Wednesday, December 31, 2008

The Top Ten People I'm Most Grateful To In 2008!

.:The Top Ten People I'm Most Grateful To For 2008...:.

It's that time of the year again, and I definitely can't help but enumerate all the people who I would like to thank right now. Through them, my year became brighter and more colorful, and it wouldn't be complete without being able to thank any of them...

10. The people I've had tiffs with this year: I'm serious. I've learned a lot from you people, and I've especially learned what it means to let go and move on beyond the things that have happened. I've learned to forgive, but never to forget, and I've learned what it means to swallow my pride, and ignore who was right or wrong, if only to set right what is wrong. I thank you all, and though you may not see it the same way, I refuse to carry a grudge into the next year.

9. My Reedley family: I may not be teaching in Reedley anymore, but from the faculty to the students to everyone else, I am extremely grateful to all of you for having been a wonderful place where I felt I belonged. I have nothing but good things to say about my experience with Reedley, and I am very grateful for all the things I learned from them this past year.

8. Balloon Creations and Sir Freddie: thanks for giving me quite a huge break in my magic career. I can safely say that without you guys, I wouldn't be finding myself on a steadily improving course, career-wise. Things have definitely been good, they can only get better.

7. Jay Mata, Bing Lim-It, Wanlu, and Ms. Giselle Sanchez: 2008 was a huge opportunity for me to have worked with three of these four wonderful people, and all of them have definitely helped me up my game, and slowly shift into comedy magic, while still fully capable of keeping people glued to their seats when performing mentalism. Tito Bing has been my mentor for two years already, and I know it's hard to find anyone better to learn from. Jay Mata is the Teller to my Penn, and we've made good on planting the seeds to really break out by 2009. Wanlu is an excellent performer who knows how to make everyone laugh, and of course, Ms. Giselle Sanchez is plain phenomenal. I'd also have to mention here my special thanks to Cakit and the rest of TSC for their support.

6. My Plurk Friends: This pretty much covers a ton or two of friends I've had over the entire year, including the likes of Crissey, Meggy, Christa, and Louanne from the cosplayers, or Mimai, Lia, Vlaire, and Eman from the Brewsters. If you and I have shared more time over Plurk than anywhere else, consider yourself part of this group. I have to admit my life has been far more interesting and never a boring moment passes me by when I'm on Plurk, whatever time of day, whatever day of the week. From the sabaw moments to the emo segments, it's been a great time spent with you all. Thanks for the karma, all the same. =)

5. Francis, Elbert, Estelle, Abby, Sacha, Diane, Clair, Charo, and Mark:
It's hard to not be grateful to the people who've known me for so long and have stuck with me through thick and thin. They've been there for me no matter what, and even at my worst, they still chose to see the best in me. One simply cannot ask for truer friends than that. These are the friends who won't tell you what you want to hear, but what you *need* to hear, and won't hesitate to tell the truth even if it may feel rather inconvenient to do so. I'd especially like to thank my brother, Francis, for sticking by me far more than anyone should humanly have to. Blood truly is thicker than water.

4. My Campus 99.5 Family:
From the jocks to the Aircheckers to even the office people, the time I spent in 99.5 as an unofficial member of the Campus Air Force has been nothing short of memorable. Just when I thought I was out of radio, they pulled me back in, and I can't even begin to enumerate the memories I've had with all of you. I have to especially thank Joe Spinner, aka Koji Morales, for having taken me under his wing and ensuring I learned to improve myself as an on-air personality, and of course, Neil, for his biting insights that opened my eyes to a lot of things. I'd also like to thank Jimmy Jam for his anecdotes that I can't help but learn from, and John Hendrix for believing in me and giving me a shot. To Jaybee, thanks for being an awesome friend, period. To Gracey, Vanessa, TJ, Cherry, Tabel, and Sabs, thanks for keeping me company during the 'yard. To MM, thanks for the handcuff laughs. To Iza, thanks for just being there. To Cat, thanks for being my unofficial tambalang Barumbado at Maldita. Though Campus ain't around at the moment, we formed a bond to last us a lifetime, with or without Campus.

3. The Blogosphere:
This year proved to be one of the most hectic years for me when I ended up joining multiple blogger events, including of course, hosting the Philippine Blog Awards in September, and winning a bluetooth headset then a Verzio cellphone in raffles for some of these events. It's been awesome, definitely, especially considering the friendships I developed within the blogosphere this year. I'd want to mention all of you by name, but I'd feel really really bad if I missed out on anyone, although I have to give special mention to the people who directly helped me during Laughs And Gasps... Azrael, Janette Toral, Juned, and Coy. Whether you're the ineffable MLQ3, or the uber-bubbly Aileen, or anyone else in between, you know I'm thankful for the awesome moments this past year.

2. Rick Astley:
Umm... yes. What with the concert, the picture with the man, and of course, the general musicality of my year thanks to him, how can I not be extremely grateful for the master of the rickroll? There's little else I can say about him beyond that... heh.

1. My Beloved:
I don't think this should come as a surprise. My Beloved has given meaning to my life, and has been the catalyst for numerous changes I've made this past year for the better... she's the person who means everything to me, and I wouldn't dream replacing her with anyone in a million years. Here's hoping for another year with her. I can't thank her enough for everything she's done for us, but I know for sure that she's simply the best thing that happened to my life, making me a better human being, helping me learn what it means to love someone completely, without holding anything back. My Beloved is my love, my life, my whole world. From the highest moments to the lowest moments, she stood by me and gave me a kind of love I never thought I deserved. For that, and for everything more, this year is simply marked by how much brighter, how much more worth it has been by virtue of her being there for it. It's been two years, and that hasn't changed one bit.

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