Flashback to 96

The crowd gathered at the gates of Araneta Coliseum, dressed in the latest fashions. Folks talking on their celfones, cars piled up in the lot and a great amount of enthusiasm in everyone's faces.

I found myself in Araneta Center clueless of what's happening around. I made my way to Starbucks to pick up a Manila to-go mug for my cousin. Feeling out of place from the crowd of middle aged people checking on their daughters about their seats and what-tos and not-tos, i asked the barista,' who's playing?' she said ' Taylor Swift, are you watching?'. I thought 'yeah right, i didn't even know who's playing tonight, and u think i'm watching.

Anyhoo, the whole vibe took me back to 96 when the toast of the music world and every teener's music hero was Alanis Morissette. There i was, 15 and circling the coliseum to find my entry point, elated that in a few hours, my hero in the flesh would be prancing on stage.

Tonight, im not in the audience, just outside looking in, wondring if Taylor Swift will live in the hearts and minds of her legion of fans 15-20 years from now like Alanis, at least for me and some people i know still does sans her irrelevance in the mainstream and tens of unappreciated musical and lyrical gems that never hit the airwaves.

Among the popheads of today, i'd say i kinda like Taylor, only for the reason that she writes her songs, she actually plays an instrument, lyrically, i hang on to nothing but i'll give credit to the fact that her lyrics aren't trashy like some of her contemporaries. Who those are, i don't really know. I've only taken notice of a few poppies in recent years--katy perry, paramore and maybe rihanna and Lady Gaga.

Now here i am, back in the underground scene, blogging cuz the music the bands are playing hardly qualify as music, rather as noise with a little rhythm. Had to sneak out after a bottle of beer and say hello to the artsy fartsy crowd at Cubao X. Ed and i found ourselves at Heima, checking out newbie spinmeisters trying their hand on mixing while we rake on the popcorn, unspiked punch, mallows and cloud 9 buffet. The music moved our feet for a little while and then we slipped out and i fled the scene sleepy. This wouldn't have been the case in 96. But im not 15 anymore and i already tire from booze and slam dancing

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My siamese twin

My feline friend has a nicotine addiction, has a penchant for electronic gadgets, fiddles with plants, loves resting on the orange couch and likes hanging out in the balcony . She's like my siamese twin, only she's a siamese cat.

I've always loved cats and i've always wanted a siamese cat. When Jan offered that i adopt a male siamese, i jumped at it and got all excited. It turns out, my male cat turned out to be a girl, but i dont mind like i thought i would. She's a darling. I have a live stuffed toy running around my pad, pulling my socks off the hamper to play with,walks on my keyboard when i pay no mind to her. Jumps at me and rests on my shoulder just as i lay my back flat on the couch. It's like having a baby i can leave without a nanny.

They say having a pet teaches responsibility.that only goes for kids. It is a responsibility, now i have vet appointments and vaccinations i need to keep track of, my grocery list includes cat litter and pet food.yes, my current indulgences are named Beckett; Beckett the bad ass female detective in Castle and Beckett the cat who i named after the detective.

I've cared for probably around 6 cats growing up. I named them garfield, kimba, alanis and the triplets, i named them Lion, Tiger and Leopard. Leopard lost his life under the wheels, Tiger ran away with a femme, Lion the flying cat died old age. Cheetah came after, but i had to leave him in the old place when i moved out to Marikina.

Never did i think i'd take a pet after Braunie.We lost our 9 year old dog Braunie last year and the memory of his time with us will be with us forever. How can we forget the nights he walked us around the block warding off bad elements like an armed bodyguard. He'd see us off every morning, prancing and barking at everyone on our way as if the majesties are marching out.

He's been replaced with another dog i can't manage to call upon without mumbling on Braunie or Beckett's name. Even pets cannot be replaced. All im wishing for now is what everyone wishes for every family member, a long, healthy life.

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Alcohol Free, Free Alcohol

It seems my freedom from alcohol has failed miserably. an open bar with no option to have water ruined me. and just as i was trying to get away from it all, alcohol came pouring in, just about the same time, i had a bar shelf installed at my place so i can chug fancy cocktails of my own invention every so often.

The worst part of successfully getting away from spirits for a bit of two weeks was that, a single jolt of alcohol got me wired, looking loaded and talking shit. Wednesday is upon me and another open bar is fearsome. i hope this time they'll serve me water.

The Cafe Zone

What is it about coffeeshops that get my fires burning? for one thing, i can get in the zone playing the music loud on my ears, not worrying that somebody behind me calls out. and since its outside the premises of the office, i can ignore the number popping out on my mail app.

it's becoming an expensive workplace, but what the heck, i get things done. it's not exactly quiet like my home room but there's not a bed or a couch i can jump into, no TV to channel surf on and no DVD marathon session waiting to run. Plus, free internet to browse my sites doesnt hurt so bad, well, not if my fellow OCDs are asleep and postless on tumblr.

the orange lighting soothes me fine, the noise from the cars buzzing by and the loud lady behind me is not my concern nor the smoke that gets in my eyes. this is every bit of freedom and concentration as i can get. and hearing voices around can sometimes stir up new ideas that i can use for my writings.

Alcohol free and rocking out

Check out what i'm having! Not the stuff i'm usually seen holding. My red horse days are over. Being off the bad doesn't have to mean getting away from the music. And what better way to hear great music than to stop by a friend's last gig for the year.

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When anxiety attacks...

I go on a frenzy! My credit cards has taken the toll on my wild purchases which i'm happily paying for these days.

I've paid my dues yet my long weekend was foiled miserably. So what's a poor soul to do? Go to mac center and buy an ipod classic to load with angst ridden tracks and pop trash guilty pleasures.

Before this week, i splurged on 3 pairs of sneakers and wii accessories that's keeping me beat.

I have an explanation, im suppose to buy a couch this month but fortunately, my sister is giving me hers and all i hav to pay for is the transport service that my cousin gave me a reasonablr price for. My foiled vacation also saved me a chunk of dough. The music is back in the household.

A lesson learned well, if im planning for solitary confinement, i must not count on my bestfriend or anyone else.

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This used to be my playground

I love the song of the same title but this is not what it's about.

I have lots of places that allow me to relish my childhood, the hectare wide or so General Textiles compound that is now sprawling with high rise condominiums and shopping enclaves that is now known to everyone as Eastwood City.

Over at the GenTex Frisco compound,I know the place like the back of my hand. I can still see it so vividly in my head. I know every nook and cranny of that darn place; what fruit bearing tree stood where, the stone pavement textures and where each pathway leads to.

Here's where i and my cousin would pick guava, chico, duhat, kamias, macopa, star apple, santol and mangoes either by climbing or shaking trees, sometimes we'd use a stick with a wire hook at its tip and catch our harvest on our shirts. There goes my farmville, of almost the real kind. I have a swing dangling by the avocado tree that nanay would tear down every now and then cuz i wanna be pushed high enough to rise over the roof. When i look back at it now, it really was kinda dangerous.

On bright days, we'd be trailing back to our grandmas with our catch for the day. Most times, a catfish takes our bait of swamp snails and then we'd relish our catch by slicing the poor fish in half to watch its tail wag before the cook Eddie plunges it into boiling oil. Some days, we'd bring home a pail of snails and have it cooked in coconut milk. There are days when we couldn't make makeshift fishing rods cuz we couldn't find sticks and thin wires and somebody kept the roll of thread from our reach; this is when the tadpoles experienced the wrath of 2 silly little girls. Eventually, the tadpoles grew into little ugly jumping maniacs and i couldn't get near the swamp anymore, froggy days aren't funny. It took me until biology class to get over frog phobia.

And then there was Ali Mall which is practically an extension of the Fersal apartment compound we resided at for a few years. Here's where i and neighborhood kids run to on weekends, blazing the vinyl tiles in Skatetown even before in-line skates or 'roller blades' was made popular. Our sometimes over-the-top 'taya tayaan' game would stretch from P.Tuazon st. To the mall.

Ali Mall was also an after school destination in high school to which julie, kath, sugar and i would frequent record bars for the latest music releases. This was of course at the time records are worth owning and cassette tapes weren't yet obsolete.

Back in the day, the mall was far behind on its interiors, it had orange tiles that were popular in the late 70s to the early 80s. Today, it's paved with modern gloss white tiles that give it a squeaky clean look. The lighting has changed and like a nursery classroom, Ali Mall looks smaller than i remember. The shops i used to go to are still in their spot and have all managed to slip in renovations to get on with the advancing times. The building now connects via a skywalk from SM, cool addition, very metropolitan and about time actually.

There goes my youth,revisited. Now, i'll relish happier times with a pack of jellyace minus the Rainbow Brite packaging design.

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