong kodigo by February 8 (hahaha!!!). We'll be getting t-shirts to wear for the finals - I found two sponsors and I've drafted various shirt designs already. We have no setlist yet, or a solid original song, but we have time to prepare. =)

I'M SO LOOKING FORWARD TO FEB 8

WE GOT IN. THIS MAKES ME SOOOO RIDICULOUSLY HAPPY.

(salamat kay Lady Gaga for the name of our band XD)

Been kind of busy in this part of the woods

I live.

And I've got a pretty lame good excuse for the lack of posts:

• Work. Um, yeah, pretty obvious, but will elaborate
• Class has begun, and we have to do some taste testing and rate attributes of the food, etc. etc. 
• Church stuff

... and these three commitments are basically what have been keeping me busy since last year, which leads me to think that these excuses are indeed lame. *facepalm* I'll just have to find more time to blog.

I'm contemplating on buying a .me domain, by the way. I'll probably do this when I have decided on a domain name. I don't want it under my name, and inasmuch as I want it to be wonderingwhattodowithdaylight.me, it's too long. 

Anyway, moooooving on.

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Church stuff - I'm getting a lesser load of assignments for the first three months of the year, which I really appreciate. That means I can devote more time to the other church commitments (hahahaha).

Most immediate among these commitments is actually not church-related, but will involve the youth ministry. We're auditioning for this thing here:

By the way, may band room pala sa STRC?! SINCE WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN? All I did in STRC was run around and exercise during ROTC days!

Saka ko na ikukuwento yung experience ng pag-audition when the results are out. All I can say for now is that I am soooo relieved that I was able to sing bossa. I thought I didn't have it in me. Salamat sa mga bandmates ko, OSUM kayo. XD

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Ahhh. Work. I remember a verse in Ecclesiastes that says enjoying the fruits of your labor is a gift from God. This is especially true this month, since I was asked to participate in one of the projects I am managing - the author mentoring program I was talking about in the previous blog post. 

One of the assignments is to send invites to friends that you are launching a book. I don't really know the emails of my friends (plus they check their Facebook more often than email anyway), so I decided to post the "invite" there:

Mga friends, by faith I will be signing copies of my first book at the Manila International Book Fair this year, and I'd like to invite all of you when that happens! I don't know the book title yet, but it will be about how you can fulfill your dream of becoming an author. Heart is seriously pounding triple time as I type this. #thisisanassignmentfortheauthorclass #ihavetocomply #youhavenoideahowscarediam #idontshowmyworktopeople #gettingpublishedisbothexcitingandscary

The hashtags speak the truth. #youhavenoidea

A lot of people liked and commented that they were excited for me - some were even congratulating me already, which got me even more scared!

While most of the people I was growing up with wanted to be a doctor, I wanted to be an astronomer, a surgeon, or an author. But out of all of these three dream ambitions, the one I worked on the most as a kid was becoming an author (Second to that is becoming an astronomer - I learned how to spot constellations and near stars as a kid, and I can still remember how to do this now. I never really worked on becoming a surgeon - when it came to dissecting frogs I decided to strike that out of my list XD).

If my memory serves me right, I finished my first fiction story when I was 7 or 8 years old, and it was written in pencil on scratch paper that was the kind used for dot matrix printers. I think the only reason why I did that was because [1] there were no notebooks available, and [2] nobody in the house would suspect that I would write something important on scratch paper, cause as early as that, I had an unexplainable fear of people reading my stories.

Oh, by the way, my first story was - you wouldn't guess it - FANFICTION! (of what series it was about I will carry to my grave - I think only one person knows what series it is, and I pray said person doesn't remember anymore XD) 

At about that age too, I started keeping a diary. It was the "Dear [name of diary] (yes, I did that!), Today was really fun because I spent the day in school...", and here I would chronicle a day in my geek-outsider grade school life.

I also remember a time during Grade 5 when I was so mad (at what or who I don't want to say =D) that I decided to throw away everything that I have written thus far - and that included the first story that I wrote on dot matrix paper, and the first diary that I kept. I regret doing that now - I mean, how nostalgic would it be if I saw what I wrote twenty years ago, diba?

During high school, I wrote for the school paper (news, features, the usual lot), and I also wrote an original fiction piece - the first one that got published (with much fear on my part!). It was was supposedly a four-part story (with the assumption that we publish an issue every quarter), but we were only able to release one issue that schoolyear (haha fail). Buti na lang that happened, cause the story was kind of dark for a Christian school - dark in the sense na a character was killed, there's mention of blood, and this will be read by grade school and high school students alike. If all four parts were published, there's a good chance that I'd be sent to the principal's office or a guidance counselor. XDD

And, there was also NaNoWriMo, which I joined twice and won both (with extreme consequences for my physical health, though). I don't think I'll be joining again, not unless I find a way to eliminate the back pain, which is highly unlikely. Some of my chapters for NaNo were published online as part of a local compilation of excerpts written by those who joined during that year, but I kept it a secret from everyone (haha!).

So basically, what I'm trying to say is that I am sooo afraid of seeing my work published under my name, for  various reasons said and unsaid. Hence, the mere exercise of me posting that status message was nerve-wrecking. It's like ... coming out. HAHAHA!

Even if the book doesn't come out this year (or during the MIBF), it will likely come out at some other time. I'm sure there will be much prodding from the boss to do it. Also, writing a nonfiction piece is something I've never tried before, and thought I'd never do.

So, this endeavor of writing and being published is by faith, simply put. =D

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I am so gung-ho with third term - gung-ho in the sense that I want to get a much, much higher grade than last term. I have no qualms with last term cause I gave it everything I could, but the situation now is very different from last term. I think I can make a comeback. *positive vibes*

Randomness

First movie of the year - Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. IT'S SO DARN GOOD. My only misgivings (which are pretty minor) are the music - I think the first movie was better; and Rachel McAdams getting so little screen time. Other than that, fan-freaking-tastic.

I don't want to give any more details lest I spoil the whole thing.

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So, for work, I was asked to join this mentoring program for aspiring authors. HOW AWESOME IS THAT? I really wanted to freak out when I heard, but being at work, I had to keep my cool and downplay my reaction...but I think I overdid it. ("Hindi po labag sa loob ko," in a really toned-down voice. Imagine that!)

That aside,  I'm really excited about being a student slash-alalay. The sessions start next Tuesday. Being the person managing the program, I still have to prepare the handouts, make reservations, contact the participants, etc. etc., but I find it rather fun that I'll be participating. Last year when I was preparing for this program, I was thinking of how awesome it would be if I could afford to join something like this. Turns out...I could join for free! *epic freakout dance*

More than the dress and the voice

If you know FFVIII well enough, you know what song this is. It's Eyes on Me, the song Julia Heartilly sings to Laguna Loire, and it is also the main theme of FFVIII.

Julia was in love with Laguna, but she was too nervous to tell him anything. Laguna, on the other hand, felt the same way, but was too clumsy to even make a move every time she visited the lounge where Julia plays. 

I've always liked this song, but since it's only known by geeks a few people, not everyone was crazy about it. It also didn't help that during the time it was released, listening to Chinese/Japanese/Korean singers was considered extremely weird (right now it's just weird-ish I think, hahaha!). 

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I could finally strike out my wish to sing this song in public (without discrimination - excluding karaoke gimiks of course!). I was asked by a good great friend of mine in high school to sing this for his wedding. It was to be sung during the wedding march of his dashing bride - a schoolmate during high school. 

Now, singing a wedding march for me is no walk in the park. It's actually in my top 5 hard-to-sing-in-these-situations-list (first are funerals) because you absolutely CANNOT mess up a perfect, once-in-a-lifetime moment. When I'm really nervous, my throat dries up, and so I drink a lot of warm water, which then leads me to puke (all cause-and-effect, really). XD

The song went pretty well (my employers, este, groom and bride loved it). On my part, I wish I  rehearsed the Faye Wong version, because that's what was played and I only knew at the moment I was supposed to sing that's how it will go down. I was in love with the Angela Aki version that I didn't even consider the original. /facepalm /headdesk 

How I wish I had a video of it cause I was being accompanied by an accordion, violin, and flute - apart from piano and guitar! How epic was that?! I don't think I have any pictures of that part too...I guess I was too nervous that I didn't even think of using my camera. /le sigh

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Yesterday was the first day of class. I hope to get a better grade this time around, so I have the guts to take the plunge and take two subjects next term. I don't want to be delayed anymore.

The classroom this time is in Yuchengco, which means colder temps and smaller desks. LS is old and finding your room there is a bit of a challenge, but their big desks make up for all that. 

Did I mention that Yuchengco Hall was my building crush before (when it was new)? Now you know.

Out with the WOW, in with the fun

Yes, this blog post will join the rest of its kind in cyberspace that talked about the new DOT's slogan for the international market.

I'll spare the pleasantries and just say this - I think this campaign will work. It's not WOW PHILIPPINES-superlative, yet this slogan could possibly be better than a superlative - because it's comparative! To those who are still not quite over the WOW PHILIPPINES campaign, I think it's time we tried something else, cause I think if this campaign here is executed well, we could topple something as epic as Malaysia Truly Asia (which is my favorite Asian tourism campaign). 

Regarding the slogan copying the 19-something Switzerland ad, all I can say here is that nothing is new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:8-10 - my favorite creativity-related verse). All of us were influenced by somebody. Artists have their influences, so do politicians and scientists. What's important is if we make everything that has influenced us into something we can call our own. This slogan, I believe, is something we can make our own - if it's executed right.

Since social media will be the main driver of this campaign, one challenge that I see is that the slogan will be subject to the interpretation of many people. You can only hope these people who FB/tweet about it have good intentions, otherwise if any of it goes viral, you may as well kiss this campaign goodbye. But knowing Pinoy mentality, they will rally towards a cause that will awaken their pride, or their Photoshop skills. XD

On not being awesome

Here's a good come back to earth quote for today.

While I was walking yesterday, I stole a few glances up at the sky, wondering briefly if there was still smog. The usual white-washed buildings had an undeniable splash of brown and beige - not on it, but over it. The sky wasn't at its bluest. The thick clouds were mostly off-white and grey.

I had a lovely Japanese bento lunch, which ended with coffee jelly. Throughout that time I stared out the tinted window, wondering if it would rain. I learned, when I was in Canlubang, that storms usually drive the pollution out, which is why the sky is usually clear after a storm passes. I silently hoped for rain - not the disastrous kind, of course - but normal, uneventful rain. The kind of rain that would make me wish I was home eating champorado.

The days following the New Year are usually uneventful - kind of boring actually. Mine thus far are hardly that: on New Year's Day, I was told that I was a failure. On Thursday, I have a planning session for church. On Saturday, I have a wedding to sing for. It's the first week of the year, and I'm already learning:

• The people who hurt you the most are the people whom you expect the opposite from
• People think I'm prepared, but the reality is I am hardly ever prepared 
• Being prepared is actually a process
• What people think I can do is far from what I think I can do; nevertheless, these people are expecting me to mold myself into the "me" that they are expecting

When work was done, I decided to walk again. I remembered how comfortable I was being alone, and for a while I regretted coming back to Manila, because the days I spent living alone in the boondocks (I miss that term) were actually the most fulfilling I've had thus far. The smell of freshly-cut grass, the cool, clean air, the random insect that I needed to exterminate - all of these I found wanting at one point.

I walked around the mall, looking at things I wished I had, and noting price markdowns on shoes that I need to revisit over the weekend. My four-year-old rubber shoes had been to Hong Kong, graced Corregidor and four burials, plus most of my leather ones are old hand-me-downs. I made mental notes of stuff that might be useful to me over the course of the year, such as special pens, felt-tip markers, and notebooks, statement tees...

The thick holiday crowd was gone. Not one shoulder brushing on mine. Vast, open mall space. Only the decor remained. Still the season to be jolly.

When I arrived at the train station, the long lines began.

One/One/Twelve

Happy 2012!

The family heaved a collective sigh when the clock struck twelve midnight. We've had it with 2011. We welcomed this year by watching the neighbors' fireworks, which was kind of boring. I went to bed thirty minutes after midnight.

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This term, I am enrolled in just one class, which falls on a Monday. First day is next week. Tomorrow is the first working day, and I'll have to go to work ALONE, because the parents won't be coming in. Bummer.

I'm still pretty sore about ministry-related stuff, and that's kind of an open secret (LOL). I think the reason for this is that it's not been resolved until now. Because of that, for the past two months I've been leaning towards not going for the extra mile, or not giving a damn about stuff that others think I should. I know I have to find that passion or whatever that is somewhere inside me and take it out of last year's major funk. Something has to change.

I think the key to making this year different from last year is attitude. I've been told this a zillion times (and if you're one of those people, thank you), and I think it's about time that I heeded that advise.

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By the way, I haven't talked about my birthday present to myself. I bought a Yamaha PSR E323. I was learning how to play this last year, and was even assigned to play synth a few times during services. Buying this wasn't necessary, but I was dead serious with wanting to learn how to play, since I don't have an instrument I could play aside from voice.

I have...four months(?) left to pay for this baby, which I have named Angela, after Angela Aki. =D  How I decided on "Angela" is quite interesting. I was mulling over possible names on Twitter, and the first idea that came to mind is to name it after a really good pianist, and I tweeted that Angela Aki was my top-of-mind pianist. I mentioned others like Hiromi Uehara (who at that time was also a very viable candidate), but all that changed when this thing below happened: 

Turns out that THE Angela Aki herself retweeted said tweet of mine (which was in Taglish, increasing the epic/fail of it all).Hence, I have decided to name it Angela in homage to her. =D

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And that's it, basically. I'm watching Tron now, and up next will be Tron Legacy.

This feels so hipster.