If All Else Fails...

...there's always Yahoo! Messenger.

So Ping messages me at work, going into the final seven minutes of Game 3 of the UAAP Men's Basketball Finals between the DLSU Green Archers and the defending champion FEU Tamaraws. DLSU is up by seven points.

ej_paz (6:06:12 PM): astig.
planetping (6:06:43 PM): 4 na lang
planetping (6:06:49 PM): 2 tres ng FEU
planetping (6:06:52 PM): feck
planetping (6:06:56 PM): 6mins to go
ej_paz (6:06:57 PM): shet
planetping (6:07:18 PM): make that 2
planetping (6:07:22 PM): 5:30
planetping (6:07:44 PM): FEU has possesion
planetping (6:07:46 PM): chance to tie
planetping (6:07:58 PM): tied
ej_paz (6:08:05 PM): dammit.
planetping (6:08:34 PM): 10-0 run ng FEU
ej_paz (6:09:14 PM): pucha, timeout. hindi ba tumatawag ng timeout?
planetping (6:09:30 PM): eto timeout
planetping (6:09:33 PM): i know you
planetping (6:09:36 PM): and you know me
planetping (6:09:45 PM): one thing i can tell ya is ya got to be free
planetping (6:09:48 PM): come together right now
planetping (6:09:49 PM): over me
planetping (6:09:54 PM): PETRON TREATS
planetping (6:10:02 PM): hehehe, pati advertisement may report
planetping (6:12:17 PM): 4:00 to go
planetping (6:12:23 PM): FEU by 2 now
ej_paz (6:12:34 PM): puta
planetping (6:13:56 PM): tied
planetping (6:14:04 PM): 59 deadlock
planetping (6:14:37 PM): tapos may nagfoul from lasalle...
planetping (6:14:46 PM): sa threepoint attempt ni miranda
planetping (6:14:49 PM): great..
planetping (6:14:59 PM): miranda misses his first
planetping (6:15:17 PM): and misses his second!!!
planetping (6:15:21 PM): his third try...
planetping (6:15:34 PM): good
planetping (6:15:47 PM): 60-59 FEU
planetping (6:17:39 PM): 61-59 FEU
planetping (6:18:07 PM): tied
planetping (6:18:27 PM): 63-61 LASALLE!!!
planetping (6:19:19 PM): steal ni gaco midcourt sabay bato sa streaking yeo for the uncontested layup... giving Lasalle the 2 point advantage
planetping (6:19:21 PM): last 2 mins
planetping (6:19:24 PM): timeout FEU
ej_paz (6:19:45 PM): kapit, bayan!
planetping (6:20:10 PM): tamang close game na toh!!!
planetping (6:20:20 PM): pag OT advantage tayo... foul trouble si miranda at isip eh
planetping (6:21:22 PM): 1:40 to go
planetping (6:21:28 PM): Lasalle by 2...
planetping (6:21:39 PM): isip for 2
planetping (6:21:43 PM): tied...agen
planetping (6:22:11 PM): FEU has the ball
planetping (6:22:16 PM): off a yeo miss
planetping (6:22:41 PM): isip for 2
planetping (6:22:44 PM): FEU leads
planetping (6:22:47 PM): casio for three
planetping (6:22:52 PM): GOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDD!!!
planetping (6:22:52 PM): GOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDD!!!
planetping (6:22:54 PM): GOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDD!!!
planetping (6:23:27 PM): nakalimutan ko
planetping (6:23:33 PM): before yung 3 ni casio
planetping (6:23:38 PM): may FG na naman si isip
planetping (6:23:41 PM): so now...
planetping (6:23:55 PM): 66-65 Lasalle
ej_paz (6:25:01 PM): time?
planetping (6:25:30 PM): 24.9 seconds
planetping (6:25:35 PM): this is it
planetping (6:25:40 PM): defense!!!
planetping (6:26:07 PM): FEU misses
planetping (6:26:15 PM): cardona the motherfucking rebound!!!
planetping (6:26:19 PM): penalty!!!
planetping (6:26:25 PM): AAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!
planetping (6:26:32 PM): 2 freethrows
ej_paz (6:26:34 PM): AAAAAAAAAAAAAh!!!!
planetping (6:26:37 PM): and 2 seconds to go
planetping (6:26:59 PM): tangina, ang ganda na ng lusot ni miranda, tapos umikot ikot yung bola sa ring
planetping (6:27:00 PM): di pumasok
planetping (6:27:05 PM): the drama...
ej_paz (6:27:14 PM): tangina pare!!!
planetping (6:27:26 PM): may chance pa FEU
ej_paz (6:27:28 PM): nanginginig yung mga kamay ko sa pag type.
planetping (6:27:30 PM): pero sana wag na
ej_paz (6:27:36 PM): timeout?
planetping (6:27:39 PM): yep
planetping (6:27:47 PM): cardona may 2 upcoming freethrows
planetping (6:27:52 PM): makes his first
planetping (6:27:54 PM):
planetping (6:27:59 PM): isarado mo na idol
planetping (6:28:14 PM): sarado!
planetping (6:28:38 PM): time runs out.. wala na timeouts FEU... ANIMO LASALLE!!!
planetping (6:28:38 PM): time runs out.. wala na timeouts FEU... ANIMO LASALLE!!!
planetping (6:28:39 PM): time runs out.. wala na timeouts FEU... ANIMO LASALLE!!!
planetping (6:28:40 PM): time runs out.. wala na timeouts FEU... ANIMO LASALLE!!!
ej_paz (6:29:15 PM): potah!!!! yeaaaaaaaah!
ej_paz (6:29:23 PM): ANIMO LASALLE!
planetping (6:30:35 PM): yiiii buuuoooooyyyyiiiii!!!
ej_paz (6:31:14 PM): yiiiiiiiiiii, mothafuckaaaaaaah!!!
planetping (6:32:15 PM): hooooyeeeaaah
planetping (6:35:06 PM): friendster bulleting board na toh!!!

De La Salle wins the Championship, 68-65. How sweet it is.

Ladies and Gentlemen...

...The Fantastic Four.

Clockwise from upper left: Ioan Gruffudd as Mr. Fantastic, Jessica Alba as The Invisible Woman, Chris Evans as The Human Torch, and Michael Chiklis as The Thing. Photos courtesy of Anti Hero Comics.

The Importance of Friendship

Name Game

Taken from Djong, which she got from Sarah.

Porn Star Name (name of first pet + street you live in)
- Brownie Banahaw. Oh yeah.

Movie Star Name (favorite snack food + grandfather's first name)
- Pasta Tolomeo or Pasta Mariano, depending on which Lolo's name I use. I could well be the lead in some mobster movie with those names.

Fashion Designer Name (first word you see on your left + favorite restaurant)
- Oracle Emerald. O ha?

Exotic Foreigner Alias (favorite spice + last vacation spot visited)
- Pepper Boracay. Uh...hmmm.

Socialite Alias (silliest childhood nickname + town where you first partied)
- Ed Baguio. Hwokey!

Fly Guy Alias (first initial + first two or three letters of your last name)
- E Paz. My last name only has three letters. Unfortunately, this name sounds like ipas, which means cockroach in Kampampangan.

Icon Alias (something sweet within sight + any liquid in kitchen)
- Mentos Worcestershire. Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!

Detective Alias (favorite baby animal + where you went to high school)
- Tiger St. Louis. "Commissioner, may I introduce Det. Tiger St. Louis." Pweeeeeedeeeeeeh!

Barfly Alias (last snack food you ate + your favorite bar drink)
- Pasta Red Horse. Now that is one stupid name.

Soap Opera Alias (middle name + street where you first lived)
- Paulino Gen. Luna. Very Soap Opera-ish indeed.

Rock Star Alias (favorite candy/dessert + last name of favorite musician)
- Flat Tops Mayer. I don't know if I should be happy or not.

Happy Birthday, Burning Lead!

September 9, 2003 saw the birth of this blog and the historical (and aptly entitled) first post. Can't believe it's been a year already.

Here's to burning a lot more lead, folks. And as Bryan always says, to our good looks...and sexy bodies.

Man, I need a beer.

And The Scale Says...

4.5 kilograms.

That's how much I've lost in the weight department. That's 9.9 pounds, my friends...9.9 pounds! I haven't lost this much weight since I got sick with Typhoid back in the 3rd grade. Not even when I still played basketball.

Amazing.

Three more months left in the year. Let's see if I can keep this up.

New Deep

I’m so alive
I’m so enlightened
I can barely survive
A night in my mind
So I’ve got a plan
I’m gonna find out just how boring I am
And have a good time

Cause ever since I’ve tried
Trying not to find
Every little meaning in my life
It’s been fine, I’ve been cool
With my new golden rule

Numb is the new deep
Done with the old me
And talk is the same cheap it's been

Is there a God?
Why is he waiting?
Don't you think of it odd
When he knows my address
And look at the stars
Don’t it remind you just how feeble we are?
Well it used to, I guess

Cause ever since I’ve tried
Trying not to find
Every little meaning in my life
It’s been fine, I’ve been cool
With my new golden rule

Numb is the new deep
Done with the old me
And talk is the same cheap it's been

I'm a new man
I wear a new cologne
And you wouldn’t know me
If your eyes were closed
I know what you’ll say
'This won't last longer than the rest of the day'
But you’re wrong this time
You’re wrong

Numb is the new deep
Done with the old me
I’m over the analyzing
Tonight

Stop trying to figure it out

Deep will only bring you down
You know I used to be the backporch poet
With a book of rhymes always
Open, knowing all the time, I’m probably
Never gonna find the perfect rhyme
For 'heavier things'

~ John Mayer

Sometimes...

...I just can't help but think if this is all worth it.

My work, I mean.

What am I doing here so late anyway (and for the second straight night at that)? I've only had an hour's worth of sleep today...seriously...but here I am, busting my ass off, maybe on the verge of killing myself. And for what? Experience? Well, that's always been a given. Honor and prestige, maybe boost my chances for a promotion? I don't know...maybe. Or maybe I'm really just that dedicated.

But you know what? No matter how bad it sounds, whether I like the whole idea of it or not, I've begun to accept that there is one other reason why I am putting up with all the crap of my job.

It's the goddamn money.

To tell you the truth, since these long hours became more frequent, I've had many battles with myself over this. I've been through all the "it shouldn't be about the money" drama. And I'm sad to admit that I may be losing the war to the materialistic side of me.

Can you really blame me for wanting more? I mean, I have this supposedly generous compensation that I can't even share with my parents and siblings because most of it goes to the monthly rent, utilities, and all these stupid taxes. I am barely left with some for myself. Things just get a little lighter when I get my OT pay on time...extra emphasis on the "on time" part though.

My failure to be of significant financial help to my immediate family is what has most likely pushed my Dad, the only doctor I've idolized my whole life, to join the bandwagon and pursue a nursing degree. What kind of message do you think that sends to an eldest child? It's depressing.

In my quiet moments I figured that sidelining as a Graphic Artist would definitely boost the finances, but given my exceptionally busy (and weird) schedule, the plan just kind of got flushed down the toilet. So, I'm now thinking of just selling some of my comics. Or my car.

*Sigh* I am in dire need of sleep.