Of Free Spirit, Bohemianism, Fun, Love

I always tell myself that if I have to spend the rest of my life with someone, I want it to be with a woman who embodies a “free spirit”. So the best, if not the ideal, type of person that fits this personality is a bohemian artist. She can be a writer, a painter, a street artist, or anyone that has an artistic blood in her.

I don’t know… I have always been fascinated, and not to mention constantly loving and being in love, with someone I see who is as free as a bird, doing things she wants and makes her happy. And yes, still be happy after doing it. She not only makes herself happy, but others as well.

For me, freedom is bliss. To do everything in life, especially in pursuit of arts, is the ultimate happiness. To meet someone (and hopefully to love and be loved) who thinks like me will surely be heaven. While I am far from being a true-blue bohemian myself, I know I can slowly unshackle myself from this world and finally fly to wherever I want to. And meet her, the bohemian lady of my dreams.

This afternoon, I spent the day here in the office surfing the net for anything that catches my fancy (as always). The idea of looking for free-spirited ladies suddenly poked my brain. And to my surprise, I found two (websites) persons who are modern-day bohemian/free spirits, who loves life, living, and living happy and free.

More descriptions about them, next time. But here are the links.

http://colormekatie.blogspot.com/

http://minasdecorandfashion.blogspot.com/

Too bad, they’re already taken. But you can still love them ♥ (like I do )

Small World

I’m still amazed how small this world is.

I went back to the Taguig gig (refer to previous post) to finish my written exam. Lo and behold, I saw a familiar name on the building’s guard’s log book. When I stepped inside the room, there she was!

Turned out that she also applied for the writer position. She had gone there ahead of me and it looked like she already snagged the job. She was saying something about contract signing. Anyway, I was happy because it won’t be that difficult to adjust to my new job should I get in and decide to work there because I already have one friend.

Regarding the tests, I took some IQ tests, yanno, the typical verbal reasoning test. Argh, the only part where I messed up was the (surprise, surprise) arithmetic! I had to solve complex arithmetic under 5 minutes! Toward the end of the time limit I was already guessing the answer but I still left 10 questions hanging when the time limit popped on my face. Before the online exam, I got interviewed by The essay part was somehow hard, because of the time limit, not the topic.  But I know I did well, so there… I hope I become a The Fort resident soon.

Tomorrow, I plan to file my 2-day absence as sick leaves. I hope the HR would buy my “I was under the weather” alibi. Haha.

Basted!

Yes, I am. Very heartbreaking. And it’s not even by a girl!

This morning, I finally got the news that I have been waiting for – and a very saddening one. I finally got in touch with the HR of BBDO-Guerrero after more than a month of waiting for the results of my copywriting exam (no email came). It turned out that the lady that I was wooing, the copywriter position that is, has already been hitched by someone else. And it was around the time that I was waiting, sometime in August according to the HR, that the job went to some lucky guy’s lap.

Okies for Jabbawockeez

I finally saw the famous Jabbawockeez in person!

Well, kahit papaano.

I wish I was ten-foot tall when I tried to squeeze my body into the throng of people (mostly teenagers) to get a glimpse of the acclaimed dance crew. For a while I was afraid I might fuse my molecules with theirs so I used my bag as a kind of shield. But I still could not make it to the area with a clear view. All I could see were the sweaty heads of those taller brats. So I contented myself looking at the monitors of the video cams that they brought. Good enough, I guess.

Craning my neck to get a good view of the cams, I squinted to see the JBWKZ do their cool moves. I tried hard to discern the songs being played amidst the wild fangirl and fanboy screams (I am a non-screaming fan, I swear). So there was PYT, Icebox, a Ne-yo song I dunno, and some familiar songs. Though I have seen them dance in videos, I wanted to see them do that in person. But no, I didn’t. Sad.

Thousands of Pinoy Wockeez all tried to occupy the same space to get a good look of their dance idols. The four levels of the TriNoMa mall were all filled; the area overlooking the plaza, that is. I ended up at the fourth floor (near the carousel) after fruitless attempts at shoving the crowd at the lower levels. I thought of a zombie invasion (think of 28 Days Later) inside the mall. I wished I had a gatling gun or a chainsaw so I could bore my way through those zombies.

Some lucky bastards managed to get front-row seats inside the stage area, what the fuck! Apparently, as I learned later on, they had free passes after buying 1,000+ worth of purchase. Unfair! But I didn’t have any money so it would still be useless even if I learned it earlier. Oh well.

Jabbawockeez were the best, as expected, engaging the crowd with their stylishly distinct cool moves, and their stage presence and performance. I am a frustrated dancer myself so I live my stomping the dancefloor through them. I especially like their mime moves – those snappy, puppet-controlled-at-the-joints, jerky-head dancesteps. And the locking and popping, of course.

Argh, they are on a 3-day tour so I will watch them again on Sunday at Glorietta. I need to see them, I must!

#

Of Going Away and Giving Way

I still can’t believe that my former boss, Deyey, is already gone.

I just got back to office this morning after burning five days worth of vacation. I got the sad news last Thursday, on my very first taste of work leave, a day after my anniversary at work. But it’s only this morning that the idea of him not being around anymore started to sink in.

I kept looking at his work station to ask something, forgetting that there’s no one there to answer it (and God forbid if someone did answer). I also started to miss his hirits. I wanted to go down the building and buy something from 7-11 (our usual afternoon break) and I almost invited him out.

Oh well.. Soon I will forget about it, this nagging thought that people can come and go without notice. Death is really something that continues to mystify me. It’s an idea not unlike a jelly that squeezes out of my fingers whenever my mind tries to grasp it.

I am not sure with his jokes, but I wish his soul find eternal repose.

*****

So it finally happened.

Although expected by many, it still come as a mixture of surprise, admiration, cynicism, awe and caution when Mar Roxas dropped his bid for the Presidency next year AND gave the torch to Noynoy Aquino, only  son of martyred Ninoy and recently deceased Cory Aquino.

Masamang Biro, pero Sige na nga, Pwede na rin

Palabiro s’ya. Tamang trip lang. Sa totoo nga, nakakasunod s’ya sa topak ko. At s’ya, swak sa akin ang mga hirit. Sa mga boss, sya ang nakakasundo ko. Astig ang wavelength ng utak, Sakto lang, pero siguradong masaya.

Naalala ko madalas ko s’yang biruin na may panahon pa para umatras sa kasal nya. Ayaw nya, wala na raw atrasan. Lalagay na sya sa tahimik sa Nobyembre. Sa a-nwebe yata ang seremonyas. Anniversary nila. At happily ever after na ang moda pagkatapos.

Kaso, ser! Biro lang yun, bakit mo tinotoo? Di mo lang ‘di tinuloy ang kasal, umatras ka pa sa buhay mismo!

Primus Annus

Happy anniversary!

I am not really good with anniversaries; my inexperience in this kind of annual tradition clearly is a big factor. What do I do? Do I give a congratulatory pat on the back? Or maybe a celebratory hug? An expensive dinner will do, yes?

Except that it will look weird if I hug myself, as I am the only one celebrating my first year at work last Wednesday, Aug 26.

Distansiya

Sa lansangan mo natagpuan iyong tunay na kalayaan.

Sa lansangan mo nasaksihan ang pagsulat ng kasaysayan.

Sa lansangan mo natagpuan ang iyong buhay’t kabuluhan.

Sa lansangan mo nahanap ang sagot na iyong inaaasam.

Sa kahabaan ng daang binalak mong bagtasin,

Baon mo ang hindi mamamatay na adhikain.

Sa iyong pagsulong sa daan sa pagitan natin,

Ihahatid ka ng aking diwa at mga tingin.

To Kill a Man

The man with the thick-framed glasses would gesture his hand to emphasize his points. His eloquence totally captivated his audience, his baritone voice ruling all over the room. Every now and then he would interject a punchline that threw his listeners off their seats laughing. But each witty remark he let out, each story he recounted, each stern demand he angrily raised were all far from being laughable.

His speech was so powerful it still resonates today, 26 years after his death.

Be Like Them

The past few days I have been adding the names of writers, musicians and other artists that I know in Facebook. I have also added their friends, thinking that they are birds of the same artistic feathers.

I do this because for one, I want to be updated with what’s going on with their lives. Not really to stalk them, but rather, I want to know if they are releasing a new book for example, or simply get a glimpse of what they think through their wall posts. Some of them post their literary writings in the notes section of their FB pages and I can only read with mute amazement how they weave words with amazing mastery.

Another reason is I want to expand my circle of friends. Nothing against my present set of friends, I realized that I truly lack a group of writer and artist friends with whom I can share my interests in arts and letters. I never really have close and personal relationships with artists and wordsmiths with whom I can talk to (maybe over bottles of beer) about authors, theories, literary techniques, etc.

It’s one thing of course, to meet them in person, and another to simply see them in the cyberspace. But I am hoping that facebook will be a good medium to get in touch with them.

As I look into their profiles, I realized that some of them live the lives I want to live – free-spirited, creative and artistic. Most of them have body of works that turn me green with envy (they’ve published books, they’re in a band, made movie, etc). A lot of them also have awards and achievements under their belts (yes, most of the people I added are Palanca winners). When they talk in FB, you can see how much they know about art and literature. I surmise it’s not only because they grew up devouring anything bound between covers, but also they have the right company to share and put this knowledge to good use.

These are the people I want to mingle with and add to social circle. Not really these exact people per se, but people like them. I want to be with them and be like them. I may be a late bloomer when it comes to writing, but I believe it’s not yet late to follow the tracks that these people leave.