The Manila Improv Fest That Was

.:A Belated Look Back:.

I hate the word "Sepanx," but what could be a more appropriate thing to say here?

Admittedly, looking back at the recently-concluded Manila Improv Festival well over a week after the fact seems rather too late the hero, but I don't really mind. When it comes to this blog, I've been writing for myself for a long while now instead of for an actual audience. And that's fine.

Anyways, I think what really stood out about this particular festival is that the sense of community has really brought the people together more than ever. Were there woes and cares within each group? Yes. Were there anxieties about the quality or lack thereof of certain performances? Absolutely. Did that ruin the festival? Not by a long shot.

At the end of the day, everyone came together. Everyone gave it their best shot. Everyone had memories to recount about the Festival, and most of all, everyone is absolutely looking forward to the next one.

I could give you a blow by blow account of my favorite moments from the entire thing, but given that I'm the 8List guy, I may as well boil it down to 8 things that really stood out for me, on a personal level...

8. The Music Workshop

I will never forget Dave of the Beijing Collective for as long as I live, and one of the main reasons is probably this particular workshop. There's nothing like taking a bunch of people with a ridiculously wide range of musical skills. I have to say it was pretty memorable to be creating great music on the fly, and I can't wait to put that to use.

7. The Non-Performers

Random pictures I still managed to find. Yayyyyy.

Made a few new friends within the Festival among people who went to watch or cover the whole thing, or at least to take part in the workshops, but wasn't actually part of any of the improv groups. In fact, when it came to getting to know them, Dave (he figures a lot in my Festival memories this year) actually spurred me on to do something I don't normally do. Jury's still out on the outcome of that one, but needless to say, I've gotten that monkey off my back, at least.

Also, Tomato Kick was an awesome venue for all our crazy after-parties. No doubt, no doubt!

Special mention to Miles, who kept me company for most of the Festival during the latter half!

6. Reconnecting!

Two years ago, the Manila Improv Festival allowed me to make a lot of new friends. Seeing them again in the Festival allowed us to pick up where we left off. Whether it was enjoying the comedy stylings of the Pirates of Tokyo Bay, or just catching up with Taichung Improv who really got me into improv wayyyy back in the day by giving me my first taste of performing it, to the fact that Dennis of Taichung is a dead ringer for Jeremy Renner, to PLI's insanity, to finally hitting it off with Dave and Liz and Jay of the Beijing Collective, to seeing a super-polished Zmack! to... man, I'm bound to forget people here, but whatever. It was awesome!

5. New friends!

The Improve Company from Singapore! Bacolod Improv Group! Dulaang Ateneo from CDO! These guys are just a few of the new people I had the pleasure of getting to know over the course of the Festival, and I can't help but think how great it would be to see them again soon. Who knows? Maybe I could swing by SG sometime this year...

4. SPIT continues to lead the way!

It's easy to say that without Silly People's Improv Theatre, this entire thing would not even have existed. With 13 years of experience under their belt, I can't help but be thankful for the kindness they have shown Switch Improv over the years. Thank you, SPIT! We couldn't be more grateful for everything you've done to bring improv to the people.

3. The PiP Show

Now kiiiiissssss!!!

I never heard of "slow comedy" before these guys came along. They pretty much defined it with their performance right off the bat! While most groups can get frenetic and that pace works wonders for them, these guys were just so chill. It was really just something for the ages, and every lady in the audience was practically screaming when the two of them actually kissed onstage. And yes, one of them certainly looks like Heath Ledger. Glad you noticed.

2. The Impromafia

Making me an offer I can't refuse!

Whether it's their two-man show or their three-person Disney-esque musical that they actually debuted at the Festival, Brisbane's pride and joy, the Impromafia, were simply phenomenal. It's hard to determine which I liked more: the fact that they brought something we've never seen before to the table, or the fact that Luke reminded me so much of G.R.R. Martin. Well, let me choose both, then!

1. My home team

Still making a scene wherever we go.

It's been three years, but let's face it: when the chips are down Switch Improv has always had each other's backs. There's pretty much nothing I could ask for more in this world of entertainment, where years of loyalty can be forgotten in an instant because of petty egocentricity and ridiculous entitlement. I get none of that from Switch Improv. All I get are a bunch of people who care. Who care too much than to stay complacent. Who care too much than to say nothing. And it's that caring I've come to associate with the world of improv, and why no matter what, I get sent to a happier place when I'm there. 

I don't need perfection or unbridled harmony. All I need are people who care. And that's why this team came together in the first place.

While I wish I could have been far more detailed in recounting my fond memories of the 2015 Manila Improv Festival, all I know is that it was definitely one for the ages, and it reminds me why I've always loved the improv community that Switch has been a part of for the past three years.

Project 52 (52/52): On The Year That Was (And Why I Hope For The Best In 2013)

.:Project 52 (52/52): On The Year That Was (And Why I Hope For The Best In 2013):.
So there I was, celebrating New Year's in Hong Kong last week, and I quickly realized that I was gonna miss out on writing this post to cap off my 2012. That's fine, really. I don't mind.

I. Am. Racoon. Man!

It was great, being in Hong Kong. Managed to really think about a whole slew of different things, and I must say that Ocean Park was still better than Disneyland, in my book. This is despite the fact that I completely missed out on riding the Abyss, but whatever. I'm just glad I managed to get in some time with the Hair Raiser, and I now know why they used to have Disneyland cast members screening souvenir photos on Space/Splash Mountain for flashers.

I'd do a day-by-day account, but I must admit that my time in Hong Kong wasn't terribly exciting. Some Toys R Us here, some Disney there, some Ocean Park on the last day, and even an adventure in Shakey's Hong Kong, which wa nothing t all like Shakey's in Manila. The pizzas were both pricier, and ultimately, despite the presence of portobello mushrooms, inferior to our local fare. Morton's was awesome, and I even tried to search for Peking duck along Peking Road to no avail. Overall, mundane stuff, and most of my highlights involved figuring out various ways to get in touch with My Beloved throughout my stay. We even did the New Year's countdown together!

If anything, my Christmas party with the RH Bill Advocates the night before I left for Hong Kong was probably more eventful, since I won the "manliest RH advocate" contest that night, which Beloved was very quick to dismiss as not authoritative whatsoever.

Blasphemy! How can I be anything but manly?!?

It was great finally meeting the likes of @mrsunlawyer nd @tetalimcangco, but of course, m achie ill probably remember best the riot we had as @supsup010 ade it a highlight that the anti-RH person on Twitter called me a "baklang virgin na abortionista," an assertion which seemed a bit ludicrous because a gay virgin would probably be the last person to want or need an abortion.

I wish I had more pictures of that event, but unfortunately, I have to make do with what I have for now.

It's been a great year, really. Better than the last, in my opinion, from January all the way to December. If I could try to recall the highlights I had each month, it would go...

January: he CJ Corona trial, which I had very strong opinions on. I was mostly focused on work, as I had a very important quarter in Nuffnang that could make or break my career there.

February: went on a Binondo food tour with a couple of friends, and spent some time making new friends in CamSur, where I tried my hand at wakeboarding. This was also the month that Maan, a friend of mine from my Campus 99.5 days, tragically passed away. As usual, my February 14 sucked. This might have been when I started doing that Street Fighter thing during Fridays.

March: falling out with several people, including someone whom I didn't expect would figure in my life again sometime the same year, only to leave it abruptly all over again. It was also at this point that I started waxing poetic about Neko-Chan. I had high hopes then, I guess. I got to see Battalia Royale and the Hunger Games this month, so it was pretty fun in the entertainment department.

April: officially left Nuffnang, ending three years with the company with my head held up high, knowing I had wider horizons awaiting me. The whole Alakim episode kinda soured me on being a magician/mentalist for a while, so I really let my performances as one fade to the background as I did standup more for the Cartel and Mike Unson.

May: I found myself joining ID8, where I felt I thrived and still do, although there's still so much room to make even more of an impact. It was a good time for me, career-wise, although I did miss Nuffnang a bit, especially... well, I'll shut up now. And, oh, I spoke for iBlog on Comedy Blogging, marking one of my best talks ever. And yeah, did something stupid that was (but should not have been) work-related. That gaffe still haunts me to this day.

June: Cleo left 99.5 RT, and the beginning of the end was in sight for the station. I was doing a lot of stuff for work, which led me to meet Jinri Park, admittedly, one of the few celebrity crushes I have. I hosted ToyCon, so yes, that gave me an infamous opportunity to get a line in on one of my closest cosplayer friends, Telly. And yes, I went viral this month.

This never gets old.

July: Went viral again, thanks to #fap2012 and the KFC Cheese Top Burger, although the latter gained steam since June. Lulz were had. I really got into SPIT at this point, especially after their international festival. Working in Makati made it easy for me to attend shows in Quantum with regularity, so I even ended up being a rookie performer one time for them, and the improv bug officially bit me. Also, Dolphy passed away. Which sucked, totally. Also, moved to Makati during weekdays. Or was it June? I forget. Probably June, though.

August: Tito Sotto and plagiarism over the RH Bill, OPM is dead. We were rife with very amazing discussions all around, and I was getting very testy on social media. I think this was the first time I noticed how very selective I now am with blogging, which kinda explains the paltry 123 posts I had in 2012 as opposed to previous years, but the countless Tweets I made in exchange. That Anna Banana thing struck a chord with me, really. And I think this was when Gangnam Style started to gain steam everywhere. 8List was born, at least via Facebook page, so the craziness ensued.

September: Had a horrible falling out with another friend, and this is made worse how much she reminds me of someone else. Butch Maniego passed away. A cosplay trademark thing. I got "married" via booth to Telly. LOL. I assembled a TV stand! Wow! More importantly, I resolved to at least try and make my birthday this year better, and I did that by attempting to patch up rifts I've had. One particular rift was fixed, and it turned out for the better as we started communicating again, at least at the time. I thought we were making headway, and at least, the friendship seemed great, because I saw a certain level of maturity that I never encountered this often before.

The real highlight of September, though, was when in the middle of hosting BOA, suddenly, My Beloved got in touch with me. I was shocked and it really caught me off-guard. Two and a half years since my world was shattered, it turns out it's her turn to feel that way, and through it all, I realized that my feelings for her barely changed, except in terms of intensity. I was still crazy about her. I still am, and I still hope we could work through all the obstacles facing us. And yes, this meant I started hitting the gym, too.

October: I celebrated my tenth year as a blogger! It was pretty fun, although the celebration was kinda marred because of the end of the Disenchanted Kingdom. It was pretty sad when that happened, but at least, I managed to have a breakout article on the Cybercrime Law, which eventually got hit with a TRO by the Supreme Court. Unfortunately for me, the friendship I mended a month before blew up in my face all over again, and all I know is I wish we could have sit down and talked about it before anything rash had to happen. It was such a waste, because I honestly believe we had something good going for us. To be honest, I'm still miserable about it. I wish we could patch things up someday, but even our common friends don't think it's a good idea.

Also, this was when I first met My Beloved in years.

November: #AMALAYER happened, and I was so busy this month. I spent probably 40% of my time on work, 40% on My Beloved, and 20% on everything else. That was pretty much how my life has been since November, and let me tell you that for the most part, I have no complaints about that. November 1, something happened I didn't expect to ever happen. Something, obviously powerful and moving to me. LOL. Logan jumped aboard to WAVE 891 where I quickly followed him as a regular guest.

December: Hong Kong, Christmas parties, everything was a blur in December. All I know is that from November onwards, since My Beloved was in town, all I could think of was her. It's a bit crazy how short my account is when it comes to November and December, but all I can say is that I've been happy to have her back in my life, and the details are sparse because they're replete with hours upon hours of conversations and insights with her. When you connect with a person on that level, it kind of feels strange to share all of that with everyone else, as they'd probably be lost.

And that's 2012 to me in a nutshell. Pretty crazy, huh? Ultimately, here's hoping 2013 is even better, and may love finally find me once again.  

My fervent hope.

The 10th Anniversary Retrospective: 2010

.:The 10th Anniversary Retrospective: 2010:.

Ah, 2010. The year I decided to try and do a full-scale Project 365, and succeeded at it. Somewhat. It wasn't easy, really, especially since I was coping with so much during this year, and I had to bury myself in work just to stay alive. One guess why.

Foreshadowing!

It was mortifying, really, but February 14, 2010 remains to be easily the worst day of my life. I even remembering writing this because the pain was just so palpable and I couldn't contain it. For nearly an entire year, I did nothing but cry myself to sleep. Hades, just remembering the pain I went through makes me misty-eyed all over again, and not in a good way.

It was an ordeal, and I still twitch whenever I remember what I went through, especially looking at the present, where we find out exactly what I made that sacrifice for. What a joke, really. What a load of crock, after everything has been said and done.

I hated 2009, but going over 2010, I didn't expect to discover that I may actually just happen to hate it even more.

Especially when you consider that instead of graduating, I ended up being suspended for a year from my Masters in what has got to be one of the most disgusting displays of gross negligence of due process.

Especially when you consider that this was the year that my grandfather passed. I was blogging up a storm in a reversal of what I went through in 2006. I was doing it to pretend that the pain wasn't there. I was doing it so I could drown myself out from having enough moments where I can sit down and recognize that my life was miserable.

You know, overall, I think I can only be grateful that on this year, I got to know Denise. She's an awesome person, and if you knew her, you would agree with me. Totally.

Well, damn. This was exceptionally short, and mercifully so. Ending the year by meeting Philo-Sophie wasn't exactly pleasant to remember, either...

The 10th Anniversary Retrospective: 2006

.:The 10th Anniversary Retrospective: 2006:.

Probably only the second or third best thing of 2006.

Wow. 2006. Talk about a pivotal year, because this was the year I blogged the least. Offline life was getting in the way so much that I couldn't help but have to really let my blogging take a hit, inevitably. Heartbreak near the start of the year, then followed by months upon months of career woes since I had to give up QTV11 after doing segment production for one season.

It was also the year when I got into professional magic and mentalism, which was definitely one of the biggest, most pronounced changes in my life. To think that it all started because I simply wanted to do a performance for Elbert Or, who was my best friend at the time. 

It was the year I got to meet Estelle, bonded with April, met Mick Foley, and yes, found out that National University actually existed.

Not photoshopped, rest assured.

So overall? I met new people and got to doing new things. I was really having a hard time dealing with heartbreak, so despite the misery I felt at the time, I found amazing friends who helped me weather the storm.

I was starting to be less transcript-based with my blog entries, and as I started to using more pictures, it really felt like my blog was becoming a lot more fun to write. Of course, I wrote so few entries during this year, and some of them were downright dark and disturbing, reflecting the state of mind and heart I found myself in at that point. I was down, and almost out. I couldn't thank my friends enough, but there was someone who made all the difference in the world that year, and she was simply unforgettable.

Towards the end of the year, My Beloved came into the picture. We saw The Departed,  and then things slowly started falling into place. That's why this was my favorite entry of 2006, because that very brief bit I had to say about her said everything I needed to say then... and now.

"I love you very much, and I hope that I would prove to be worthy of your time and attention. Sometimes, I worry when I catch myself not treating you in the best way I could, but at the end of the day, I know I will do whatever it takes to do right by you.

No matter what, we will find a way.

Thank you for making my life just a little brighter."

Truer words have never been said.

The 10th Anniversary Retrospective: 2005

.:The 10th Anniversary Retrospective: 2005:.

Suman for others!

First of all, I realized that I actually got to know Clair this year, mainly because this was the year that iBlog first happened, so I'm sorry about that error. Considering how I kept count of every conversation we had, this was highly unusual. Still, poring over hundreds of blog entries like what I'm doing on a regular basis to pull this retrospective off does kind of take its toll on me.

I was in the thick of my career, and the not-so-pleasant tailend of a relationship that showed how I woefully misunderstood what it means to love and to care about someone. It was supposedly a very happy thing when I got into my second relationship, but in reality? It was pretty much a travesty all around because I was flat out clueless what it took to make a relationship work. years from then, I look at myself now, and I realize my knowledge is still far from perfect, but I definitely saw so many thing I did wrong then that I wouldn't even consider doing now.

And I have a confession: a lot of my blog entries in 2005 really make me cringe today. I was very cavalier with privacy, and it may have been very embarrassing for the people I blogged about back then the way I wrote about them, no matter how positive I might have thought it was that I wrote about them. I still write a lot, and I still say a lot of crazy things, but one thing I feel just naturally changed over time was how my writing has been far less incriminating for other people I write about. I've gotten far less detailed and transcript-y, and this was actually a change for the better, I think.

I remember this year because it was the year where I worked for Channel 11 alongside doing radio, and I was ridiculously exhausted because of this setup. I can't imagine how my friend, DJ Aya of WOW 103.5, is doing the same thing nowadays, probably only worse. I was going through rather trying times, but overall? I was just so head over heels in love with Pomelo at this point that it seemed I was just gliding over everything that wasn't going so well in my life.

And yes, that included the first signs that showed me that the academic life wasn't really quite for me.

But one overall running theme during 2005 was suman. It happened mostly because of Dean Alfar's talk on creative blogging, and it sorta stuck for a pretty long while when a few of us who went to the talk decided to blog about suman on a weekly basis. I lasted pretty long doing that, actually.

It was the beginning of amazing things, to be honest. As I went ahead and got to know bloggers left and right due to iBlog, I also met the Sassy Lawyer, who pretty much recognized me because we've corresponded with each other in the past. And yes, iBlog was when I first met the (in)famous Mike Abundo.

2005 was a pivotal year because it was a year of huge changes: changes that would really dictate the pace in succeeding years, and 2006 was definitely going to be even more of the same.

But wow. I really cringed a lot going through my archives, so I'm thankful I managed to find this essay I wrote about the Digital Filipina issue. Amid all the jokes about the gay innuendo and amid all the cringe-worthy things I wrote about, I felt pretty good about the fact that I was writing with a very progressive slant more and more in 2005. I was starting to quote feminist/anti-ableist/anti-racist/pluralist material and echoing these sentiments even if in 2005, my notions on gender equality weren't as informed as they are nowadays.

It feels good to know that I came to my own personal journey against bigotry without any earth-shattering moment. That I quietly just realized how wrong bigotry was, and proceeded to work hard at educating myself over the years. Does that deserve any respect or adulation? Of course not. It's what all of us should be doing in the first place. I'm just glad I figured it out with minimal anguish.

The 10th Anniversary Retrospective: 2004

.:The 10th Anniversary Retrospective: 2004:.

Well, crap.

I used to be so thin back in the day...

So I opened 2004 with the highlight of finding out that I won the Asian Blog Awards from Flying Chair. Considering how 2004 was one of my most active blogging years of all time, it was a doozy!

One thing I noticed was that 2004 was arguably when I got the most detailed when it came to blogging. I was transcribing conversations word for word in my blog, and it was pretty insane how religious I was in writing, period.

Graduation really changed the dynamic for me because immediately upon graduation, I quickly moved on to working. I was teaching, I was on WAVE 89.1, and I was taking up my masters, all at the same time. I don't know how I managed to do all of that together at the time, but then again, I have a day job, magic, comedy, improv, and radio all going on at the same time at the moment. I guess keeping myself busy is really where it's at.

I was doing a lot of writing, including this short story series that heavily referenced something going on in my life, and it was during this time that I started being very good friends with Sacha, Peppy, Clair, Krisette, and Kathy. These friendships were really taking root, and of course, in 2004, I spoke a bit about Rowena, who had the best birthday greeting for me way back then.

Looking back at what I've written, it was a pretty amazing time, especially when I consider all the friends I made and all the experiences I went through in 2004. It was a huge point of transition for me, especially when you consider that this was the tailend of my first ever relationship, which lasted well over five years. I didn't realize I was so into poi at this point already.

The entry that best encapsulates how I was during these times must be the one where I wrote about the World of 9:00PM on a Tuesday, which is probably one of the saddest things I've ever written, when I think about it.

Man, I think despite being crazy detailed and wordy, I really had something good going on in 2004. And I was so thin back then! Oh, well. That feels so long ago. Like, so 50 pounds ago.

The 10th Anniversary Retrospective: 2003

.:The 10th Anniversary Retrospective: 2003:. 

 In 2003, I got into Livejournal, and it was quite a doozy as my blogging really took off. At some point, I just started breaking up my thoughts into headings as I currently do, and that's been very helpful in getting me to write a lot more.

I started doing Philosophy thesis statements around this year, which really got me into considering whether or not I should teach after graduation. I was ridiculously grade-conscious, I picked up the words "ruddy" and "Hades" and one of them never left my personal vocabulary, and so many other habits really started kicking in. I think I really established my writing personality by then, and despite changes here and there, it's mostly held.

I was in the running for the Flying Chair's Best Philippine Blog in the 2003 Asian Blog Awards at the time, although the results for that came out the next year. It was really a crazy time for me, and yeah, I was doing a lot of ranting, especially when it came to the fact that FPJ was making it known that he had plans of running for president in 2004.

I was a complete Philosophy junkie by the time I kicked off the year. I was waxing philosophical about anything and everything, and I was filled with inside jokes galore, and it was very clear that I wasn't even trying to write for an audience.

Nonetheless, it felt great and liberating to blog my thoughts unperturbed the way I did. I was writing all sorts of things, and I even came up with a bit that ended up in the Matrix Essays, and I wrote it before Matrix Revolutions came out. A few months later, the article ended up proving prophetic, as it actually accurately predicted the ending of the Matrix Trilogy, which is why I'm exceptionally proud of the entry, perhaps even surpassing this series of posts, where I answered Dr. Bulaong's thesis statements in great detail.

I know, he wasn't a doctor yet at the time, but whatever.

It was during this time where I hung out a lot with the Wednesday group in DLSU and the Otakuboards really occupied a lot of my life and time. Pretty crazy for a guy who didn't own a computer at the time, really. This meant I was typing out all these blog entries in the computer labs, under a time limit.

In any case, inasmuch as I'd like to blog about all of this at length, I must admit that I'm far too preoccupied today because someone very special has been spending the day with me, even if only by Skype.

I'm not gonna blow it this time.

The 10th Anniversary Retrospective: 2002

.:The 10th Anniversary Retrospective: 2002:.

So I decided to do a retrospective of my blog, featuring maybe my favorite entry from each year or something to that effect, and if I have the time, I could even go into detail with all that while I'm at it.

Not a bad idea, but oh, man. When I looked at my entries in 2002? It was painful to read through them! I mean, seriously. Nowadays, when I make a passive-aggressive post, I cringe while writing it down. Back then? That was almost all I ever did on my blog!

I think I only had one decent post I wouldn't feel bad about people seeing today there, and it was just me putting up info about stuff I researched about the WWF/E.

Despite that, if there's one entry I'd like to highlight for this retrospective, it has to be the first one I ever wrote. I think that even if it had next to no substance to it, it showed a pretty good snapshot of who I was and still am: a guy who may be sheepish about the full extent of what he is as a person, but still goes ahead and lays it all on the line, anyways.

I know this isn't a particularly long retrospective, but I guess it comes with the territory of 2002: back then, I blogged because it seemed like a good idea at the time, and in the middle of this and the stuff I was doing in the E-Fed I was a part of, I was doing an incredible amount of writing as is. Needless to say, this meant I didn't really think much about my blogging and focused more on how my day was, and I used my blog to rant about anything and everything going on in my life, which seemed to be the norm for blogging back in the day - and up to now, although with a little more window dressing in 2012.

When I got into blogging in 2002, I really just thought blogging was such a novel concept. Twitter didn't exist. Friendster was just more or less getting started, I think. Expressing yourself for everyone to see on the internet was a new thing, and it didn't matter if only five to ten people were reading you, you went ahead and blogged anyways. It didn't matter if you didn't make any money from your blog, either, as opposed to how money making or other economic perks seem to now be the main impetus for most blogs, not that there's anything inherently wrong with that.

Today, my blog may be slightly better-written, but the core remains: this is, for all intents and purposes, an online diary. I wear my heart on my sleeve something fierce, after all.

2011: An Autobiographical Retrospective

.:2011 In Retrospect From My POV:.

Well, wow. This was quite a year. For the past how many years, I've always done a top 5 or top 10 people I'm most grateful to, but I think that with everything that's been going on, there's just way too many people for me to thank. Let's just put it this way... if you're mentioned in this MASSIVE post I'm writing right now, then yeah, I'm thanking you for being a notable enough part of my year for me to actually make mention of you. If I manage to, maybe I'd even itemize that list after the post to thank you all. Whatever, really. It's my blog, so I'll write it as I see fit.

I wanted to recap how 2011 went through my eyes. This is, after all, a rather autobiographical blog. Always has been, it's just been masked by the fact that I do a lot of navel-gazing and projection when I go through with it, and it ends up being of relevance to other people in general. It's just a case of good fortune, I guess. I'm kinda tired of actively trying to be profound, so I'd happily settle for profundity in the midst of banality.

January: Not on the right foot...

Except this foot, I guess.

It was a pretty unpredictable start to 2011, as it appeared that love was on the horizon, especially given the first post I made for 2011: the wedding proposal for no one. Alack and alas, things weren't meant to be, and I started off the year with quite a downer of an opening, despite the fact that I went to CamSur and even attended two separate weddings. At this point, I lost one of my best friends. And at the rate things are still going to this day, I think I lost that person for good. The sad part? I actually feel better this way, than when I pretended we could still patch things up.

The only thing that gave me a semblance of sanity was my Project 52 2011, where I covered music videos that caught my fancy during the week in question. It was a pretty good idea, even if I sometimes couldn't write as much about the music video as I really wished I could. Nonetheless, that project took on a life of its own, and really brought to life the old adage: every song tells a story. And oh, what stories they told!

January also opened with the sad news that both Bamboo and Sugarfree, two of the best bands in the past decade, were disbanding.

Indeed, January didn't quite start off on such an auspicious note, but hey, maybe February was going to turn out better, right? Right?

February: My life was complete...

Yes. Yes, it was.

Well, yes, admittedly, my Single Awareness Day was far from perfect, but not only did I have my first date with Jazminne, but for the first time ever, I met the one and only Kim Chiu. I think that would pretty much be one of the highlights of my year, if not the highlight.

February was pretty depressing, but Kim Chiu more than saved it, to say the least.

March: Rocking my world...

This was the night the music died.

March was marked by the earthquake that hit Japan, more than anything else. Sure, there was talk about the National Blogger's Association, as well as the whole brouhaha over Manny Pacquiao and Willie Revillame. Things were definitely coming to a head, and the Jan-Jan issue just exploded from this point on, really.

Things were definitely cooking, and the craziness that ensued from the whole Willie Revillame drama still reverberate to this very day. What wasn't cooking, though, was rice. For me, at least. I gave up rice from my diet during Holy Week.

Sugarfree's farewell show brought tears to my eyes that month.

April: We were all April Fools...

I am a Patriotic Filipino®!

April was the month of iBlog 7. I wrote about day 2 since that was the only day I attended, but there were laughs to be had about the stuff that went on during day 1, to say the least. It was pretty hilarious to hear cries of "cyber bullying" from the very same people who used their blogs to attack and malign the reputations of people because it's "their blog, their rules." Ah, yes. The maverickness of it all never ceases to be a source of amusement.

Nonetheless, iBlog 7 was indeed interesting, but so was Willie Revillame's tirade. He dissed everyone from Aiza Segeurra to Lea Salonga to Jim Paredes, and it was just... wow. Unfortunately, his disappearance from the airwaves didn't last too long. MVP has invested too much into this guy to just allow him to disappear from his network for keeps.

Of course, in celebration of the logical fallacies that littered the landscape, I made a series of posts to address these logical fallacies. Needless to say, it was a pretty amusing time, and it didn't take long before a lot of people started responding to the discussions I directly or indirectly instigated. On top of this, I even went to Nagsasa for a nice weekend of peace and quiet, which was my only respite from the hurly-burly of the year, come to think of it. Quite a crazy month, really. It was only going to get crazier.

May: The geek Is fighting...

On this month, Randy Savage stopped the end of the world. 

Maybe on October 21, then?

I started going to Geekfight in May. It was quite an experience, and certainly changed my life, as far as making new friends would be concerned. Of course, it was really fun to be doing standup comedy on a regular basis again, as we started off in Tomato Kick, and I managed to meet some new open mic people. Couple this with a few performances that happened in Merck's as well, which definitely made the comedy scene get really hype.

On top of that, the RH Bill started getting a lot of mileage at this point. People were debating about it left and right, and needless to say, I found myself firmly on the side of the pro-RH. It was pretty awesome as I slowly worked those little bits and pieces of my personality into my standup comedy, all the same.

I also got myself an iPad 2 on this month. Any time I felt like playing on the go, my PSP had to settle for being my second choice at this point.

I got into OGM around this time. Best decision I ever made.

May also marked the month that Bearwin Meily betrayed the magic community. Also, this was when Mindmaster was in full swing, and of course, I ended up writing for The Filipino Freethinkers the minute he started doing seances. It was really an embarrassing time to be a magician, what with all the infighting and the outright charlatanism that was being peddled as legitimate on national television.

June: For the lulz...

That's my... girl?

By this time, I had a sylvans rival sandwich, and it was heavenly. Nuffnang had its family day, along with a few other events, all the same.

This month was when my addiction to Cracked went into full swing. I am an avid reader of their articles, and over time, my writing style was inevitably influenced by them somewhat, especially when it comes to making stupid captions on pictures. It was highlighted by stuff like Abante plagiarizing a satire article, as well as some hilarity involving Gerald Anderson and Supot.ph. I also continued to write for The POC, and made sure to discuss homophobia with a very contemptuous tone.

Of course, I hosted Toycon as well, which was quite a highlight for me, especially since Jazminne actually won. Pretty amusing how that turned out.

And, oh. I started doing Just Another Magic Monday in June, because I kinda missed writing about magic, which also means my Project 52 in 2012 will definitely not be about magic, since I can just keep doing that as is, anyways.

Truth be told, June was a pretty happening month. With all the comedy shows I was taking part in, who knew I was going to end up doing even more soon enough?

July: The laughs keep on rolling...

No captions needed.

July was the month of Fabio, as he challenged the Old Old Spice Guy, Isaiah Mustafa, to a mad libs duel on YouTube. Needless to say, it was a total riot. I was on the losing team, though, since the Old Old Spice Guy ended up getting the nod. I was hoping to see the Old Spice Girls, though. This month saw me do the most blogging in 2011.

I started opening for Mike Unson in Capone's in June, but the succeeding months, I just ended up doing more and more of them. It was quite an experience, to say the least, and I'm glad that Mike went ahead and took me under his wing. I couldn't thank him enough for it, to be honest. Considering that I opened for him and the Itchyworms in the same venue on successive nights, I really felt honored that these people have been asking me to open for them. I've been a huge fan of Mike and the Itchyworms for years, after all.

Of course, Harry Potter 7.2 came out this month, too, and I wrote one of my best posts about the franchise when I wrote about Snape and his unique way of showing his love. In Snape, I felt a kindred soul.

July also marked the month that the Morning Rush would celebrate its 15th year. I went to the celebration, of course. It was really one of the most awesome times, ever, seeing so many old faces that day.

And, oh. Sara Duterte and Vicki Belo grabbed some headlines at this point, too.

August: The Explorers, triumphant...

Because you can't go wrong with a hidden goatse.

Geekfighting was extra fun in August, since my team, the Explorers of Uranus, hosted our own Geekfight. I even came up with the questions for one category, the Fighting Games category, which was, admittedly, a pretty easy one. My friends from the Comedy Cartel actually participated in that one, which amused me to no end.

Also, in August, the Freethinkers won in the Globe Tatt awards, and I was very happy to have been a part of that success, no matter how minute.

A minor controversy about language cropped up this month as well. I wrote a retort, which, unfortunately, remained unaddressed by James Soriano, which was a crying shame, really. Nonetheless, I was pretty proud of how I did that article, because I think it provided a very succinct and civilized counterpoint to James's haphazard attempt at being contrarian. There was a bigger hubbub over Mideo Cruz around this time, but I didn't feel the need to throw my hat into the discussion as much, despite having met the man in person. I was far from offended by his artwork, but I simply wasn't impressed. I've seen it before, and I've seen it done better. At this point, though, the National Artist F. Sionil Jose had something to say against Mideo's work that made me begin to take stock in the man's blowhard attempts to posit himself as a still-relevant authority on anything. This was going to come to a head in later months.

Of course, on the lighter side of controversies, Christopher Lao happened. Sorry, but I'm backing the dude. He didn't deserve the flak he received. At all.

August was the first time I ever met Rex Navarette. This was really awesome, and became the opportunity that allowed me to host his second show in the NBC Tent later on during the year. I still am not over that. It was, in my book, the milestone of my year.

So I broke my one picture per month rule. So what?

I also discovered why having a stalker sucks at this point. But let's not dwell on that.

Oh, by the way, the world-famous magician, Shoot Ogawa, went to the Philippines in August! He wouldn't be the only big shot magician coming to the country this year, though.

September: Wake me up when September ends...

We still miss you, AJ.

I normally am very pessimistic about September, being my birthday month and all. But who knew it would suck so much, really? If one month could be struck out of 2011 in the vain hopes that it never happened, I wish it was 2011. Seriously.

It started off okay enough, when I met Roderick Paulate during the Zombadings premiere. Things were even more awesome when I first met Marybeth, one of my favorite co-hosts of all time now, and hosted Best Of Anime with her, which led to me getting "married" to Jazminne. It was all fun, but I think the bad still outweighed the good, even if the Disenchanted Kingdom also celebrated its second year of existence this month. Yes, even if Michael Ammar went to Manila.

First of all, F. Sionil Jose happened. This was quite a frustrating thing, because I ended up losing a so-called friend who apparently valued some person she doesn't know more than someone she's been friends with for almost half a decade. That was disheartening, to say the least, but y'know what? She can go dunk her head in the water for all I care, at this point. She's dead to me, at this point.

So yeah, that was pretty lousy, and so was the whole thing about bloggers getting a worse and worse rep in general. But you know the worst thing about September? This was the month where the blogosphere became a far less fabulous place. We lost AJ Matela, and his loss came with a heavy price, both emotional and financial.

The blogosphere came together in a way that could only be called phenomenal, but if we could undo all of that to have AJ back, I'd have happily made the trade. I'm sure a lot of us would have wanted the same, as well.

We still miss you, AJ. A lot.

October: The less said about this...

I still say the show title had a lot of unfortunate implications, though.

Well, first, the awesomeness: I hosted Alodia's Fantasy. It was a great honor, and it's good to know that Alodia has a lot of faith in my ability to host, as she entrusted me with the hosting duties for one of the biggest nights of her career thus far.

Of course, this month also marked one of the least well-contemplated big decisions in my life. I think a lot of it owed to the wedding I attended on this month, and the surrounding circumstances, but now, looking at how things are today, I must say that it was a monumental waste of time.

I think I've had more good memories with my X-Box Kinect (Which I bought in October.) than that other thing.

See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya. Who knew this post would turn out to both be relevant and prophetic to me in the months to come?

November: Right place, right time...

Not pictured: the pepper spray cops.

I met Hillary Clinton, then on the same day, I hosted Rex Reloaded. What more could I have asked for? It was, to put it simply, just a great career month for me. Aside from that, I even performed with the Itchyworms on their fifteenth anniversary. It was, without a doubt, an awesome time to be a performer.

I think I can bask in these two paragraphs at this point and call it a month, because I couldn't have asked for anything more from November. Instead, things were, on hindsight, even better, because I undid something stupid from October. Thank heavens.

I also met a new friend this month, during the TOEI show, which was, to me, a homecoming of sorts, since it was my first ever hosting gig for cosplay, five years ago. Kristell Lim is one of the most awesome new people I have met in 2011, no questions asked. I have a soft spot in my heart for TOEI.

So overall? It was actually a good month.

December: Lost in the reverie...

Did you know Kurt Angle inspired my blog's title?

So aside from Piolo and Mo Twister, December was pretty quiet for me. I was surprised to see myself nominated this month. It was for the Personal and the Society categories of the Philippine Blog Awards. Lo and behold, I won for the latter. I was pretty shocked because I was doing voice over duties during the event, so winning was the farthest thing from my mind.

Nonetheless, with all the reverie of the year, I was very delinquent with my blogging, to say the least. It was fine, though. I still managed to do my Christmas shopping properly, and I even squeezed in a bit of hosting during the Christmas ToyCon for one stretch of the program, where I conducted the auctions.

I also saw something happen to me in record time. Let's just say that I found it funny because it just exposed all the lip service for what it was: lip service and nothing more.

Thought it didn't directly affect me, the Sendong typhoon really sucked, though.

I think the weird thing about this year was it was bookended by the very same person who started my year off on the wrong foot. I don't harbor any ill feelings towards her at this point, but I won't let myself be used again any longer.

All in all...

... It was your average year, although the new Sales Manager in Nuffnang certainly is quite a game-changer, work-wise. I'm guessing it would be for the better, though. Some weird firsts happened in my life, including the first time I ever got a sermon from my own mom about my lovelife, but overall, I can't really say this year was significantly better than last year, save for the fact that the one-two betrayal punch I received in 2010 from a certain someone probably won't be outdone by anyone else for a long time. That shadow hovers over me to this day.

2012 is a year for hope, regardless of those stupid end-of-the-world predictions. Despite that, I'm rather cynical now, so I don't put much stock in this hope any longer.

Pardon me while I burst into flames. At least, 2012, if I'm going down, I'm going down in a blaze of glory. If not, then I can be your firework.

Hosting Again!

.:Prelude To A Long Day's Work...:.

Much thanks to Zack Attack of 99.5 Campus FM for helping me get last Saturday's gig.

Having said that, I wish I had a good list of Budget Hotels In The Philippines so I could've saved myself some stress and slept overnight before the event instead, but hey, it was still a success despite having been totally underslept.

You see, that hosting gig in Baguio? I got it on such short notice, and had to be there by lunchtime. It was crazy, because I had to hustle to the City of Pines as early as four in the morning, and I was still kinda groggy as I made my way on the bus.

Even worse, the guy in my row was snoring incredibly loudly. With that, the blazing sun, and the bus DVD player, there was no way an insomniac like me could catch my forty winks on the ride to Baguio...

And much to my chagrin, I ended up seeing "Meet The Spartans" anyway. It was even worse than I thought it would be. Ugh.

.:Destination Found:.

The event was Sun Cellular's Dance Showdown finals for Central and North Luzon. Up for grabs was 50,000 pesos worth of prizes. It was definitely going to be one heckuva ride, not to mention the fact that Jay-R was on hand to really draw the crowd in. SM City Baguio was going to be packed today with people who came to see Jay-R and the ten finalists for the competition.

Needless to say, yours truly was blown away by the sheer volume of people. I was telling Emar (The floor director) that I was a tad intimidated, but no worries, I soldiered on.

And it took me a while, mind you. I really had to get the hang of things a bit, before the ad libs started to flow freely. Towards the end of the first half of the show, I was hardly referring to my cue cards anymore. I was just really going with the flow, which of course meant I would sometimes be harsh to the contestants if I didn't like their performance. Hehe.

Anyways, after all was said and done, University of Baguio took away the top prize.

After bonding with the events group since I hitched a ride home with them, I ended up hitting the sack at 2:30 in the morning the next day. It was a really long day, but I had a lot of fun, and it was a great experience, commuting all the way to Baguio.

It was also a nice return to large-scale hosting, since I haven't been doing events this big for a while, and introducing myself as "Kel Vader of 99.5 Campus FM" gave me shivers. Damn that radio bug! It bit me, and now, I'm back in the groove of things. :P

Finally, A Sigh Of Relief...

.:And They're Off:.

I had an overnight at the Chua residence last weekend, and despite running jokes because of my interaction with the eldest Chua sister during the last party, this particular meeting of the minds proved to be a more subdued one.

Sure, there were jokes galore, what with Mario there, and we went on a mini sound trip courtesy of Derren Onizuka (My new PSP. Yes, it has a name.), and we had interesting talks all around. It was a fairly hectic day since Sacha and Wayne were packing, and Jessica (Wayne's daughter.) was very intelligent and endearing all at the same time. Lately, I rarely do magic for friends and kind of downplay it unless I'm booked or something, but an audience as appreciative as Jessica cannot be left disappointed. :)

Well, Ranulf and I were the only two who slept over, but Diane, Mark, and Mario were also part of the entourage who saw the three off as they went back to Canada.

I was especially amused by the fact that the minute "High School Musical" started playing on the DVD player, Jessica rolled her eyes. Apparently, the girl has seen the bloody film five hundred times too many already. That pretty much cut our midnight movie marathon since my other DVD wasn't playing anything, and the previous one had PG-13 movies which, while of course tame, is not tame enough for a 9-year old.

At the airport, the merry bunch just bonded with each other, really. I'm awfully happy that we got to spend the time, and that Sacha will be back for Diane's wedding this August.

Godspeed to you guys!

.:Question Marks Answered:.

As a friend, I'm of the laissez faire type. For the most part, I'm rather low-maintenance, as while I do lean on my friends when things are not going too well, I have enough variety (Except in El's case, or my Beloved. The former, because we're practically neighbors. The latter because, well, she's my Beloved.) to not particularly burden one friend or another too much.

That being said, just because I rarely step in to tell you if you're doing something wrong doesn't mean I don't care. I actually do, but I just don't feel it would be particularly helpful if I imposed my thoughts upon you unsolicited, particularly since you are my friend, and I do have an implicit amount of trust that you know what you're doing.

At the end of it all, I feel I was right in having a little more faith in her judgment. I'd be the last person to care about an age gap between couples (As long as the younger one in question isn't jailbait, that is.) so long as they're happy, and I can safely say I haven't seen her this happy in a long time.

If only for that, I'd like to thank him for taking good care of one of my best friends. I may come off as a delinquent best friend, but prayers do change a lot of things, and I'm happy where they stand at present...

What Happened Last Saturday

.:PTC Props And Slops:.

I was touched to hear from some parents about the influence rubik's cubing has imprinted on their children. Last Saturday's Parents-Teachers Conference was quite an eye-opener for me as I heard two parents tell me how rubik's cubing has really changed their child for the better.

An especially endearing moment was the fact that one of the children actually had ADHD, and I never even knew about this. All throughout, I was genuinely surprised because this student never showed me any signs to make me think that this student had ADHD. To be told that through my help, as well as the student's classmates, that the kid was finally living up to their potential was a huge shot in the arm, and a very heartwarming reminder to me of why I teach, to begin with.

Teachers touch lives. Through circumstances beyond them, they are given a great power and an even greater responsibility to help their students become the best that they could be. For the opportunity to have done that for this schoolyear thus far, I cannot be grateful enough.

Unfortunately, I'm also receiving a slap on the wrist (A painful one, at that.) for a goof-up at work. I think I deserve it though, because I'd hate my teacher for sure if it happened to me and it went uncorrected. It's just fair, I guess...

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.