Sigh...

.:Whoops!:.

Three weeks whizzed by so fast. I didn't even realize my vacation is over already, and now, I'm back to work. Oh, well. Them's the breaks, I guess.

.:Interestingly Enough...:.

Last Friday night, I actually hung out at a friend's house, and we took the time out to talk about various concerns about various matters, albeit matters of the heart took the biggest share of the pie.

Nonetheless, I also demonstrated to her what is arguably the most powerful card trick that I learned, the Mind Bender, which I definitely would love to be able to put to good use, given its sheer strength when being displayed out in the open.

In any case, we really have been communicating fairly well as of late, and the more I hear her stories about people, the more I can relate to some of the people around her. It gives me an insight into myself, both good and bad, and it helps me know what is best for me to do when all things are taken into consideration.

With each passing day, I learn to appreciate a friend like her more. That says something when you consider how we hardly ever talked in the three or so years we've known each other.

That, well that's cool.

.:Guilt-Wracked:.

I can't begin to understand why I even allowed myself to submit a piece of shoddy crud like that to my editor...

Seriously, I'm just terribly guilty that I disappointed my editor, and I wish I actually put less "pizazz" to the work and more bloody research, which I usually do for fun, to begin with.

It's not even the fact that I'm missing out on a payday that gets to me. It's the fact that I know I do better work than this...

One can only hope I can somehow redeem myself after this.

Ms. Iyay, I know you prolly won't ever get to read this, but I'm really, really sorry. It won't happen again. Ever.

.:First Ever:.

So while I was hanging out with April in Teriyaki Boy at Madison last Friday, I got a text message from Angie, a college blockmate of mine, and she was wondering if I did children's parties.

Next thing I knew, I was booked for my first-ever paying magic gig the following day, and I was beside myself with happiness, knowing this was going to be a huge deal for me. It was going to be at Merk's Bar, since the celebrant was none other than Richard Merk's daughter. That being said, it was definitely a welcome surprise for me to be there. I lined up around ten effects, and proceeded to do a routine that began with a coin disappearance and ended with the famous liquid metal routine. All in all, it was a pretty good first show, and a lot of the kids enjoyed it. I had to ask them to come close and watch the whole show from that distance, making it less of stage magic and more of table magic, really.

After the party, Mr. Merk shook my hand and said I was "good with kids". That was one of the biggest compliments I have ever received, and it was something I certainly didn't expect.

Apparently, Sunshine Cruz was also there at the party, for that matter, which was just gravy, really. Meeting Angie after all this time since we graduated was also way cool. I'm glad they all enjoyed my first official show ever, and I hope that I'd have more opportunities to strut my stuff in future events...

.:Downtow To Chinatown:.

Elbert and I spent a lot of time the other day in Chinatown, where we went around as he did some checking out of shops for an article he had to write for EYP. It was pretty fun, and all the while, we were actually looking for some forks and some rubber cement I could use.

At the end of the day, I ended up pigging out on seedless kiamoy, ended up buying uber-cheap fake Bicycle decks, and I apparently ended up being the one who really made the most out of the trip... heh.

Afterwards, we just headed back out and watched TxT with Estelle in Megamall, which was way cool, since it's been a while since the three of us got to hang out together, particularly since 'Elle only got back from Baguio last Sunday, and we didn't particularly like "World Trade Center" when we watched it, whereas TxT was just way cool...