Ice Carvings

What a little dose of punk rock won't do. After slaving away the latter half of Sunday trying desperately to meet deadlines while listening to the wails of Stiff Little Fingers, the Clash, The Sex Pistols, The Ramones, The exploited, and the Descendants, I realized I was guilty of a bit of overcommitting and not really taking advantage of my unique situation. My time is being wasted shuttling between the big fish and the small fry, and often it is my indecision that allows both to escape. And man, I am grinding long hours for peanuts. It's not normal, and it may not be right. Along with indecision, I have laid a number of notable distractions before me. These should be minor annoyances that a simple flick of the neck or the click of a red button should address, but I chose to linger in flights of fantasy by being accommodating. No problem with that, but it often leads me to reshape my schedule and my focus.. bad move. Whether in business or in real life, I realized I have some...

"I never had any friends later on, like the ones I had when I was twelve..." - Stephen King, Stand by Me (1986) How wretchedly true. You never quite outgrow a bond shared at the age where going out meant playing street games and riding the jeepney unmindful of everything else, where the opposite sex are funny and good-smelling species you have yet to discover, and money only meant what you would spend for video games and the occasional movie. On the event of my best friend's birthday, we had a get-together last saturday and i saw faces i rarely see. We've all grown so much apart and somehow that night took us back to the days when we shared common interests and ideals. That night for once, i resisted singing my flagship song. Nel was kind enough to refer my signature hit to an old barkada who showed up after a decade of invisibility. And true enough, he sang it better. Now i gotta go back singing "Silvertoes" by Parokya ni Edgar or "Regrets" by Fra...

"Rave party without the beer." That was how Nel described the experience of dancing in the streets of Obando, Bulacan. For the record, i never saw our trip to Obando as a pilgrimage. While we haven't had any kids yet, the doctors were all in assurance that we're okay and all, and it's waaaay too early to throw in the towel and seek intervention, divine or surgical. However, the idea of going to Obando was thrown about a couple times during our three-year marriage that it was a matter of curiosity getting the better of me. My thinking was, it may not be needed at this point, but what's there to lose? I have no idea to the answer, but i was sure that i had to gain this much: a road trip, a reason to mingle, and a chance to shoot some pictures. So sign me up please. For starters, the travel wasn't much of a road trip. Obando lies in the boundary of metro manila (via malabon) and is easily accessible by jeepney for the price of a soft drink. It's not like...

all you moms out there, Happy Mother's Day! You turn off the light, kiss me good night And mother, I know that I'm going to be alright I just can't wait to grow up Find my own life, be a good wife And a smart one, I'm sure I never took us for granted and I always knew You and I are special But I never knew how much I'd miss you So much has changed and been rearranged And I see that I've lost What made me so young and incredibly strong And never ever wrong You were always there Because you're always everywhere I used to cry for no reason And that's still the same Except that I had adolescence to blame But not now Now I feel sad because I don't know what's true And I miss thinking I could be just like you. So much has changed and been rearranged And I see that I've lost What made me so young and incredibly strong And never ever wrong So much has changed and been rearranged And I see that I've lost What made me so sure that I could endure Ho...

Today's word of the day comes from a scented oils salesgirl from SM Megamall's lifestyle basement: PAPURI I was browsing for some vanilla scented oils earlier, as i wanted my favorite aroma wafting all over my office/attic so i can work in a more conducive (less smelly) setting. Noting the price of a small vial, i asked the intrepid salesgirl why the small 10ml bottle is 80 bucks compared to her neighbor's asking price of 50 (they have no vanilla so there). She looked at me and told me bluntly: " Kasi special yan. Puwede mo ihalo sa kung anu-ano. " Hmm... My mind drifted off as i pictured pouring the valuable drops into anything i could reach: my favorite oil and garlic pasta, my contact lens solutions, the gas tank of the car, refilling ink for my printer, and even putting it in the wash to make our bedsheets soft and satiny. For 80 bucks, everything would come out smelling nice and heavenly... Not to be, as I was rudely shaken off my reverie when ms. intrepid ga...

manila_ice@yahoo.com i was contemplating an Internet ID name change and thought of the above moniker. It's hip, it's short, it's close to the original nick and hits me home. I broached the idea to Nel yesterday while driving. She couldn't exactly determine if i was serious or not. But somehow, every time she says it out loud, she couldn't supress her laughter. what's so funny about manila ice? Aside from the fact that I personally find it so wretchedly contrived, disarming, and unexplicably unnerving. What do you think?

Ach! No site in sight. This is a bit insane. I know i fall victim to writer's block every now and then but this is a first for me: Net Block. My new keyboard works perfectly. I just had the DSL connection set up earlier today. I even cleaned the room to set the mood. But somehow i realized i'm like all dressed up and nowhere to go. I can't think of any damn site to visit to showcase my newfound net speed. Nothing excited me, not limewire, not ESPN motion, not even the allure of supercharged flash sites i couldn't visit before. I even hesitated to log in at blogger. So, all that horsepower available and i simply whined the time with Yahoo Launchcast (1980s alternative) and checking my bids on eBay (more on that soon). The other day, i fell victim to Printer's Block. Agonized over getting a new cartridge or refilling the ink and save moolah. The latter eventually won, but at a cost. Damn clerk kept bugging me to get a new spent cartridge from him since my old one is a...

Finally got the courage to act. I got fed up waiting for her to act normal so i left her for a someone else. Yup, i'm typing on a spanking new keyboard. Alas, she can't be perfect, having wobbly legs, but hey i'll take her over the old bitch that used to stuff extra characters into my words. Oh yeah, after months of researching, the probable culprit of this whole keyboard fiasco is attributed to the habit of eating or drinking in front of the keyboard. Any accumulated particles or moisture tends to make the wires go, er ... haywire. You get the drift. No more potato chip binges for me in front of the monitor. I'll use a spoon, a bowl and an extra side table. Hmm. Spooning clover chips into your mouth...sounds strangely inviting. So, having the new input device should shave off at least 2 hours of unproductivenessand let me get on with my work quicker and with less distractions? Right. I spent a great part of the afternoon inexplicably cleaning the attic (where i work an...

true to form, yours truly jinxed the kings so bad they stopped winning the moment i crowed the 2-2 series update on this blog. the Spurs knocked off my team two games in a row, one at San Antonio and the last one at Arco Arena. All my favorite players are now home and going fishing. Of course, there's always next year! And from the shape of the team, they'll be a force to reckon with next season.