I'm terribly insecure, therefore I don't like it when girls go gaga over a particular guy. You'd go online and you'll see your friends separately, yet collectively, fawn over a man who's either so handsome or so beefy - or both, preferably both - he pretty much captures a woman's superficial idea of the perfect boyfriend.
Of course, the fact is, I have more female friends, so I tend to see these things a lot more than usual. Anyway.
Chris Hemsworth. When Thor came out the girls went gaga over this muscly Aussie who spoke like he's reading Shakespeare - well, that's what his character did. But you do know speaking like you're an Elizabethan literary character makes you sound chivalrous, right? And girls irrationally want chivalry.
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7/26/2012
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7/24/2012
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The crux of the argument, as it turns out, is that I just want to be needed emotionally.
Need to be needed emotionally. But that's just me playing with words.
I realize this after another one of those situations when a friend, a supposed friend, won't tell me what exactly is going on. That, after I did just that. So much for all the things we've been through together. Wala ba kaming pinagsamahan? Nagtatanong na nga lang, ako pa ang hindi sasagutin? Ako lang ang hindi sasagutin?
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Need to be needed emotionally. But that's just me playing with words.
I realize this after another one of those situations when a friend, a supposed friend, won't tell me what exactly is going on. That, after I did just that. So much for all the things we've been through together. Wala ba kaming pinagsamahan? Nagtatanong na nga lang, ako pa ang hindi sasagutin? Ako lang ang hindi sasagutin?
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7/23/2012
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The thing with knowing a lot of David Cook fans is, when something big happens on that front, you tend to know about it. So when he returned to the Philippines two weekends back - two concerts, one in Manila and one in Cebu - watching my Twitter timeline whiz by felt endless.
Don't get me wrong. I know what I got myself into. Yes, there was no escaping it, but I was quite curious to see how my friends (and everybody else) would react as the concert drew near. Meet and greet passes? I have to go there. Television appearances? I have to go there. A third concert in Jakarta? I bought tickets. Who wants to go with me?
The week after the concert was the sugar crash, so to speak. Mika called it "post-David Cook depression" and she wouldn't snap out of it. Luckily for her, she told me, that week was an uneventful one school-wise, because she hasn't quite gotten back to reality. I don't think she wants to either. I'm not sure if she's the one who said "I'll remember this day for the rest of my life" or something along those lines, but I'm convinced it's her. Or maybe not. There are a lot of David Cook fans on my timeline, after all.
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Don't get me wrong. I know what I got myself into. Yes, there was no escaping it, but I was quite curious to see how my friends (and everybody else) would react as the concert drew near. Meet and greet passes? I have to go there. Television appearances? I have to go there. A third concert in Jakarta? I bought tickets. Who wants to go with me?
The week after the concert was the sugar crash, so to speak. Mika called it "post-David Cook depression" and she wouldn't snap out of it. Luckily for her, she told me, that week was an uneventful one school-wise, because she hasn't quite gotten back to reality. I don't think she wants to either. I'm not sure if she's the one who said "I'll remember this day for the rest of my life" or something along those lines, but I'm convinced it's her. Or maybe not. There are a lot of David Cook fans on my timeline, after all.
Read more »
7/22/2012
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I'm not going to talk about the shooting in Aurora.
Judging from this blog entry's title - one I'm writing because Eena was looking for my film review, and I pretty much stopped doing those - I should. You have a guy who dresses up as the Joker, only with a balaclava and a bulletproof vest, entering a midnight screening and shooting indiscriminately. How else do you explain that?
On the other side of the spectrum, you have the Batman fans who pretty much assailed anyone who wrote a negative review of The Dark Knight Rises, to the point that Rotten Tomatoes was forced to turn off comments.
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Judging from this blog entry's title - one I'm writing because Eena was looking for my film review, and I pretty much stopped doing those - I should. You have a guy who dresses up as the Joker, only with a balaclava and a bulletproof vest, entering a midnight screening and shooting indiscriminately. How else do you explain that?
On the other side of the spectrum, you have the Batman fans who pretty much assailed anyone who wrote a negative review of The Dark Knight Rises, to the point that Rotten Tomatoes was forced to turn off comments.
Read more »
7/19/2012
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First, a disclaimer: this is not a diss at anything. I say this because I have a feeling people will think this is a diss, more so if you consider the fact that I know a lot of people in the advertising industry. (Speaking of people I know, sana merong screening this Monday, Drea.) Like that stopped me from writing about government (I know people from government) and the media (I know people from the media).
Anyway, this blog entry began as a half-baked essay on Derek Ramsey.
I get it. Girls like him. A lot. My first trip to Boracay a few years back coincided with one of his visits, for a Nestlé event or something. We just arrived, and were on our way to our hotel, when we found ourselves blocked by a huge swarm of people, cameras in hand. Derek was leaving the beach and entering his hotel. I tweeted about it, and got a reply from Ale, a frenzied "you saw Derek Ramsey?" followed by a quiet "please kiss him for me."
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Anyway, this blog entry began as a half-baked essay on Derek Ramsey.
I get it. Girls like him. A lot. My first trip to Boracay a few years back coincided with one of his visits, for a Nestlé event or something. We just arrived, and were on our way to our hotel, when we found ourselves blocked by a huge swarm of people, cameras in hand. Derek was leaving the beach and entering his hotel. I tweeted about it, and got a reply from Ale, a frenzied "you saw Derek Ramsey?" followed by a quiet "please kiss him for me."
Read more »
7/17/2012
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"I felt so much of myself in that post. I am truly sorry that happened to you. I hate how the possibility of love can simply tear us apart."
"For a supposedly good thing, it gives us a lot of bad things. And no amount of optimism can spin that."
"Most, if not almost all, of my experiences have been unrequited. You'd think I'd be used to it by now. Expectant, even."
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"For a supposedly good thing, it gives us a lot of bad things. And no amount of optimism can spin that."
"Most, if not almost all, of my experiences have been unrequited. You'd think I'd be used to it by now. Expectant, even."
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7/14/2012
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This is the point in the transition when I try to figure why what happened actually happened. This is when most of my thoughts head the same direction. You could've stopped this from happening, Niko. This is all your fault.
And, not surprisingly, I'm actually buying that. This is all my fault.
I shouldn't have put my heart in it. Experience, always, shows that when I do, things are bound to go wrong. I go one step further without realizing that I'm already stepping on the grass, so to speak. I'm stepping on the grass, and it's a rainy day, and my feet are muddy, and the security guards are running after me. But bare feet in grass. It's a good feeling.
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And, not surprisingly, I'm actually buying that. This is all my fault.
I shouldn't have put my heart in it. Experience, always, shows that when I do, things are bound to go wrong. I go one step further without realizing that I'm already stepping on the grass, so to speak. I'm stepping on the grass, and it's a rainy day, and my feet are muddy, and the security guards are running after me. But bare feet in grass. It's a good feeling.
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7/12/2012
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I butted in. I know. Butting in is wrong, I know. But we're in the same table, and I'm pretty much part of the conversation, only I haven't really spoken.
I realize that butting in - acceptably butting in - is one of the few ways I can start a conversation with someone. I know, I know. But you're the most talkative person I know! I know. But that only happens if I've had some sense of closeness to you, whether organic or force-fed. Yes, I can be thick that way, but only if I feel I've burrowed my way in.
When surrounded by strangers? That's when it gets complicated.
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I realize that butting in - acceptably butting in - is one of the few ways I can start a conversation with someone. I know, I know. But you're the most talkative person I know! I know. But that only happens if I've had some sense of closeness to you, whether organic or force-fed. Yes, I can be thick that way, but only if I feel I've burrowed my way in.
When surrounded by strangers? That's when it gets complicated.
Read more »
7/07/2012
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I unlock my locker, get the white plastic bag inside, lock the door, undress, and put my work outfit on.
It's Thursday night, which means I'm the Tiger girl. I get to wear this blue and yellow outfit - a top with short sleeves, a mini skirt, the Tiger name on the back. When customers want to buy Tiger beer, I'm the one who gives it to them.
Frankly, my job is to make the customers happy. Scoff all you want, but it's just one of the things you have to do to earn.
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It's Thursday night, which means I'm the Tiger girl. I get to wear this blue and yellow outfit - a top with short sleeves, a mini skirt, the Tiger name on the back. When customers want to buy Tiger beer, I'm the one who gives it to them.
Frankly, my job is to make the customers happy. Scoff all you want, but it's just one of the things you have to do to earn.
Read more »
7/04/2012
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"Maynila nga naman," my dad, sitting behind the steering wheel, slowly getting impatient, said. "This is a stinking place."
This was yesterday morning. In hindsight, the decision to drop my brother off to school was wrong. We were stuck at the intersection of Buendia and Osmeña for a good thirty minutes - and that's not factoring in the traffic along Estrada. And to think we left early, and we were going relatively fast for a rainy day until then.
But then again, it is a rainy day. I remember my driving lessons. The roads are slippery when wet. So, if you're driving on a rainy day, drive slowly. Makes sense, unless you're driving a bus, in which case, to hell with traffic rules.
Read more »
This was yesterday morning. In hindsight, the decision to drop my brother off to school was wrong. We were stuck at the intersection of Buendia and Osmeña for a good thirty minutes - and that's not factoring in the traffic along Estrada. And to think we left early, and we were going relatively fast for a rainy day until then.
But then again, it is a rainy day. I remember my driving lessons. The roads are slippery when wet. So, if you're driving on a rainy day, drive slowly. Makes sense, unless you're driving a bus, in which case, to hell with traffic rules.
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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