Life on hold

sigh. my vacation-induced happy bubble just burst so quickly.

blogging is only one of the casualties of a severely manic workweek. (others include:  sanity, equilibrium, and quota of sleep hours a day.) thus my posts on my umpteenth trip to singapore, my very first elephant ride (!!!), discovery channel-inspired dining, friendships, goodbyes, family (inspired by my sister’s, uh, inspired mini-chronicle of our family history), the return of jun-jun and the trillion and one things that have gone wrong at work, remain vague wisps somewhere in the back of my head.

but yeah. here i am stealing a few minutes away from the grind to write for myself. i need a break from whoring my writing skills out the whole week. my new downloads (apocalyptica and paul anka’s rock swings) seem to have lost some of their calming potency.

apocalyptica is fantastic, by the way -- especially when you’re in a silent smoulder about having to be in the office on a saturday, or working from home on a sunday evening.

Thank God, last Monday is over

my hellish monday officially ended yesterday at around 7pm. before it finally, mercifully folded, it threw a couple of last hurdles my way:

- storycon for one of my launching accounts. oh god siya na nga talaga. wala na itong atrasan.

- creating a newspaper igloo around my desk to protect it from the evil residue of this week's office fumigation. nothing says "i am not at work today" better than this.


- waiting for my ticket for be delivered to the office until, as the travel agency promised, until late afternoon. "late afternoon" turned out to be nearly 10pm.

- staying up until 1am to pack.

- waking up an hour and a half late and nearly missing my flight.

- my phone officially giving up on me. it now allows me to do only three things: set my alarm, read (but not respond to) incoming text messages, and answer incoming calls.

- being unable to answer incessant calls and text messages about lots of crap happening at work that is going to be pinned on my ass despite me thinking i took all the necessary precautions to prevent said crap. my boss and partner had to cover for me big time. charlie and i are good, but i will have to face a scolding from my boss on monday.

sigh. good thing there was:

- this wonderful, wonderful little boy.


i had to voice-direct this kid for a teaser we're doing for his newest show (and my newest account). he's a child actor who first rose to fame in a series of really funny laundry detergent commercials (incidentally, the brand that the boyf used to handle) and is now, as we say at the office, namamayagpag ang career.

i was desperately bangag and in need of serious shuteye by the time i had to direct him, so i was terrified that he wouldn't get it and i would get cranky and shout at him. thankfully, nothing of the sort happened, except that the first sentence out of my mouth was "ok bj, kunyari... kunyari bata ka." with a twinkle in his eye, he quipped, "kunyari lang?" and i was like "ahehe... oo nga no, bata ka pala."

anyway, this kid was just so amazing, talented, intelligent, professional, charming and preternaturally cute. he has cuteness oozing from every pore without being pa-cute. sana pag nagkaanak ako, katulad niya. (yes i have turned into my network's average viewer.)

- daing na bangus on the plane. not in someone's handcarry, i mean as served as breakfast. after flying budget airlines for over a year, suddenly philippine airlines feels positively luxurious.

and now i'm here. THANK GOD.

dinner at the esplanade, after the boyf bundled me up, dabbed aromatherapy oil from india on my temples and wrists, and put me to bed for the entire afternoon

One long day

yesterday and today have fused together to become one, long, horrible day. i just want it to be over.

i need sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep

i'm cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky cranky

my work has transformed long weekends from stretches of languid bliss into instruments of pure torture.

and i did not need to jump through the extra hoops you stuck in front of me.

see, i'm not just cranky, i'm cryptic too.

i so deserve my vacation.

Uncle Bob

yet another thing from my childhood to go the way of the rizal theater in makati, 12-peso mcdonald's cheeseburgers and birthday party calesa rides.

damn.

if you've ever wondered whatever happened to the beloved uncle bob of our childhood, well, i have some sad news.


i did not expect to get this in my inbox today. i didn't even know he founded gma-7!

goodbye uncle bob. i barely remember a single episode, but i do remember that i loved your show. and that i stopped watching when the younger guy took over your hosting duties. thank you for founding the place where i work today. i love it, i really do.

sniff.

Taunus

my heart raced when i found these pictures. i left part of me there, somewhere. in a small stone chapel. in a rough-paved uphill road. in far-off bits and pieces of a roman wall. in fields of green. in half-timbered houses. in a clear spring afternoon suddenly thrown into grayness.

i still think about coming alive that sunday, not so long ago, among those hills. which means, i still think about you. more so on gray days, and sometimes when i see distant hills from the window of my office building.