Unusual Way To End August...

August 31, 2008

Last day before the Ber-ber months.

Called up two exes today.

First I greeted briefly a belated happy birthday. By the sound of it, she's probably wondering why I still remember her birthday despite it all. Somehow it's comforting to know that she's doing fine.

Second one's slightly different. She's shut herself from the world that she knows and wants to get back on her feet on her own terms, with no help from others. Including myself. Especially myself, knowing full well that she broke up with me because I remind her of her past. Its a sad arrangement, but I'm glad she felt a little better after I checked up on her. Kinda ironic ain't it? I hope she gets back on her feet soon.

I'm back to walking my own Road.

All Dressed Up And Nowhere To Go...

August 29, 2008

Today was a good day to give myself a pat on the back. Been out on official business and things went relatively well considering the stress involved leading to that day.

On the way back to the office I received a message from a friend saying she's sad. Super sad. Called her up. She was depressed. Thought I was going for the hat trick if I went over after office and help cheer her up while letting the traffic pass. She said we'll see when I get there.

Got to the nearby mall in good time despite the Friday payday rush hour. Called her up. No answer. Ate dinner. Called her up. No answer. Walked a couple of minutes. Called her up. She answered. Unusually cheery. Wasn't she super sad a couple of minutes ago? Oh well. Asked her if she's coming over. She says we'll see. I said I can wait.

I didn't wait long.

I know her for being moody. She told me that herself. But this is taking it to the extreme a bit. Extreme enough to the point that it's reached my "What Da Heck?!" category of extremes. Call it pride, but I'm too old to wait for God knows how long on a "We'll see". I want to live the rest of my life on something more definite than that.

Took me less than ten minutes to figure that out. Got to my car, drove off. Did I mention it was still payday rush hour traffic? I was too pissed off to notice. Only thing I did notice was reading a message on my phone 30(!) freaking minutes later:

"Sir, san kna?"

Two things. 1) I don't mind being called "Sir", except if I told you NOT to call me "Sir". and 2) "Sir" is supposed to be used as a sign of respect. Not to rub in the irony that you were impolite to me just a couple of minutes back.

Didn't feel like going straight home yet. I wandered a bit. Went Emo/Loser Mode on the hills of Antipolo for a couple of hours. No cellphone signals, no text messages, no calls. I got a meeting at 8AM on a freaking Saturday. Time to go down, get home, shower, and drive back to work.

Mall-Wide Sale Experience...

August 17, 2008...

Haven't gone out with my parents in a long while. And Robinsons Metro East is more their territory than mine, so I agreed to be their driver and let them show me around.

It's a mall-wide sale here, and parking is so full even the speed ramps got cars parked. Got a few pants. I felt sad at the realization I went one size up, well at least for one style of jeans. But getting three pairs of jeans in under PhP 2,000 (That's a shade over USD 40 given the current exchange rate, which is not a bad deal if I might say so).

We then had a quick snack over at Sta Lucia Grand Mall next door. Seems my Mom and Dad like Country Style bagels. Did a little grocery after that and left for home. But we took one more detour, Mom has this craving for Hershey-like soft icecream over at the local Mini-Stop.

That's pretty much it. :D

Before going to bed, I took out my 1750pt list for painting. I got about 42 models of different shapes and sizes that need to be painted and flocked in under 6 days, complete with some "distractions" surely thrown in the mix. Good luck to me. :P

A Coin In The Fountain...

Walking that Dark Road

August 5, 2008

Made a decision today. What the heck, I'm going out. I will bring along friends from the office. Let them see me in a different element, one these particular friends of mine are not so used to seeing me in. I brought along my cues today. Usually people from the office have not seen how I play billiards other than at the downstairs table after office hours.

Took them to Elbow Room. Saw a few old friends. A familiar albeit different group that somehow helped me through what I fondly called a Dark Road I previously walked. Now I'm walking a similar Road, I welcome those familiar faces. Looks like I will be here a while.

The rest of the night was a blur. But at the corner of my eye, something stands out with a crystal-like clarity I did not notice before. I felt a strange kind of comfort, the kind you don't really want to linger on due to its limbo-like appeal. I felt good about my game. I was competing more against myself while I play with officemates to have some fun. Time flew. But even after quitting time, I still made sure my friends got home safe. But on my way home, that vision still burns clear at the back of my mind.

Like the ridges of a coin I hold in the palm of my hand...

Opening Ceremony

August 8, 2008

Beijing Olympics 2008! First day, and opening ceremonies will be a very highly anticipated event. But I wasn't home early watching the Opening Ceremony. I was elsewhere. This "Opening" of mine took me across most of Ortigas as well as fringes of Quezon City. Never had such interesting conversation that bordered on extreme caution in quite a while.

My back to the fountain, I close my eyes, held the coin for one second more...

Today felt very much like my highschool days all over again. But today is pretty much twenty one years later. An assuring cup of coffee in my hand, overlooking a view blocked by an overgrowth of trees, with the quiet trickle of the fountain beside us, I tried to savor this moment of awkwardness. Why is this all happening to me? And why is it happening so fast?

I could feel the ripples in the fountain when the coin hit the water. Pitting myself against Fate once more, I quietly made my impossible wish...

I still got home in time to see the torch lighting ceremony. It was perfect. :)