Tuesday, July 31, 2007

So Harrassed...

.:Unemployed For A Month...:.

Reedley's schoolyear isnt' starting for another month.

I desperately need gigs this August, or else I'd be dead in the water by the time I get to September...

.:Seven Months, Or Three Months, However Which Way You Count It...:.

... Don't you just love being able to celebrate two monthsaries with your Beloved in a month?!?

Mwah! I love you, my Beloved!

.:My Last Day...:.

After everything has been said and done, I'm going to miss radio. Not necessarily WAVE itself since being in the graveyard shift meant there wasn't anyone to miss, but radio in general. It does drive me nuts though to realize that I was driven out of radio by the very same people who gave me my first actual break in the industry.

It was a very underwhelming final show for me, truth be told. Nothing spectacular, nothing controversial, and only a lame joke by the jock after me to wrap everything up. A lame joke that most certainly did me no favors.

Three years in radio, and this is pretty much all I have to show for it. Isn't that just peachy?

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Farewell, Mightygodking...

.:Alas:.

Alas, poor Mightygodking. I hardly knew ye, nor your erstwhile community, Improved_Archie.

I have a sinking suspicion why you are no longer with us, and I find it disappointing that once again, "the Man" has taken it upon themselves to attack a fandom.

The End Of An Era...

.:The End Of An Era...:.

After three years, I am finally bidding adieu to WAVE as a member of their on-air staff. It's been three years with them, and I can't say that I wouldn't miss being a DJ, although nobody said that once I leave, my radio career would be gone forever. You never know. Some other station might be interested in the near future, after all.

But I'm leaving because I need to, for my own sake. My health has been taking a hit in the graveyard shift, where I found myself floundering about for about two years already, despite repeated requests to be moved to other timeslots, since I certainly was getting sicker and sicker in this timeslot, and the company was ignoring my condition.

I got back to Ateneo after a year and a half of being out of the loop, fully intent on finishing my Masters once and for all. It was frustrating for me as I saw that WAVE continued putting me through the wringer as they asked me to take the timeslot or leave it, and refused to let me shift one day around, as I wanted Tuesdays off because of this schedule:

Monday - 6PM to 9PM
Tuesday - 7:30AM to 10:30AM

Given that class schedule, a show from 2-6AM in the middle was going to be murder. Well, guess what? WAVE insisted I do the show, regardless! On top of that, they decided to reformat my show without my consent because they put a contingency in case I resigned to turn the show into a special, talk-free program. But newsflash: I wasn't supposed to resign anymore! So why is the contingency plan still in place?!?

Well, that was the straw that broke this camel's back. It was a cheap insult: I DID NOT GRADUATE CUM LAUDE FROM THE ATENEO TO BECOME A GLORIFIED SPINNER!!! Yeah, call me arrogant, but I think you would be pissed off too, if you were in my place. I was hired as a radio announcer. WTF is a radio announcer doing in a silent show? Doesn't that defeat the purpose?

Well, I had enough. I stuck it out for the fact that I needed the money, but as I said often enough, the first opportunity that comes along to replace WAVE is an opportunity I will take. I'm done sacrificing other, more fulfilling careers for WAVE's sake, because clearly, they had better things to do than to keep a guy who busted his @$$ for them for three years happy. While they kept on saying they had no room for me in this slot or that slot, there they were, GIVING MY REQUESTED SLOT TO SOME NEW HIRE. Screw that. Screw being bypassed. Did it ever occur to them to just hire a new jock for the graveyard and move me where I asked instead?

Furthermore, they've been getting some of the jocks to teach students about radio. Let me think about this for a moment... why wasn't I part of this? Between me and any of the jocks in the entire station, I'm the one with the most qualifications to be a teacher, so why am I being bypassed again? Oh, right. Because it makes money, and if you're not part of the "clique", you don't get any chances to make extra money. You'll be bypassed over and over and over again.

Obviously, I'll be abandoning the Kel891 weblog once I'm done with the company. It's just fitting to do.

This is the end of an era, and good riddance. WAVE has shafted me for three long years, and I've stood all I can stand, and I can't stands no more.

Goodbye, WAVE. You can tell I'm glad to go, and I'm sure you're glad to see me go, all the same. You wouldn't know a good employee if it bit you in the nose, so I'm done with this farce. I deserved better, and soon enough, you'll find out the exact same thing.

I'll Be On TV Tonight!

.:The Sweet Life HP7 Launch Episode Is TONIGHT!:.

Check out "The Sweet Life" on QTV-11 tonight, 6:30 PM,as I will be having my fifteen seconds of fame as the magician at the Harry Potter 7 Book Launch they covered last Saturday in Fully Booked @ the Fort.

Lemme know how you like it!

.:Fully Booked Recap:.

So yes, I was booked at Fully Booked (I love saying that.) as the magician-on-call for the Harry Potter 7 book launch (Book Review coming next week, but I finished the ruddy book on the same day I got it.). I got there around 6:20, a good forty or so minutes before the store was going to open, and I immediately saw people in line, albeit not as many as we anticipated at the start.

I immediately got to work, and performed for the first six people in line. They were genuinely pleased with my routine, as one of them was genuinely floored even by my Ring Thing opener, and the Ultimate Transhypno effect was worthy of being a finisher for this group. Nonetheless, I capped my short routine off for them with Liquid Metal, and left it at that.

From there, I moved onto various people, and even ended up being interviewed by some people from QTV-11, and someone from Correspondents Asia, although I think they got disappointed to find out I wasn't a member of Hogwarts Philippines, which was mainly because I have a sinking feeling if I started joining NWA-affiliated organizations, I'd spread myself out too thin. I also love The Matrix, LOTR, Star Wars, and so forth, so if I joined PHP, it'd be a crime not to join the other groups. But I digress.

So in any case, I performed for the next couple of hours, including once for Hope and her cousin. I had some other performances here and there, but I kept my routine mostly the same as most of my walkaround bits everywhere else, since I knew that stuff has always served me well.

However, I knew I was merely gearing up for a short stage presentation, and I told Paolo of NWA about that. I was slowly building a reputation for Osterlind's Rubik's Blindfolded Solve (Henceforth, this effect shall be refered to as ORBS.), and I knew it had to be done.

With much fanfare and a few preliminary effects, I managed to pull the effect off smoothly, and with that, I capped my bit off, and went ahead to collect my bounty: among other things, I received a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for my efforts, and hopefully, a good deal of awareness that there's yet another magician/mentalist running around the metro... =P

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Wonder Of Wonders!

.:Finally...:.

Reedley is drafting a contract for me to teach for them as we speak.

Finally! The long wait is over!

Oops!

.:Erratum:.

Apparently, my TV appearance on Channel 11 wasn't tonight, but this Wednesday night, around 6:30 PM. This is for the show "The Sweet Life", and features my magic gig last Saturday for the Harry Potter book launch.

That being said, hope you guys can catch it!

.:More Delays:.

I won't be updating my blog the way I want because this stupid job is killing me.

The straw that breaks this camel's back is about there already.

I did not graduate Cum Laude from Ateneo just to be a glorified spinner. Screw this.

What you can expect me to write about:

- My Beloved
- The Potter book launch
- The Book 7 review
- Hanging out with some of the JGL
- Hanging out at El's this Monday night
- Philosophy class
- Dr. Angeles mentioning Mr. Bulaong in class
- How my company has decided to screw me over... again

Monday, July 23, 2007

My Magic On TV! (Hopefully)

.:The Sweet Life, QTV Channel 11, 6:30 PM:.

Hey, guys! I might be on TV tonight, or tomorrow night, because of the show I did for the Harry Potter book launch at Fully Booked last Saturday.

Lemme know how it turns out, since I have class!

Thanks!

Friday, July 20, 2007

Ideas...

.:A Dissertation Idea For The Future…:.

Mr. Calasanz put it succinctly. If I wrote a thesis about something I’m *too* passionate about, then I may never get to finish it. It would be best to instead write a thesis on a topic I can do competently, then save my idea of magic and Philosophy for a dissertation.

Besides, at this point, I still don’t know what approach to take such a writing task, so saving it for a dissertation would give me the latitude to think what concepts and thinkers work best with forming a Philosophy of magic.

If not that, then it’s back to the old standby of Philosophy and something from Communications, preferably film, but I’m sure that in contrast to the former, the latter has been done more than a few times already.

.:What?!?:.

Apparently, GMA-7 is now showing “Meteor Garden”.

Huh? What the heck? This is the third time this series is being shown around, so it boggles the mind why they bothered getting the show from ABS-CBN to begin with.

Why? B-buh?!?

On Love And Judgment

.:Don't Judge Me:.

You call what I do as “juvenile”. Tall words from people who aren't working despite being my age. I call it a “hobby”. One that just happens to really make me a decent living every now and then.

You say my Beloved and I won't last because I'm not good enough for her. Yet if you recall, you were never good enough for her, either. You pretty much attempted to date just about everyone in your class, until someone finally bit the bait.

I don't claim to be God's gift to women, but not only are you no spring chicken, you're far from a prize catch, either.

I am who I am because this is what I do. Anyone who chooses to take a cursory glance at me and decide that I am not good enough better get their eyes checked, because people like those, people who just get by in life with superficial evaluations of character are the kind of people who are ignorant of how things really are. The people whose sense of wonder is so warped, that they are just so blocked into disrespecting an art form just because they probably suck at it.

Let it be known that better people who do what I do will be far more successful and more fulfilled than those who are too busy trying to bring the art down ever will.. That's a fact.

Let it also be known that you have absolutely no right to judge our relationship. My Beloved and I are doing just fine without your “expert” opinion, thank you very much.

.:More Than You’ll Ever Know:.

Whether you agree with Immanuel Kant or not, there is a lot of merit to his belief in doing the right for its own sake, not for any other ulterior motive through his categorical imperatives.

Kant, despite being planted arguably in the modern era of Philosophy, was one of those who questioned the modern trend of assigning truth as meaning, as he told them that we cannot know how things truly are, since the phenomenon does not necessarily correspond to the neumenon. In that insight, he turned epistemology on its ear: the nigh-omnipotent capacity of man to know through meaning suddenly found itself challenged, yet that did not stop man from doing what he must.

What man ought to do is not limited by what he can know. This applies to everything a priori and this is why when we commit to someone, we can commit forever, despite not truly knowing forever. We may not know what it is, but we are compelled to do it, because it is the right thing to do. That is where the notion of “ignorance of the law is not an excuse” came from, after all.

That is why I do not hesitate in wanting to be with my Beloved forever. Though I may not know what will happen in ten years, in ten months, or even in ten days, I would be doing her a grave injustice to only strive for as far as I know, for what I know pales in comparison to the ultimate grandeur that is true, devoted love.

It is not a question of “do I know what forever entails?” It is a question of “ought I give my whole heart to someone whom I claim to love?”

The answer is a hearty “yes”, and I am thankful with each passing day that my Beloved is in my life. As I was telling a friend the other day, it’s a very wonderful story to be able to tell when one ends up being with the one they always dreamed of, and considering how long I’ve known Rowena, I always thought it would forever remain to merely be a case of “ligaw-tingin”, as it were. I’m very grateful that in time, she and I hit it off, and though the rest of this love story is still unwritten, I can safely say that at this point, I am living the dream.

Just last Tuesday, when we talked about spending Christmas together, I said offhand that we would, “assuming we’re still together”. Normally, she’d agree with me, but yesterday, she instead told me that I shouldn’t be so pessimistic and believe we still would be. This is the first time she ended up being more optimistic than I am about our relationship, and I seriously choked up over the simple but very touching gesture. How can you not love someone like that?

To this day, it still boggles my mind whatever I did so right to deserve someone as wonderful as my Beloved. While I do not know what I did, I pray that I continue to do right whatever it was that I did right. I’m so into her, and words cannot express how deeply I’ve fallen and how I’ve practically painted myself into a corner with how much I love her.

It’s something that I willingly do for her…

Despite all the setbacks, despite our clash of ideologies here and there, at the end of the day, we love, and though our understanding is finite, our aspirations to be perfect for each other is not.

Delayed...

.:Pre-Show: A Call To A Gellasenheit Of Wonder:.

Well, as I mentioned, I was booked on a Friday the 13th by Sir Nonoy and his wife, as there was a birthday party they wanted me at, the 79th birthday of the man fondly known by his grandchildren as Lolo Etong. Unlike most of my other bookings, I was going to do a pure mentalism act, and I was fairly glad I finally got the chance to flex my muscles in this endeavor.

So I got there at Kamay Kainan early enough, and I was preparing a few of my items, which is why I brought a jacket with me, which was purely going to be for walkaround. I had a few decks of cards, and of course, my ring for the De'Ring + Ring Thing routine, as well as some effects for my calling cards. Soon enough, dinner was served, and as I was famished, I made sure to fill up before even starting. Performing on a competely empty stomach is not good at all...

Food was great. It was a buffet of Filipino cuisine, so you have everything from Bistek to Liempo to Kare-Kare. That was really awesome.

In any case, walkaround was a very simple matter of course. I usually do this stuff, but I had to give everything I did, barring De'Ring, a mentalist edge. The Ultimate Transpo was a demonstration of low-grade hypnosis, and it worked very well. It was a setup for my attempt at mass hypnosis later on in the night.

This was a unique experience because the kids in attendance, the standout being Alwin, were genuinely interested in mentalism. Normally, mind-reading is a concept lost on kids because they're more likely to go for the visual and spectacular magic, not the subtle yet mindboggling effects mentalists do. The fact that I personally endeavor in both allows me to experience the differences firsthand.

That being said, there was ample anticipation built up by my walkaround routine. It was only a matter of nailing the stage show when we finally get there.

.:The Main Event: Mission Accomplished!:.

Let me give credit where credit is due. Much gratitude to the five main originators of my act: Richard Osterlind, Max Maven, Banachek, Morgan Strebler, and Devin Knight. I picked and chose the best elements of these five upstanding mentalists, resulting in last Friday’s program. Of course, my thanks to the people who directly led me to these esteemed people: Mr. Bing Lim-It, and Dr. Ronnie Moraleta.

Unfortunately, just so I don't give away the contents of my routine in public, I will simply say that I've done a lot of effects that were meant to floor the audience present, and I'll let their glowing comments speak for itself instead. I'd want to keep people on their toes so they don't know what to expect from my show except that it's going to be one Hades of an experience for them.

I'm glad they enjoyed the show, and I can only hope that there's more opportunities for me to amaze people this way to come.

Here Goes Nothing...

.:The Teaching Demo Of Doom!:.

Well, thankfully, the people at the school I’m applying to teach in changed their minds and asked me to do my demo in front of a class instead of just simply in front of an observer. I was really glad because that allowed me to establish a rapport with the students that definitely made things lively for them. I can safely say that my demonstration was well-received by the observer, although that is no guarantee for me that I will indeed get hired, as I’m still unsure if my current class schedule got to them, and of course, next semester will be another hurdle altogether if I don’t get the classes I really need to get…

That being said, my demo of paraphrasing Sonnet 18 from Shakespeare went over really well with the students. The skit I wanted them to do turned out to be something they *really* wanted to do, but obviously, time did not permit us to pull it off. There’s also something to be said about my ability to tie Blindsight with the lecture, as it definitely elicited a bit of a reaction from the students, despite the fact that I didn’t signpost exactly what it was that I was attempting to do.

In any case, my interview after the demo went well all the same. Strong wishes of making it in were tossed in my direction by the interviewers, so I can only hope that the Headmaster would see things the same way…

And please, no “head” jokes. I’ve heard enough of that from Elbert already.

.:The Interviews Aren’t Over Yet, Though…:.

The prognosis looks good, but I have one more interview to go, this time with the owner of the school…

Well, here goes nothing.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Congratulations To The Senator Of Maguindanao!

.:Congratulations, Migz!:.

I’m glad you won, despite the fact that delicadeza would’ve been a better victory for your career in the long run.

I’m glad you won, because you now open the eyes of the blind administration backers who think that just because GMA is not an Erap, she is by default a better leader, or that her handpicked allies would be more of the same.

I’m glad you won, because it just shows how desperate you are, that you would gladly partake of the dubious votes that cost a Maguindanaoan whistleblower their life, all because of trying to do the right thing.

I’m glad you won, because you’re a slap in the face of all the people who did their best to make their voices heard. Everyone knows how much I leaned towards the administration during these elections, as these were the names I actually wanted to see in the Senate:

1: Arroyo
2: Recto
3: Villar
4: Pangilinan
5-7: Ang Kapatiran
8: YOU!

Believe it or not, I actually wouldn’t have minded seeing even Pitchay win, and bless him, he at least knew better than to insist that he had a chance of winning when he knew he didn’t. Villar was the only opposition candidate I cared for, and considering how conflicted I felt about Cayetano and Escudero and Roco, I simply eschewed from talking about them. I didn’t want another Gringo in Trillanes, but seeing him win actually made me smile, knowing where the public’s heart lies. Not everyone who wants to call out GMA on her transgressions wants Erap back, you know.

I wanted you to win, Migz. I wanted you to win because I remembered how well you worked as a Congressman, and how you seemed to be the kind of new blood the Senate needed to help it move forward instead of attempting to bicker amongst themselves on how best to oust GMA.

But now that you *have* won, I cannot but help think how hollow this victory is, and how it completely misses the point why I wanted you to win. Why would I care for a lawmaker who willingly looked the other way as lawless people paved the path to his seat, a seat that Koko Pimentel should be holding right now? Your new blood is no different from the mongering blood the senate currently has, and your blood is tainted by the murder in Maguindanao that was carried out for your benefit.

I don’t care how much money you spent on your campaign, because if your intention in winning was to “recoup” your expenses, then you have no business winning at all. I quietly watched as the kangaroo decision declaring you senator was railroaded, and I sincerely prayed you’d have the decency to simply concede and try another day. A supposedly upstanding man as yourself should’ve known better than to take a tainted victory when a more rewarding moral victory was clearly in your grasp. Hades, if you decided to make public service ads about such a “sacrifice”, I wouldn’t have resented you for it at all, even if you did it from now ‘til the next elections.

But you didn’t.

And so I’m happy that you won, Migz. You give hope for all the unscrupulous people in the veiled promise that your tenure in the Senate will erase the stain on your career of a victory tainted by murder and deceit. You are a shining beacon to all the cretins out there that indeed, the end justifies the means. That you will make so many wonderful laws and become so excellent a senator that sooner than you can say “Koko was robbed!”, people will forget what an insipid and desperate brat you are, clinging to a hollow victory because you invested so much money in your campaign. Hmm… you don’t plan to get that money back through your tenure as a senator somehow, do you? Tsk, tsk.

But I won’t forget. And neither will the people who give a damn about the democratic process, all of whom you and your cohorts shortchanged with your tainted victory.

Congratulations, Migz! Take your Senate seat, shine it up real nice, turn that sumbitch sideways, and for the fans of the Great One the Rock, you know the rest.

Toxicity...

.:Toxicology Reports Are In:.

Chris Benoit had Xanax and testosterone in his bloodstream. The testosterone levels are off the wall, though. It’s insane, since the maximum limit in places like the NFL are 4:1, yet his ratio was 59:1. That’s way too much testosterone. Other than that, no anabolic steroids to speak of.

Hopefully, we can put the blame game to rest, because for all of WWE’s faults, it isn’t right to put the blame on them instead of the man who killed his own wife and son before killing himself.

He may have been one of my favorite wrestlers, but he is far, so far from being my favorite human being, and that fact will forever overshadow whatever achievements he may have had in the squared circle.

.:Speaking Of Toxins…:.

White Rabbit has Formalin! I can’t believe it! My childhood candy of choice, ripped to shreds!

This isn’t some forwarded e-mail I got. It’s something the BFAD discovered themselves recently.

Blogging Next Time...

Got lots and lots on my plate, but rest assured the entries are typed out on Word.

Ciao for now. Wish me luck. Final interview at Reedley today...

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Hanging Out

.:Luna Lovegood Rocked:.

I'll mention that lest I forget that fact.

.:Music And Magic:.

Saturday night was a slow night for The Story Circle, but I still had a good enough time hanging out with the people, as I was still on a high about my last show.

In any case, it didn't take long before we quickly parted ways, and I ended up going to Music 21 with Elbert, Johan, and Myca, where we sang our hearts out. I did mostly novelty songs, and for some reason, I just really sing better when it's Michael V and not Gary V.

In any case, Saturday night was a slow night, but prior to that, my Saturday was just splendid, thanks to, of course, my Beloved.

.:New Worlds Alliance Sunday:.

I dropped in on the New Worlds Alliance exhibit last Sunday with Camy, and it was definitely a ton of fun. Hanging out with her and guys like Markpoa was awesome, not to mention the fact that I ended up meeting a lot of other people, and performing magic for Philippine Hogwarts members, which has to be some form of irony somewhere...

From there, I prepared for my teaching demo as well as my Monday class, and I ended up really exhausted, but that's a story that will have to wait. NWA was a handful, and it was loads of fun.

On that day, I really just prepared a few items I can use, and practiced my hypnotism effects, as it were. It was way fun, as I realized it was cheek that would carry me through. Blindsight and Liquid Metal were two big hits as well.

Aside from all of that, I also had a chance to try out Talecraft on the spot. I ended up creating a story based on the WWE, as Vince McMahon was the first name that came to mind upon reading "Evil Overlord" as one of the characters I must use for my story.

It was cool. People like Joy were there, as well as some other regular cosplayers, and all in all, it was a relaxed atmosphere that was perfect for me to do a bit more on-the-spot practice for my craft.

Amusingly enough, some people who didn't even know about this event but would fit right in the festivities showed up, namely Edj and Ash.

A Mishmash

.:I Am Deeply Honored:.

While I have never met the man in person, it does my heart good to have received a comment from The Great Leodini on my Magikel blog. I am honored to hear from one of the luminaries of Philippine magic, to say the least.

.:Friday The 13th Was Actually Good:.

I won't go into detail, but last Friday's mentalist show went over very well, despite a number of kids in attendance. In fact, the kids were very pleased with the show, and this is considering that mentalism is generally regarded as the last kind of magic you'd want to do to entertain children.

In any case, my tripe-finale went with a very elaborate blindfold routine (20 cards, Rubik's cube), and then metal bending, and then the Pegasus Page Hypnosis effect. I went for over an hour, and I believe I acquitted myself well enough for that one.

Not having to contend with a microphone was a definite plus. Mic stands get in the way...

.:Order Of The Phoenix!:.

Better than the book, and the action was really fun. There are some minor gripes here and there, but my biggest problem is the fact that some characters are really looking too different from their book counterparts at this point. Daniel's too buff, Ron's too scraggly, Hermione's too hot, Ginny doesn't even look cute, and Cho Chang, bless her soul kept on losing her Scottish accent, thereby taking away 100,000,000 hotness points from her. She doesn't seem anywhere nearly as appealing without the Scottish accent.

The changes made from the book were necessary, but you still have that chop-chop feel where they just had to cram everything they could into the movie in the shortest amount of time possible. Nonetheless, I liked the film, and wouldn't mind seeing it again, if my Beloved agrees to watch it with me a second time.

.:Emergency:.

My Beloved ended up in the emergency room last Saturday night because she went out while she was still sick.

I had a hand in that... I feel rather guilty, to be honest.

Monday, July 16, 2007

So Much Stress...

.:Reprieve:.

I only have two reprieves for the hurly-burly as of late... my Beloved, and my magic. Everything else just seems to really bury me down.

I'll blog next time when I'm over this hump I'm going through at the moment. The tension I feel for this bloody demo class is really getting to me. I still don't know what to do for tomorrow...

Sigh...

Thursday, July 12, 2007

7-7-7

.:The Luckiest Day Of The Century:.

July 07, 2007, was Hrb's birthday, and it was spent at the Chua residence in Bautista, where the only four people in attendance were myself, Kathy, Krisetten, and of course, the birthday boy, Hrbs. This night was marked by drinking, awesome food, and lots and lots of videoke. While Kathy did have a few rants to get off her chest, the celebration was overall really great.

In any case, happy birthday to Hrbs! I know he really enjoyed his birthday, and so did the rest of us. That was *not* a night for serious videoke, as we just attacked the tackiest, the cheesiest, and the weirdest songs available to us.

Here's hoping that when Kathy goes to Holland to see her boyfriend's family, she takes the Magic Sing along with her. Wouldn't that result into a lot of hilarity. Heh.

.:Taking An Eternity!:.

I ordered a truckload of magic stuff online, but it's going to take at least five more days of waiting...

Kel is a sad panda.

=(

My Beloved Rocks!

.:Why I Can't Get Enough Of Her...:.

My Beloved made a huge faux pas last weekend when she missent me a text message that pertained to me, and for the first time ever, admitted that she did something wrong, no questions asked.

There's just something so sincere and so earnest about Rowena that I can't help but love her even more, with each passing day. The genuine effort she puts into this relationship cannot be questioned and woe upon me if I even attempt to do that in the event we don't work out after all has been said and done.

While yes, this past weekend has been a series of mishaps for us and we never got to meet despite numerous opportunities to do so, I know that we've been learning to make this relationship work, and I no longer feel alone while going through this. It's rare that you find someone who works every bit as hard at a relationship as you do, and those people are the people worth holding onto.

.:This Week Was More Of The Same Happiness With Her...:.

Wednesday was a great time for her and I, although it was mostly just spent at my place where we just hung out and then I ended up leaving and going to Reedley where I had an interview to deal with. We were supposed to watch Friends, but instead, she was kind enough to do a majority of my playlists in my absence, and she's even helping me out a bit for my magic show. Heh.

Thursday, well, she had to defend me from some of her friends who were being judgmental of me. I really am just miffed at how insensitive these people can be.

You have no idea how grateful I am that she did. I feel bad that she ended up feeling bad because her friends think like that about me, though. I am urged to keep on improving myself just to let her friends know that I am worthy... I wish I could...

I'm hoping she can sit in on our class in Advanced Metaphysics before this semester ends, though to be honest, I can't really count on that much. Still, there's no harm in hoping...

More Sighing...

.:An Attempt To Reconnect...:.

Truth be told, it's been a while since I've last hung out with Estelle, and this is owing to the fact that our schedules really do conflict a lot.

Well, I must say that I'm glad she's doing well despite the tempests she's been going through lately. We hung out and had dinner, as I was stranded in the rain and she was in the area, so we just really talked about how she's been doing.

I really don't know what to say about this, to be honest. On one hand, I'm glad I've seen her again after a while. On the other hand, I feel horrible that I've seen her again only now, knowing full well that I should've been there for her several times in the past, especially when she had a lot of things on her plate and she just needed a friend who could put her mind to ease.

It's hard being stuck between a rock and a hard place. You try to not pick a side at all, but in the end, you don't really help out either way.

I guess all I can do at this point is hope for the best.

.:G-uh...:.

I have a teaching demo for Reedley on Monday about Shakesperean Sonnets. I've taken the test, I wasn't doing so hot with it, and now, this one... urrkk...

Ummm... help?

Prelude To Friday The 13th

.:Hey, Jay!:.

My thanks to Jay Mata for lending me his Pegasus Page copy of The Prestige. I must say, he did a pretty brilliant job at it, not to mention the few other stuff he constructed himself, which is just perfect for my next booking...

.:Speaking Of Booking...:.

Yes, blogging works! This Friday, I'll be doing a mentalism show for a birthday party, and I have prepared a stunning repertoire meant to really floor everyone. I'm going to take a page from Derren Brown's book and just run with it... ::winks::

So for anyone else who wants to add some pizazz to their parties, I'm still available for bookings (As I usually am.). It's time to unlock the boundaries of the mind, courtesy of yours truly. Feel free to reach me via e-mail at mistervader@gmail.com. =)

Wish me luck on Friday! I have a packed show!

.:Thanks, Crissey!:.

I owe Crissey a bit as well for being my willing guinea pig for my take on Black Ops Hypnosis.

I haven't perfected the effect yet, but the fact that Crissey *did* forget what just happened made me smile. Looks like I got things down to pat for the most part...

Looks like I have a finale for tomorrow's show.

.:Friday The 13th? Pah!:.

I'm... not... scared... Aja!

I Know I Owe A Ton...

... but for now, lemme just thank my Beloved for helping me with rendering my playlists, not to mention helping me out for a booking I have on Friday.

Yes, blogging about my magic has been yielding returns!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Virtueal Reality

Yes, I do believe I used this title in the past for something I wrote before. Still, I hope you like it. =)

.:Virtueal Reality:.

The prefix “meta” in any word will almost always indicate a coming after. Such is the case when we say that the achievements attributed to a legendary person have become “metahuman”, or when a story that alludes to breaking the fourth wall is “metatextual”. Having said that, we can safely say that metaphysics denotes a coming after physics, or the study of nature, as it were. Simplistic as this rough definition may be, it at least serves our purpose as a foothold in our attempt to better understand what it means when examined more rigorously.

Metaphysics is regarded as “first Philosophy” insofar as it is concerned with issues and questions that are, to quite an extent, the most fundamental of issues and questions, as is the case when we wish to discover “being qua being”, or being understood as being. It is an examination of what can be asserted about anything that exists by virtue of its existence and not due to any special qualities it may possess. For our purposes, we are going to focus solely on the Aristotelian paradigm with regard to Metaphysics.

In the Aristotelian paradigm, he employs a rather cause-oriented approach of analysis, where we discover what the object is (causa formalis), who made the object (causa efficiens), of what the object is made (causa materialis), and what its teleological purpose (causa finalis) is. For instance, we have a chair (causa formalis), by the carpenter (causa efficiens), made of wood and nails (causa materialis), and meant to be seated on (causa finalis). Even if the chair may be made of ivory instead of wood, i.e., a special quality, we still recognize it as a chair, regardless. In what on the surface may appear to be an offshoot of the Platonic notion of the Eidos, then this so-called copy of the idea of a chair may have variations indeed, but because of its “chairness”, as it were, we can still safely call it a chair.

When we consider the four causes for any object in particular, there are varying levels of difficulty that can be attached to our endeavor, but what is of interest to us is that the moment we ask about the human person and its four causes, we may very well be able to find an easy answer for the first three causes, but we will be hard-pressed to find a general, overarching answer to the fourth cause: the purpose of the human person.

When one would be asked what their purpose is, their answers will vary wildly. The hedonist would say “to have fun”. The religious would say “to serve God”. The educator would say “to educate the youth”. The policeman would say “to maintain peace and order”. A myriad answers for the same question, and yet one would be inclined to ask if there is a general, overarching principle that can be utilized to perhaps tie all these answers together. Again, metaphysics is meant to study being independent of its special, specific qualities, and so what would a hedonist, a religious person, an educator, and a policeman, in their genuine attempt at achieving their perceived but specific purpose, be truly achieving in common with each other?

Perhaps the simplest yet most riveting answer is, “the purpose of the human person is to be human”. An answer such as this may seem obvious when one hears it, but then, it's a proposition that defines itself by itself: exactly what does it mean to be human? Why is it infinitely easier for a dog to be a dog, or for a rock to be a rock, than for a human being to be human? It would be ludicrous for us to wonder if a dog would go through a metaphysical anxiety, asking himself if being locked up in a cage when his ancestors ran around the plains of New Zealand, chasing after ducks. It would be funny to imagine this dog, in its moment of metaphysical anxiety, to exclaim, “where are the ducks?!?” On the other hand, we cannot say the same for the human person's plight, as it is clearly more nuanced.

The human person constantly wonders what his or her purpose is. The human person wonders how one must comport himself or herself in order to truly say, “I am a human being, and I have arrived.” When one assigns the wrong telos to his or her life project, they often lose sight of the fundamental building blocks needed for them to achieve such a goal, especially if they were to employ a Machiavellian paradigm where the end justifies the means in their minds. In the face of such a dilemma is where the role of ethics makes its presence felt, and conveniently enough, Aristotle also had his own contemplations regarding ethics as well.

Ethics proves to be a powerful companion to metaphysics because ethics may very well be construed as the answer to the question, “how ought a human person be?” In answering the question of how the human person ought to comport himself or herself, ethics indeed relates to the dilemma of the short yet troublesome answer to what man's causa finalis is, which some have asserted as “to be human”. The obvious concern would be if this attempt at making the two work together is truly a harmonious option, or merely a shoehorning of an agenda that will only seek to pick and choose those details that make this proposition more appealing, and this is the reason why choosing only one philosopher for both metaphysics and ethics would be helpful for making a genuine evaluation of how the two could potentially work together.

Even purely through intuitive thinking with only working definitions at the ready, it is very implicit that there must be some connection between a body of work that studies being understood as being, which is of course a study that can be turned to the human person; and a body of work that studies how a human being must act: an immediate but time-consuming goal that could very well be, if not already the purpose of the human person itself, a prime building block towards the achievement of the human person's purpose. Even upon hearing the proposition for the first time, it makes perfect sense, but the vague ideas need to be fleshed out more efficiently in order for the connection to be made more apparent.

While there have been countless attempts at explaining ethics, simply adhering to Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics would already give us a very clear and apparent connection between it and his metaphysics, because in Aristotle's metaphysics, we see that his teleological bend in the fourth cause is being given feasibility by his call for habituation in his ethics. Habituation comes with doing something constantly and consistently, and thus, cannot be achieved quickly.

For a human being to be human, it must be effectively natural for him or her to comport himself or herself as a human person should, going against more primal and basic urges that obstruct from the true goal. It is clear that Aristotle even uses the same vocabulary in both works, and as such, also lends a very teleological slant to his ethics. This allows us to analyze the connection more succinctly.

To further lend credence to the metaphysical-ethical connection, Aristotle himself defined the purpose of human existence in Nicomachean Ethics (Book I, Chapter 7):

“If we declare that the function of man is a certain form of life, and define that form of life as the exercise of the soul's faculties and activities in association with rational principle, and say that the function of a good man is to perform these activities well and rightly, and if a function is well performed when it is performed in accordance
with its own proper excellence--from these premises it follows that the Good of man is the active exercise of his soul’s faculties in conformity with excellence or virtue, or if there be several human excellences or virtues, in conformity with the best and most perfect among them.”


In Aristotle's ethics, the call is for virtue or arête, but for him, it clearly cannot happen overnight. It is made clear that not individual acts, but a consistent habituation of these good and virtuous acts is required in order to achieve excellence. Thus, to say that one has done an immense amount of good the other day is not enough of a measure to say that a particular person is a virtuous person. It is character-centric, that is, a building of character, that sets apart the virtuous human person from those who are only sporadically good. The human person is assumed to be a thinking, reasoning being: a quality that we ought to know is intrinsic and exclusive only to humans. This rationality is expressed in constant and consistent action according to what is intrinsically and exclusively human, and therefore, virtuous.

But why is there a need to excel? Why is there a need to habituate such good and virtue? Why is there a need to act according to rationality? One can be Kantian for a moment and say “because it is good in and by itself”, and thus require no further questioning, but Aristotle himself also provides a very enticing “reward”: eudaimonia, or a flourishing. When we keep asking ourselves why we want something, upon arriving at the answer “to be fulfilled and happy”, we find something that we clearly want for its own sake, and not in order to achieve something else. In Aristotle's ethics, he says that the eudaimon, i.e., the flourishing man, is a virtuous man blessed with some measure of good fortune, neither of which are enough on their own to achieve complete happiness, and are thus both prerequisites. In this sense, happiness is not a mood or a temporary state of mind, but a constant state that is strived for in earnest.

Is not this flourishing that we speak of, thus, the human person achieving his or her purpose? When we ask ourselves why we want to achieve something, and continue asking so until we cannot continue asking any longer, do we not end at “fulfillment” and/or “happiness”? Is it not the case, then, that when we flourish, we are “fulfilled” and “happy”?

Then right here, we clearly see that Aristotle's ethics is a road map to the vast city we know as his metaphysics: yes, we are human beings. Yes, our parents made us. Yes, we are made of flesh and bone. But for us to achieve our purpose, we must live virtuously. What is the point of becoming the president of our country that we always wanted to be if we achieved it through nefarious means? If we acted no better than a ravenous animal claiming our stake, what have we truly gained? Is this even human any longer, for that matter?

For any rational person, how can one feel fulfillment in achieving a feat without truly earning it? How can any rational person be genuinely happy with acting unlike a human being in order to obtain a lofty goal? What is made clear here is that the human person's causa finalis is not something that can be achieved overnight. On the contrary, it takes an entire lifetime to fully achieve one's causa finalis, and because of this, there is a constant challenge for the human person that he or she must meet every single day of their lives.

Thus, being a president, or a teacher, or anything else, takes a backseat to the unimpeachable desire for happiness and fulfillment achieved through virtue. If one is to be anything at all, they must achieve it virtuously, excellently. To do any less than that is to deny ourselves of what makes us human: our ability to reason, which, in turn ought to render itself intuitively to us as that is precisely what we are, and to be otherwise is to simply not be human.

While the specific career path is the “what” of the equation of one's telos, the general and overarching “how” would be the call for an ethical mode of living, and as a lifelong process, there are no shortcuts. The import of this is clear: to achieve one's purpose is to act from virtue, which is a very rational, thus exclusively and intrinsically human, form of action. The consistency is a requirement because it enables what is truly intrinsic in the human person to become genuinely natural, which in turn inclines the human person to genuinely virtuous action. Even in daily life, we've seen examples of people who have habituated good behavior, whether it be studying in advance for exams, or having the initiative to work efficiently even without prior prodding to actually go and do so. Thus, since only virtue is within the human person's control, and good fortune is entirely independent of our grasp, we can only seek to excel at that which is within our control, and with some measure of good fortune, everything will follow.

In the final analysis, we realize that metaphysics as a study of being qua being has a great importance on so many levels, but its relevance to the human condition is arguably the most important level of them all. For us to fully understand the human being and what it means to be a human being, we need to turn to a guide: ethics, the very mode of expression of the purpose of the human person. In achieving the general and overarching telos of being an ethical human being, we become more capable of achieving our own specific goals. It is with this realization that the human being ought to press on constantly and consistently towards the path of virtue, and achieving the human being's purpose, is meant to follow.

Oops!

Apparently, a good chunk of my other entries are still in my laptop at home, so this smattering of stuff that happened last week will hopefully suffice...

.:Speaking Of The Weekend...:.

Well, Saturday wasn't exactly as quiet as I remembered it, considering how I actually had a magic show in the afternoon for Alaska, who were rather finicky clients. Nonetheless, I acquited myself well enough as I performed what was mostly a children's party routine sprinkled with a bit of mentalism, and of course, a bit of Liquid Metal.

In any case, it's all good. My contact, May Zamora, was pretty funny as she kept on talking to me about all sorts of things, and it was incredibly funny how she described her encounter with Chiz Escudero. As she told me, she's a conservative girl, but if it were Chiz asking, she would drop all her values in a heartbeat. Sheer hilarity...

.:And... In My Attempt To Solve A Cube Blindfolded...:.

Sir Mike Limosnero, during last Sunday's Magic: The Gathering Tournament, attempted to pull one over me since he thought I was peeking through the blindfold. I felt his hands move, and realized he was actually covering the cube with his hands.

I finished the cube five minutes later, flooring him appropriately. Heh.

Apparently, not seeing was believing!

.:Sicker Than A Dog...:.

Sore throat, cough, colds. Is there anything I don't have at this point? I ended up taking an extra day off of work just so I can recover a bit, because everything is really erratic for me at this point. Ever since the unmentionable event happened, and the security threats it quietly presents to me, I guess I have to admit that I'm really confused over what I have to do next.

Things are weighing down on me but I'm more prepared to deal with them without throwing my hands up in the air to surrender in a huff. I feel way more confident and sure-footed that however bad as it may get, I can make it through with strength and a little bit of help from my friends.

The least I can do at this point once I've fully recovered is to help a certain friend out who feels to be frayed on the edges. It would certainly behoove me to be of help since it definitely takes my mind off of my own worries.

Needless to say, I was bedridden for most of yesterday. I've only really recovered now, and I'm still not at a full 100%.

.:Entire Week...:.

I was absent the entire week! I just couldn't get out of bed to go to work... it was *that* bad!

Sigh... there go my leaves...

And no, I couldn't bear to cut my classes, so being absent for WAVE did little to alleviate my health situation...

.:And Something About This Week So Far...:.

Well, Monday night with Mr. Calasanz was a really interesting class, and hanging out with Elbert was more of the same. We talked about a lot of stuff, and I guess it surprises me how he keeps things so bottled up. Isn't being the strong, brooding, silent type being the Alpha male?

Today, I survived a long test on Epistemology, though I don't know if I did excellently because I neglected to explain some things which in my mind I assumed to be givens already while I was answering the test.

I guess I just really enjoyed last Monday night's discussion on Metaphysics: that the entirety of this enterprise was founded on one simple but meaningful phrase...

That being is.

It may seem obvious, it may seem common sense, but while so much can be said about what a thing is, how something is done, and so forth, you can only say, on the most fundamental of levels, whether something is or is not, and afterwards, all you can do is unsay what has been said in the hopes of finding out more about the thing.

Monday, July 09, 2007

I Have A Series Of Posts At The Ready...

Well, just as the title says.

Now, if I can only find a way to monetize this blog... the obvious way to do it has already been revoked from me for some weird reason, so alternatives are more than welcome.

Friday, July 06, 2007

Just In Case...

Well, just so you know, I've quietly opened my Magikel weblog already, where all my magic-related posts are directed. There, you get easy access to pictures, and even some of my video efforts at prestidigitation.

If you're interested in booking me for your events and the like, feel free to give me an email over mistervader@gmail.com. I'd be more than happy to be instrumental to unlocking your sense of wonder. =)

Taste Asia: The After Party

.:The After-Party, Part 1:.


In one go, my sterling reputation as magician/DJ/blogger extraordinaire? GONE



That picture above was originally from Juned, so great curses thanks to him! =P

Well, after the main party, there was the option for videoke, and from there, I promptly destroyed all respect anyone had for me as I sang “Endless Love” by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie on my own. This was followed by acapella rendition of every single song that came to mind on the spot, as I played Bumblebee for the few remaining bloggers who stayed on and put up with my horrid singing. I was halfway to losing my voice, after all.

Shari was also doing some singing of her own as well, but it was definitely far more acceptable than how my excuse for singing was... heh. Sorsi was telling me to go back to doing magic before her image of me becomes utterly destroyed. Whoops, too late!

It was also funny how she was gushing over my “expert fingers” though, as I demonstrated the Gryphon Roll for her, and how it just sounded wrong, coming from her. The innuendo was just real hilarious, and this, coming from Ms. “Baktong” herself... =P

.:The After-Party, Part 2:.

Soon enough, there was only myself, Jester, Doc Tess, Poell, Darwin, L.A., and Eric and we ended up going to Baywalk for a bit of a nightcap, where topics ranged from the mundane to the deep to the brilliant. It was definitely an awesome time for everyone there, and personally, Jester was quite a revelation. Apparently, alcohol can really make a person more intelligent, and he definitely seemed extremely eloquent, considering how much he had to drink.

After about several hours, we just called it a night, and left it at that. It was great hanging out with the other bloggers and just hearing their thoughts on random topics, because at the end of the day, these people have really awesome ideas and it'd be a shame if one would prevent one's self from hearing these very interesting, diverse, and impactful ideas, which would just be such a waste.

Ah, well. What happened at Baywalk, stays at Baywalk. 'Nuf said.

Taste Asia: The Party

.:Bloggers Assemble!:.

So last Tuesday night, at the behest of Aileen Apolo, I headed off to SM Mall Of Asia where the bloggers got together. My memory is failing me, but I remember running into quite a few popular bloggers, and I'll do the link-loving thing when I get a comprehensive enough list. Heh.

In any case, I came prepared with a short but sweet mentalism routine that was designed to really make an impact: Disposable Color, Nile Derivation, Lightning Box, Liquid Metal, Fork Flower, and the Blindfolded Rubik's Solve. Sorsi and JayVee were hosting, so it was definitely going to be a hilarious program whatever happened. After Aileen spoke up, Sorsi mentioned to the SM people that someone has been swiping their forks, and they're going to find out what this guy happened to do with these forks, and that was my cue to go up and do my schtick.

In any case, for a taste of one of my favorite acts that night (The Osterlind Fork Flower, here's a thousand words (Ergo, one picture...), originally from Karla Redor:


The power of Christ compels you! The power of Christ compels you!




And of course, Much thanks to Alliver and PJ, who were my “eyes” when I solved the rubik's cube for my finale. This time, the picture is originally from Alan Racoma:


I'm blind! Blind as a bat! How blind is a bat?




Well, it was a success all the way, and I managed to complete the cube quickly enough. Shari was her usual self, just staring in utter disbelief at the fork bending at her behest. Her brother, Robby, was more of the same. During dinner, I ran into a lot of other bloggers, and even a lot of other people I knew from outside of blogging. All in all, it was a really eventful night, and even latecomers like Rico and Sasha were welcome additions to the celebrations. One of the earlybirds would naturally be Ms. Janette Toral, and with blogging celebrity Ms. Noemi Dado, this was a star-studded event, to say the least.

Taste Asia's food was eclectic, considering how they had everything from sisig to siopao, and just about everything in between. The food was splendid, and with the mix of food they had available, there was definitely something for everyone, to say the least.

All in all, the party was a veritable success. One can only hope more of these events turn up soon enough, seeing how well-received it was by the blogging community.

Congratulations to all the people who made this possible! This was just a really awesome meeting of the minds!

And, as ganked from Aileen: Link-Loving galore!

An Apple a Day
Pinoycentric
Zoul1380's The Daily Me!
Misteryosa
Project Manila
Ramblings of a Princess
Sexy Mom
Ceskypooh's World
Keysinunez.com

Bambastic
Single Brown Mommy
Bakla Ako, May Reklamo?
Touched by an Angel
Teacher Julie
Bababa ba?
Ultradust
The Thumbsucker
Mimi and Karl (Cliquebooth owners)
Jerico
You Will Be Forever
Tom
Mr. Kwee for SM Hypermarket
Paul's Blog
Pinoyblogero
Biyahilo
Baratillo.net
Rockersworld.com
Techievangelism
Vignettes
The Chef at Chez Panda
Brian's Blog
Sharmskee
Rain Contreras
Prudence and Madness
Lamonster Traveler
Pinoy Photo Blog
Brian for IAMD
Brian on Taste Asia 1
Brian on Taste Asia 2
Janette Toral
SM Hypermarket
Paradise Philippines
Geeky Guide to Nearly Everything
Ala Eh, the Batangas Blog
Jedianalyst
Half the World Away
Alan Racoma Jr.
Kutitots
Mistervader
In the Brink of the Mental Warzone
Pinoyblogero
Guitarchic.net
Cliquebooth Blog
The Parody
Vaes9
Random Pieces of my Mind
Mike Villar
Vanidosa
Ganns Deen
Mind, Heart & Mysteries
Life's a Beach... (sorry AJ with the ... wholesome po blog ko eh eheheh)
This Week on Pinoycentric
Style Manila


Photos! Photos! Photos!

An Apple a Day
Ultradust
Jerico
Karla Redor
Noemi Dado
BA Racoma
Rain Contreras
Brian
Bayanihan Blog Network
Juned
Project Manila
Juned's Multiply
Vanidosa
Shutterhappy
Ann
Eugene
Ganns
Rebelpixel.com

Random Stuff That Happened Over The Week...

.:Sicker Than A Dog...:.

Sore throat, cough, colds. Is there anything I don't have at this point? I ended up taking an extra day off of work just so I can recover a bit, because everything is really erratic for me at this point. Ever since the unmentionable event happened, and the security threats it quietly presents to me, I guess I have to admit that I'm really confused over what I have to do next.

Things are weighing down on me but I'm more prepared to deal with them without throwing my hands up in the air to surrender in a huff. I feel way more confident and sure-footed that however bad as it may get, I can make it through with strength and a little bit of help from my friends.

The least I can do at this point once I've fully recovered is to help a certain friend out who feels to be frayed on the edges. It would certainly behoove me to be of help since it definitely takes my mind off of my own worries.

Needless to say, I was bedridden for most of yesterday. I've only really recovered now, and I'm still not at a full 100%.

.:Entire Week...:.

I was absent the entire week! I just couldn't get out of bed to go to work... it was *that* bad!

Sigh... there go my leaves...

And no, I couldn't bear to cut my classes, so being absent for WAVE did little to alleviate my health situation...

.:Rain Gets To Me...:.

Weather last Thursday was wacky as Hades. It was raining so hard half the time, the other half, it was just scorching hot.

I spent most of my day hanging out at the Fine Arts Lounge, and on my way home supposedly, I ran into Meggy, whom I performed Liquid Metal for a few weeks ago. We just bonded andf chatted, really, so it was all good.

I ran into Edjie (Edjie is easier to say for me than Alodia, for some reason.) a couple of times throughout the day though, and we had an interesting short chat over SMS that night. Nothing particularly earth-shattering, really.

Prelude

.:Taste Asia Prelude:.

Well, I asked some bloggers if I can borrow some of their pics during the event where I found myself, so until I get granted that permission, my lenghty post on the event has to wait.

Nonetheless, much thanks to Aileen for organizing the event, not to mention the fine people from SM Hypermarket.

I had most of my post written down already, but I'd want to refine it a bit more, I guess. It felt too egotistic for my tastes. =P

And of course, I had to remember some more names so I can do some proper link-loving, and special mention goes to the emcees of last Tuesday's programme, JayVee and Sorsi, neither of whom will ever respect me again after my extended acapella videoke effort.

See you guys when I get to organize my thoughts!

P.S. Blogger isn't cooperating. LJ will have to serve my purposes for now.

More On The Weekend...

.:Speaking Of The Weekend...:.

Well, Saturday wasn't exactly as quiet as I remembered it, considering how I actually had a magic show in the afternoon for Alaska, who were rather finicky clients. Nonetheless, I acquited myself well enough as I performed what was mostly a children's party routine sprinkled with a bit of mentalism, and of course, a bit of Liquid Metal.

In any case, it's all good. My contact, May Zamora, was pretty funny as she kept on talking to me about all sorts of things, and it was incredibly funny how she described her encounter with Chiz Escudero. As she told me, she's a conservative girl, but if it were Chiz asking, she would drop all her values in a heartbeat. Sheer hilarity...

.:And... In My Attempt To Solve A Cube Blindfolded...:.

Sir Mike Limosnero, during last Sunday's Magic: The Gathering Tournament, attempted to pull one over me since he thought I was peeking through the blindfold. I felt his hands move, and realized he was actually covering the cube with his hands.

I finished the cube five minutes later, flooring him appropriately. Heh.

Apparently, not seeing was believing!

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Speaking Of Class...

.:Tsk, Tsk...:.

So apparently, Mr. Calasanz was telling the department that someone in his class bent forks for him as a magic effect.

Curious peopel asked about it, and which student did this, and of course, Mr. Calasanz told them that it was a certain Marcelle Fabie. ;)

And then there was silence.

What that means, I'd hate to make assumptions about. =P

.:On Wonder...:.

I didn't even know that NAWASA no longer exists. Truly, you learn something new everyday.

Chalk one more up for wonder!

Mondate!

.:Mondate!:.

Met up with my Beloved yesterday, and it's definitely unbelievable how long we've lasted, amid all the problems.

Nonetheless, we just hung out at Shang-rila for the most part and then had a bit of arcade fun as we played Time Crisis 4, and there I learned that she does have a taste for shooting people. Must keep that in mind... heh.

Well, it's been a slow and arduous process for the both of us, adjusting to each other, but I daresay it's been a process worth pursuing, as to be honest, we've grown so much in the past six or so months in this relationship. Slowly but surely, I'm learning what it means to be patient, and my temper has been mellowing quite handily. Even Rowena herself was surprised at the restraint I practiced as a hundred opportunities to verbally trounce her presented themselves when I was on the defensive for being late yesterday, but I chose to let her have her say.

On the other hand, my Beloved has been learning how to keep pace with how my thought processes work. I'm not exactly what you would term a traditional thinker, so it behooves us to find ways to communicate often enough so that we'd both be in sync for the most part. I cannot thank her enough for the effort she's made in that regard.

This relationship has a long way to go, and I have so much more I wish to change about myself. I can only thank Rowena for the patience and love she has been giving me as I press on in spite of all the hurdles and issues that keep on cropping up from time to time.

Mondates are awesome. That only means that for once, I don't dread the start of the week.

What's even cooler is that next week, she plans to sit in on my Advanced Metaphysics class!

Rushed...

.:I'm Flustered...:.

It's so weird suddenly having one less job on my plate, to say the least.

Nonetheless, I'm glad that I have the extra time, although I am still trying to find a way to help some of my friends out, as I feel really bad for the both of them. Such a shame it had to turn out that way.

In any case, last Friday was my last day at Jonas', and to correct my previous post, I watched Transformers on Friday night, not Saturday. That being said, Saturday was mostly non-happening, since after I met up with Cami, it turned out that TSC didn't have an EB that night. Oh, well.

That being said, Sunday was an M:TG tournament, and it was fun, but nothing special to write about, really. All in all, a very quiet weekend, and one that was most certainly... unproductive.

These abbreviated posts have to end soon.

More Than Meets The Eye...

.:Transformers!:.

Since I'm pressed of time and I can't write a full review, I can do one of two things...

1. I can act like a self-absorbed fanboy and whine about how the film was "not like the TV series at all", or...

2. I can just rave at an awesome movie and revel in the uberness that is a Megatron voiced by Hugo Weaving.

That being said, I watched the film with my Beloved and some of her friends from her school, so it was definitely an interesting night, to say the least, as it was effectively a triple date of sorts.

That film was just perfect, and being with Rowena on a Saturday night definitely was made of pure win.

Anyways, there isn't anything I need to say about the film. It was great, it was a fun romp, and it was even funny.

Whee!

Bombarding you with multiple short posts for the time being since I was delinquent for the weekend...

.:Bloggers Get-Together!:.

Bloggers unite! Well, see you guys at MOA in a bit. I have to get a few stuff and I'll be on my way there soon enough... :)