As I wrote on earlier, the Sunday drinking session had a heated debate on why men cheat. Knowing that I was an editor by profession, my friend included me in the heated argument as he and the girl (whose name I couldn’t recall, but who cares anyway?) talked about the difference of having fun and being happy.

It was a topic I was familiar with (fun and happiness that is, not cheating) so I couldn’t help but offer my two cents. Unfortunately, I was drunk – and because of which, my explanation was rather shaky at best. The advices or comments I give whenever I’m drunk are never worth shit and should never be taken seriously.

So what the difference between being happy and having fun from an intoxicated point of view?

Those close to me would know how much I love using analogies when pointing things out. And true enough, I did. I argued that being happy and having fun can be compared to drinking beer and being drunk.

A person drinking beer isn’t necessarily drunk. Likewise, a person who’s having fun isn’t necessarily happy.

I should have left it at that. My argument was short and simple. But no. Like I said, I was drunk; my tendency to talk on and on took over. As it turns out, my speech was far from over.

Soon I was telling how happiness is a noun whereas having fun was a verb. Thinking back on it now, “fun” without the word “having” is a noun too. But that’s not the point. “Fun” is something you have to do; “happiness” is something you need to have. Makes sense? If it doesn’t then that should explain the blank faces I got from the two arguing friends.

I hope I was of some help. But judging by how much further I went on in explaining my thoughts, I highly doubt it. Oh well. They shouldn’t have been talking about it anyway.

It’s been a while since I made a post. I’ve been busy for all the right reasons so it’s all good. And I’ve been through a lot, emotionally as usual, with the whole All Souls Day “festivities” and all. That and I had been doing some errands that somewhat secured my family’s future. Safe to say, we may not have anything to worry about for a while. Whew.

To talk about everything that happened during the last couple of weeks would take forever. All you need to know is that:

• I went and visited my father during All Souls Day.
• I went and visited my grandfather’s grave as well which saw me walking around the cemetery as rain poured on a cold night.
• I had to sit in a car and, for the first time, watch my brother drive.
• I got to drink free alcohol all because a friend and his girl had to sit through a shitty movie.
• I walked around Ayala Ave… well, maybe that story is best told in person.
• I bought a new notebook and haven’t been able to install anything just yet.
• I crashed a birthday party in Antipolo with a few good friends.
• I got drunk with the last two girls you’d want to get stuck with on a drinking session with.

Maybe it’s best to stick with the last two bullet points in the list.

Saturday night I went out with some friends and crashed a party in Antipolo. A former officemate’s brother was celebrating his birthday – a guy we don’t really know. But who cares? We’re a flexible bunch of people – we can adapt to anything. We’ve made a career out of it.

And so I went, got drunk, ate a whole lot of grilled pork, tortured people with the help of a videoke machine, watched a freestyle rap contest ala 8 Mile, satisfied a craving for lugaw, and went home with three friends who eventually passed-out. It was a good night.

Too bad one of us couldn’t remember all the shit that happened. Kids, don’t do drugs.

The trip home has got to be my favorite. Seeing three friends be drunk like that – the trip was reminiscent of my high school days. Back when I passed out on billiard halls and had people avoiding me inside the jeepneys because I stank of alcohol. The whole thing, in all seriousness, was awesome.

The next day saw me walking around Gilmore with some high school friends in search of a notebook. I need a computer for work. They knew the specs to look out for and I had the money – the setup was perfect.

Anyway, the point of this story is what happened after buying the thing. We headed for one of my friend’s home so I could borrow his installer CDs. After we got there and watched Watchmen (I just loved the ending), another friend came by and invited us to drink. This led to an all-nighter I won’t forget for some time. We drank, we sang and almost got into a bar fight.

Oh, and speaking of the could-have-been bar fight, two questions come to mind thinking back on it now:

• What is it with women who can’t lock the door when they’re inside the restroom?
• And why, for the love of everything holy, do I always end up opening unlocked doors at the wrong time?

Back to the story, there were six of us total during the whole thing. Two of them were girls. One of them wanted to have a debate on why men cheat while the other cried because she thought she was a loser. First off, debating isn’t a fun thing to do while drinking. That’s why videoke was born. And crying about being a loser isn’t gonna help, honey. Only losers cry about being losers.

The crying chick got mad at me for not listening to her whining which pissed me off a bit. I mean how could I concentrate on singing Open Arms by Journey when someone keeps on punching my back? Do you know how hard that song is to sing? After that incident, I kinda understood why Chris Brown did what he did.

Well, some of the other details I’ll talk about on another blog entry. Otherwise, this would go on even longer.

Overall, it was quite a weekend. A few incidents aside, it was everything it was supposed to be. It’s been one fine weekend.

As you may know by now, Saturday mornings are when I usually stay behind the office to rack up some extra hours. This is due to the fact that I have been coming to work late recently and because of which, I have to make up for the hours I spent not working. I find that bit funny because I now find myself at work doing nothing (aka not working). As always in my case, irony gets the last laugh.

*****

So it seems like Estrada is on his way back to the presidential race. I heard the terrible news moments after waking up on a weekday night. I heard his distinct voice and immediately knew. Why else would he stand in the streets of Tondo with political allies by his side? I doubt it was to promote his new movie with Ai-Ai and Dionesia.

Erap stood there and told people that the economy went down after he left office. He made rants on how Arroyo didn’t make life any better for the Filipinos and how much the country hasn’t progressed and all.

I’m no Arroyo fan by any means, but give her some credit. She DID improve the country’s economy. In fact, of all the presidents, she had the best record economy-wise. And I do stress the word FACT.

Economics is Arroyo’s shit. It’s her strongest point – quite possibly the only thing she’s good at. Problem is, there are other contributing factors as to why we haven’t felt the boost in the economy. Those factors? They’re her weak points.

So really Estrada? You’re gonna talk shit about what she does best and, coincidentally, the very thing you suck at? You must be dumber than I thought.

Legal issues aside, how can we even consider re-electing this man a possibility? Have Filipinos gone insane or do we just like People Power rallies that much? Because I’m telling you, there will be another one should he make it back to Malacañang.

*****

First there was Bong Revilla, then there was Edu Manzano. Now it’s Ronnie Ricketts? If being an action star is a pre-requisite to being the Optical Media Board chairman then clearly, there’s no better candidate than Ronnie Ricketts.

However, if you plan on getting through the Muslim-filled streets of Quiapo, you should have appointed Robin Padilla. Just saying.

*****

I’ll be making my way back to Gilmore on Sunday. I figured I’ll be making a good investment here anyway. If my plan works out, I’d probably make up for the money I’ll lose by early next year. If not, well, I’ll still have a laptop, so there.

Hopefully things would work out for me. This isn’t where I projected I would be three years ago when I just stepped out of college. However, things are moving forward and possibly towards something good if I play my cards right.

Let’s start with the laptop and we’ll see from there.

It seems like I need to buy a new laptop. The family laptop just won’t be able to hold it together for much longer. Looks like the D-SLR thing will just have to wait. Damn it.

The right employer still has to come along. Looking for part-time work is, well, not working out. I’m in no hurry though. In fact, some decent offers have come along. However, seeing that this is just a part-time stint, I might as well do something that I like. Granted, I have no idea what kind of work I would like to do to start with – I’m still optimistic that the right job will come along eventually.

And when it does, I’d like to have a decent laptop to work with. Not looking for anything specific. Anything that’s cheap reliable will do. I guess everyone’s in need of a laptop these days…

*****

I just got back from an elevator trip where I held the door for some Chinese dude who almost got left behind. Normally I wouldn’t care about people getting left behind but I don’t want to be a racist now do I?

When he got in he showed his gratitude by saying thanks… in Chinese.

So that makes me a Chinese again. In the past couple of years I’ve been mistaken for a Chinese, Korean, Mexican (yes, you read right) and Singaporean. There was a time I was trying to lead people into believing I was Japanese but that didn’t work out so well.

I guess I can be everything but Japanese.

*****

Nothing much to do today. But I’m not even halfway through the day. If there’s anything we’ve learned, it’s that we can never be complacent.

For now however, I’m left with browsing the web which sucks especially with a really slow internet connection – but it would have to do. Working night shifts does have its advantages and disadvantages. It’s the latter that I have to deal with now. On slow days like this one, things have a way of getting boring.

But aside from that, everything can’t get any cooler.

*****

I was messing with Google by asking it to make random searches for me when I eventually saw this picture. Impressive. This one brings a whole new meaning to cosplay. You’ve got to love the attention to detail.

That and I find the girl cute. And by the way, there’s no sexual innuendo in that last statement, thank you.

Thank you Greenbelt 5 armed robbers. Because of you, I have proven myself right. Mall security means shit in this country.

You have to admit – these robbers had a great plan. Either they’re evolving into something smarter or they have watched Ocean’s 11 too many times. Their plan had covered every possibility except for the two police aides who just happened to be in the mall when the robbers stormed the place.

And what about the mall security? 33 men – whose sole duty was to ensure safety within the mall – were nowhere in sight. But they had an excuse – they were thinking of the shoppers’ safety and thought it was best not to engage the robbers within mall premises. To a certain extent, they were right. Given the fact that no other civilian had been hurt (aside from the dude who was hit by a stray bullet), their idea may not have been a bad one.

But it gives me no comfort to know that every member of Ayala’s security won’t be there should I find myself in the middle of a crossfire in one of their malls. Also, isn’t it funny how NONE of them were there because they were thinking of everyone’s safety? How ironic.

It’s also stupid for Ayala representatives to give comments saying that their mall security had been taken by surprise because the robbers were disguised as members of the bomb squad. What the fuck were you expecting? Armed men with “ROBBERS” printed all over their shirts? Criminals will always find a way to outsmart law enforcement agents. The trick would be to stay one step ahead of them… always.

Of course, the next day other malls have declared to the public that they have increased security and are now on red alert. For the love of everything holy, why only do it now? If increasing security could have been done overnight then why wait until something like the Greenbelt incident to occur? And by the way, I went through an established mall on my way to work today and could have gotten in without so much of a fuss.

I could have brought a shiny revolver with me and the guard would still have said “hello, good evening” and let me through.

And what does being on “red alert” mean? It’s not like the robbers are going to rob another mall no less than 24 hours after scoring a big hit. If by “red alert” they mean intensified security and conducting thorough baggage checks and such then shouldn’t they be on “red alert” everyday?

It seems like Ayala malls will always be one of two things – the victim or the culprit. God must really hate the Ayalas.

*****

Also, thank you Mr. fan-punching-PBA-player for doing me a favor. I’ve always thought about punching a smart-ass basketball fan. Whoever that fan was, he had it coming.

He violated the first rule of trash-talking: Never trash-talk with a guy within punching distance.

Do not mess with a basketball player when you’re sitting on the sidelines. Be sure to move far away as you can then talk trash. Unless the player has a gun of course (seriously, this happened before), in which case you say nothing at all.

I know trash-talking has become a part of the sport. It’s unfortunate but a lot of people tend to forget that a ticket would only let them watch the game; those tickets aren’t sold so they can fuck with a player’s emotions.

Apparently, the fan who got the breath knocked out of him had a man-crush on Chris Tiu whose team was up against the player who smacked the hell out of him. Reports said the man had thrown in some mean comments after a hard foul by the now-suspended-for-the-rest-of-the-season player. Then mayhem ensued.

Oh if you could have only seen the fan’s face after he got the smackdown (who started acting tough after being surrounded by security). I can’t blame him though. If I got my ass kicked on national television and wasn’t even able to do anything about it, I too would walk away with my head up high then call my mommy and have her kiss my boo-boo.

I’m not saying the player was right. He was wrong and suspending him was the right thing to do. Here’s what I’m really trying to say:

• Just because the player was wrong doesn’t mean the other party was right.
• PBA officials could have at least backed their player up by saying it wasn’t entirely his fault. I may not know exactly what words had been said out there but I doubt that it was a compliment.
• The fan lost all his rights the moment he threw in the first insult.
• PBA officials should, for the lack of a better expression, grow some balls. They say they don’t want the PBA to look anything but fan-friendly. But with fans like that, guess what – you are anything but wholesome. This isn’t a case of the customer being always right.

I just learned that the fan I’m talking about is an Atenean named Alain Katigbak and that the Ateneo community would be in full support of Katigbak filing a complaint. I guess Ateneans support each other regardless of who is wrong or right.

On this day one year ago, my grandfather passed away. And since our family just couldn’t get enough of crying, a special dinner had been arranged to pay tribute to THE man.

I’ve always idolized the guy. There was even a point when I was hell-bent on becoming a lawyer just as he was. The man was so good he eventually became a judge – and from the stories I heard, a very good one.

He always had power – on and off the court house. People respected him. He had been labeled as a man of few words. But whenever he spoke, everybody listened. He was the man I wanted to be. And in some ways, I did become like him. For he is my father’s father just as I am my father’s son.

Even days before he left, he had taught me things – important ones at that. The last lesson he taught me, as I realize now, would the most important. On what that lesson might be is just too personal to tell – not to mention too mushy for my taste.

I’ve always said that people should be happy on mornings. I mean that’s why they’re called “mornings” not “mournings”. I’m gonna have to stop believing in that, at least for today. Maybe I could even go and visit his grave if I have time.

Death really took a toll on us this year. Why can’t death knock on somebody else’s door for a change?

Do I miss my father and grandfather? Yes. It’s hard losing both of them in less than a year. And I can only imagine how hard all this is for my grandmother. Am I done crying? No. Will I be alright? I’ll be just fine. Time eventually heals everyone – assuming time doesn’t fuck that one up.

On a related note, why do people feel the need to “celebrate” someone’s death anniversary? What’s there to celebrate? Are we happy that the “celebrant” died? I get celebrating one’s life and accomplishments. “Celebrating” death anniversaries however is completely different and inappropriate.

Oh and speaking of celebrations, my grandfather died two days before his birthday. So during his wake last year, my brilliant aunts gathered all the grandchildren and had us sing Happy Birthday in front of his coffin – and if I remember correctly this was all done complete with cake and candles.

Me, being the eldest of the grandchildren present, did the most mature thing – I laughed while everyone sang. Why? Because it’s stupid. If my grandfather was every little bit like me, he would have bitch-slapped everyone there. Kids singing him Happy Birthday may be cute, but coming from a then 23-year-old man, not so much. And there’s also my issues with parenting but I won’t go into that.

If they do the whole birthday thing again today, I’m walking out. No worries, I’m sure my grandfather would understand.

The team took another test today. An assessment test to check what mistakes we’re prone to committing. It’s reminiscent of the entrance test I took to land this job – only easier this time around.

The results of this test will determine what mood we’ll be in for the next couple of weeks.

*****

With the test out of the way, we strapped ourselves in for what would have been a really slow night. Not much work to be done. There were a couple of entries to be edited but all in all, nothing special. Thanks to the unexpected surprise, I was able to play the Dissidia game and finally got the hang of it.

The game wasn’t so bad after all. If anything else, it gave me hours of entertainment, a temporary outlet where I could focus my attention, a new challenge I could quit anytime should it prove to be difficult, and a new source of something to laugh about.

I mean seriously – imagine 10 characters from 10 different Final Fantasy games, each one bringing with him/her the same issues he/she had from whatever FF game were from. Every character in this game has something to be depressed about.

So far I’ve seen Tidus with his daddy issues, Cecil and his ongoing sibling rivalry, Cloud who until now couldn’t find a sense of purpose, Squall who is the ever loner, and Firion (who is, without a doubt, the gayest of them all) and his dreams of building a world “full of flowers” (see what I mean?).

Dr. Phil would love this game. The final stage could very well be on the Jerry Springer show.

*****

Got a few offers today. Some of them looked interesting while some were just downright dubious. Unfortunately, the ones I liked required me to work full-time. Of course, there were also the cheapskates. I know it’s not always about the money but I don’t do charity work either.

And then there were the ones offering me to work home-based. I just don’t see myself working at home on a full-time basis. Well, not until I get my own place anyway – which isn’t going to happen anytime soon.

I could barely rest at home. Could you imagine what it would be like if I had to work there too?

*****

Well, I guess that’s about it. After killing off monsters and killing off time, I believe it’s time I pack my stuff and head on home. I really hate having to stay behind the office just because I “owe” the company some hours.

But it’s nice to be able to blog and all in between hunting jobs and monsters. I can get used to days like this one.

Again, I had to kill some time before I could log out off the office. And like the poem about nouns and verbs, this is nothing more than a futile attempt to keep myself busy.

This is me rewriting a song. Pardon the stupidity. And please, this wasn’t meant to piss off anyone. I’m just having some fun – in a really unfunny way. And yes, I do take my job seriously, thank you.

Mahirap mag-edit ng trabaho ng iba.
Di mo ma-itama kapag ayaw nila.
Mahirap, oh, mahirap talaga.
Maghanap na lang kaya ng iba.

Ngunit kapag aking nakita na mali na talaga.
Kahit walang paalam binabago ko na.
Sige lang, edit lang, o bahala na.
Bahala na kung magkabistuhan pa.

Tumawa habang naka mute telepono.
Hindi naman nila alam pangalan ko.
Kapag natapos ka na, sasabihin sayo.
Ulitin mo mamaya, may mali, gago.

Mahirap talaga i-edit ang sa iba.
O sakit sa ulo maniwala ka.
At dahil na malaki pinapa-sweldo nila.
Iwanan siya’y di ko magagawa.

Mahirap talaga mag edit ng sa iba.
Di mo maibago kahit okey talaga.
Mahirap, o, mahirap talaga.
Maghanap na lang kaya ng iba.

Mahirap mag-trabaho sa iba.
O sakit sa ulo maniwala ka.
Kaya kahit ano pang isulat nila.
Mag-tiyaga na lang magagawa.

Konting Facebook pag walang magawa.
Mag edit lamang ang magagawa.

This week had been all about my PSP. I’ve had that thing since 2007 and will be turning three years old this coming December. Yes, I may not remember my when my ex girlfriends celebrated their birthdays but I do remember when I bought my baby.

Why? Well, I guess men are drawn more towards objects that can be turned on a whole lot easier and can be played with anytime.

Anyway, after hearing about the release of Final Fantasy Dissidia, I knew I just had to have a copy of the game. So it was off to the nearest gaming store around (well, the only one near the MRT station anyway – I took a detour on my way to work). While I was there, I saw another game I was craving for – Rock Band Unplugged. So I deleted some files to make room for the new game. After they were installed, I went on my merry way to the office knowing that in a matter on minutes I’ll be rocking it out in my cubicle.

That was Monday.

Come Tuesday morning, when all the work was done with (I work night shifts, remember?) I was about to play the game when it went AWOL on me. The games disappeared. Nothing new, same thing happened to me before. I remember having to upgrade the console to a higher version for the games to be read again. I simply shrugged the whole thing off and decided I’d come back to the same store and have it fixed.

Sure enough, I went to the store (again, before heading for work). I had my PSP upgraded and had the games reinstalled (a process that takes 45 minutes or so). After all that waiting, my PSP still wouldn’t work right. The idiots who work there offered to redo the whole process all over again but that meant I had to be late for work which I couldn’t afford to do. So I told them I’d just return tomorrow to have it sorted out.

And along came Wednesday.

I went back to the store and saw a new face. I had to explain everything to her. Without any fuss, she did what she was supposed to do. After yet another 45 minute session, we found the games still wouldn’t work. So she called in for reinforcement.

I was introduced to this guy who fix PSPs. This guy works for them but only decided to show his face on the third day. After hearing what happened, the son of a bitch told me that it was my fault for installing the Rock Band game. Apparently, the game has a bug that makes PSPs not want to play with you anymore. The solution? Reformat.

Ah, yes. The questions I had just came pouring in. Questions like:

• Why sell me the game knowing it has a bug?
• Why sell something that has a bug to begin with?
• Why are you asking me to pay an additional 100 pesos so that I get two “free” games with my upgrade?
• Why are you asking me to pay for fixing something you guys caused?

Today’s Thursday and later, I’ll have my PSP fixed. But there’s no way I’ll do business with them again. I found this other place where I could get my baby back to its old self. Hopefully, things go smoother this time around.

You know, for someone to be able to write this long blog about something so trivial tells a lot of things. But above everything else, it shows how much I need escape. Believe it or not, my console does exactly just that – console. There’s really no good way to end this. So I guess I’ll just stop being so sentimental and halt right here.

You know, people always tell me that it sucks to live in Cubao for a number of reasons. Living in Cubao my whole life, I can honestly say that things aren’t really that bad. But if you still want to rub that issue on my face, let me quote a friend in saying…

“Lahat ng mga taga-Cubao, marunong sumakay kahit ibabaw o ilalim. And I’m not just talking about taking a bus ride.”

That line can be interpreted in so many ways. But in any case, it still sounds good.