Rebuilding...

.:Bonding Time:.

Met up with Cher last Tuesday because it was a good time to catch up on each other. She’s been handling a lot on her plate lately, especially with work, but it was good to see her in high spirits despite the crunch of employment.

Anyways, this is really only the second time we’ve met, as the first time I ran into her was during Fashion Art, but we’ve been talking a lot online in recent weeks, and I’ve found her a very fascinating person, to say the least. So when she told me while we were in Starbucks that she was going to go to a party for her friend’s birthday at 77 Bar and she asked me to go with her, it was a no-brainer for me to agree.

So there we were, and I made the cardinal mistake of introducing myself as a magician in a frigging birthday party. That obviously meant I was going to have to perform that night, but hey, it’s an excuse to do Lady and the Rope on Cher, so who am I to complain? LOL.

Anyways, her friends were mostly entertained by the performance, so I’m pleased as punch with how that turned out. Sarah’s brother, Ace, was apparently there that night, so he saw me at work as well, and I found it cool to discover that apparently, 77 Bar is where Bagetsafonik would usually hang out when not doing a gig.

All in all, it was a great chance to get to know a great person better, and I’d be remiss to not thank her for the wonderful company.

And, oh, yeah, lemme share this one again: me performing Lady And The Rope at Fashion Art some time back, with Cher.

.:Once A Bosconian, Always A Bosconian:.

Last Wednesday, I was talking to Noel Gascon, and I realized that Don Bosco has had such a profound impact on the both of us, we were talking almost as if we had a shared history.

It was really cool, as we talked about our electronics experiences, how our stand on religion was formed by a very liberal but still unmistakably Catholic point of view. Being a Bosconian meant we would question our faith not because we were afraid to find ourselves sorely mistaken, but because we were thoroughly convinced that putting our beliefs through the wringer could only make us more sure-footed on where we stand.

We talked about masses, and the unique songs we heard while we were Bosconians, and how different the environment was for us when we ended up in Ateneo after Don Bosco, and how being a Bosconian meant that the way we looked at the world was shaped in a way that could only be tempered by an Ateneo education, but never supplanted, much less superceded.

It was surreal talking about this stuff with him, because not only was he not in my batch in Don Bosco, he actually came from Don Bosco Makati, and I, from Don Bosco Mandaluyong. The way our personal philosophies in life seem to overlap as we talked about social justice, “walang basagan ng trip”, and apathy versus activism just floored me. It felt like I was talking to myself a few years from now, and it really showed me how powerful an impact our Bosconian upbringing had on the both of us. It may have been different schools geographically, but the values inculcated in us were unmistakably Bosconian.

It was really eye-opening to hear him talk about how Amici started during his time, and how they used the student body as a cheap form of R and D. It was equally surprising to him when he discovered the existence of Don Bosco Sta. Mesa, a rarity in that it’s a Don Bosco school exclusively for girls. I remember one of the nuns there first getting me interested in magic way back in Grade 3.

It was also a point of interest to Noel to find out that Don Bosco is actually the patron saint for magicians. Given how I’ve used magic to entertain and to educate at times, I know all too well the power a performer has when he steps up onstage and tries to wow an audience. That kind of power cannot be taken for granted, and as a fairly accomplished standup comedian, Noel also realized this pretty early on. It’s such a rarity to find a Bosconian-Atenean, and it’s really amazing to know someone like Noel, who is definitely one of the deepest thinkers I have ever encountered.

Once a Bosconian, always a Bosconian.