I went up to the fourth floor. I know the bookstore is at the fourth floor.
I don't know what to look for. I don't actually plan to look for anything. I have money, but I don't want to spend it. I also still have a couple of books to read, and when I'm done with those two, I don't have any more space for new ones I might buy.
So I hang out at the magazine section. A wider selection than typical, albeit most of them are past by their sell-by date. It's the middle of the month. An odd transition of sorts for magazines.
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3/31/2012
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3/26/2012
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Obviously I'm not the sort of person who'd read Meg. I am male. I am not a teen. And I am definitely not fashion forward. So people probably looked at me weird when I picked up a copy of the magazine at Starbucks this afternoon.
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3/25/2012
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There's a first time for everything, they say, but there are things you hope don't happen to you at all. And there I was, knowing that I just endured my first car accident. And the first thing that goes through your head the things you should do once it happens.
Acknowledge the situation. I was backing up. I didn't notice the red pick-up truck behind me. I heard the beep, I got confused, I hit the accelerator - it feels very Seconds from Disaster to me. Because Niko hit the accelerator instead of the brakes, the disaster happened. Naturally, I freaked out. The truck's passengers thought I was going to have a heart attack. No, but I knew I had to act apologetic. And I was. But I was more afraid of the fact that I hit the truck, and my brake lights are smashed up, and there's a big dent near the trunk and the door. And I have to call my dad, who had the insurance policy.
Ask for a police report. The damage's pretty bad and we'll pay for everything through insurance, so we have to have a police report. The end result was an hour of both vehicles stuck in the middle of the parking lot, pretty much blocking the way for cars that are passing through, and the cars that are parked right near us.
Read more »
Acknowledge the situation. I was backing up. I didn't notice the red pick-up truck behind me. I heard the beep, I got confused, I hit the accelerator - it feels very Seconds from Disaster to me. Because Niko hit the accelerator instead of the brakes, the disaster happened. Naturally, I freaked out. The truck's passengers thought I was going to have a heart attack. No, but I knew I had to act apologetic. And I was. But I was more afraid of the fact that I hit the truck, and my brake lights are smashed up, and there's a big dent near the trunk and the door. And I have to call my dad, who had the insurance policy.
Ask for a police report. The damage's pretty bad and we'll pay for everything through insurance, so we have to have a police report. The end result was an hour of both vehicles stuck in the middle of the parking lot, pretty much blocking the way for cars that are passing through, and the cars that are parked right near us.
Read more »
3/24/2012
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So how was my first week?
I wouldn't really answer that question. I've learned my lesson is my default response to that. Don't blog about work. It gets you in trouble. Even if I don't really have proof that it has.
I did do some waiting around. I went from north to south in one day, and found myself an indirect witness to an old woman's wrath. I received some intimidating emails and realized that, to some people, I am as important to them as they are important to me. And I don't mean that in a cheesy, life-changing way.
Read more »
I wouldn't really answer that question. I've learned my lesson is my default response to that. Don't blog about work. It gets you in trouble. Even if I don't really have proof that it has.
I did do some waiting around. I went from north to south in one day, and found myself an indirect witness to an old woman's wrath. I received some intimidating emails and realized that, to some people, I am as important to them as they are important to me. And I don't mean that in a cheesy, life-changing way.
Read more »
3/17/2012
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A few things about my new job, which I started yesterday.
I'm working in Ortigas.
I'm working on the same side of Ortigas as before.
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I'm working in Ortigas.
I'm working on the same side of Ortigas as before.
Read more »
3/14/2012
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It's my fault I reverted to old habits and put all my hopes on this.
I mean, I told myself before. Do not put all your hopes on one thing. When something else happens you'll be left with nothing. Not that there's anything in the first place, but you know people like me. We want something, we start to act as if there's something.
And now, here I am again. Here we go again. Nervous, wondering if I've made a fool of myself again. Curious, wondering if I should've hedged my bets in the first place. Angry. Or maybe that's too big a word. But I feel angry. "At myself, mostly." That's a bit of a worn record, but it's mostly true.
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I mean, I told myself before. Do not put all your hopes on one thing. When something else happens you'll be left with nothing. Not that there's anything in the first place, but you know people like me. We want something, we start to act as if there's something.
And now, here I am again. Here we go again. Nervous, wondering if I've made a fool of myself again. Curious, wondering if I should've hedged my bets in the first place. Angry. Or maybe that's too big a word. But I feel angry. "At myself, mostly." That's a bit of a worn record, but it's mostly true.
Read more »
3/13/2012
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Is there something about living in the so-called "south" that I do not understand?
I live in Cavite. Okay. Geographically it is south of Metro Manila, but socially it is "very far". I live 15 minutes away from Alabang, so I think I have good reason to consider myself as a resident of the so-called "south". We shop in Alabang, we watch movies in Alabang, we eat out in Alabang, never mind the fact that there's an SM mall virtually in front of our subdivision's main gate.
And sure, the so-called "south" also includes the huge chunk of land that is BF, and perhaps anything north of Dr. A. Santos Road. But whatever.
Read more »
I live in Cavite. Okay. Geographically it is south of Metro Manila, but socially it is "very far". I live 15 minutes away from Alabang, so I think I have good reason to consider myself as a resident of the so-called "south". We shop in Alabang, we watch movies in Alabang, we eat out in Alabang, never mind the fact that there's an SM mall virtually in front of our subdivision's main gate.
And sure, the so-called "south" also includes the huge chunk of land that is BF, and perhaps anything north of Dr. A. Santos Road. But whatever.
Read more »
3/11/2012
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I'm writing this blog entry partly to draw your attention to this blog's new digs. Huh? Huh? Nice, huh? No? Oh, wait, if you're reading this on Facebook, then you're not seeing it at all, so click here if you must. And you must.
Misplaced cockiness aside, the new layout isn't really special. I'm no longer aiming to be a web design extraordinaire; those days are lumped together with my more impulsive high school days. I haven't done any HTML in a long time - not since print production class, yes, print production class - and to boot, I decided to give myself a crash course in CSS positioning. That should explain why I'm really giddy about this new layout. That, and the fact that this upgrade is long overdue.
Five years, in fact. The last layout - the one with the boxes and the big photos and the desaturated thumbnails for links - was naturally built to last, but it was getting cramped. (I designed it for 640x480 screens. See? I can never be a web designer.) I've been meaning to replace it for ages - it went as far as sketches written on the back of a Starbucks receipt years ago - but I only really got to do it over the weekend, in the middle of the two weeks between leaving my last job and joining my new one.
Read more »
Misplaced cockiness aside, the new layout isn't really special. I'm no longer aiming to be a web design extraordinaire; those days are lumped together with my more impulsive high school days. I haven't done any HTML in a long time - not since print production class, yes, print production class - and to boot, I decided to give myself a crash course in CSS positioning. That should explain why I'm really giddy about this new layout. That, and the fact that this upgrade is long overdue.
Five years, in fact. The last layout - the one with the boxes and the big photos and the desaturated thumbnails for links - was naturally built to last, but it was getting cramped. (I designed it for 640x480 screens. See? I can never be a web designer.) I've been meaning to replace it for ages - it went as far as sketches written on the back of a Starbucks receipt years ago - but I only really got to do it over the weekend, in the middle of the two weeks between leaving my last job and joining my new one.
Read more »
3/08/2012
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3/06/2012
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The thing about the stomach being the closest way to a man's heart? They weren't lying.
But I'm not writing about love, though. No, I've done that too many times. That, and there's no chance somebody will lovingly cook me a meal just to make me fall in love with her. I don't think anybody thinks I'm worth the effort.
Unfortunate, because I love a good meal. (Aren't we all?) And sometimes you know a lot about a person from the meals they cook.
Read more »
But I'm not writing about love, though. No, I've done that too many times. That, and there's no chance somebody will lovingly cook me a meal just to make me fall in love with her. I don't think anybody thinks I'm worth the effort.
Unfortunate, because I love a good meal. (Aren't we all?) And sometimes you know a lot about a person from the meals they cook.
Read more »
3/03/2012
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For all intents and purposes, I'm still an American Idol pundit, if only for the people on my Twitter timeline. No, I'm not making myself out as a great, but people will ask me questions, and I will still answer said questions. With thoughts, not fact. I did say "pundit", right?
Anyway, I was watching the female semifinalists a couple of days back. My two bets this year - Elise Testone and Erika Van Pelt - were singing, and there's the fact that there's yet another Filipino-American hopeful, Jessica Sanchez. Inevitably I'd think back to the previous season's females. Inevitably I'd have a thought about it.
Adele's impact on Idol: lots of big-voice female balladeers this season, I tweeted.
Read more »
Anyway, I was watching the female semifinalists a couple of days back. My two bets this year - Elise Testone and Erika Van Pelt - were singing, and there's the fact that there's yet another Filipino-American hopeful, Jessica Sanchez. Inevitably I'd think back to the previous season's females. Inevitably I'd have a thought about it.
Adele's impact on Idol: lots of big-voice female balladeers this season, I tweeted.
Read more »
Niko Batallones writes The Upper Blog.
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Some photographs have been edited using post-production curves from Shalla Yu.
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