I write this bewildered at some of my friends' bewilderment - nay, dismay - that there were not-so-little girls crying over not getting tickets to the One Direction concert happening here in ten months' time. They went in line, maybe spent the night outside, armed with a mat and several bottles of water and a gofer, only to run out of tickets. And there they are, crying. And caught on camera.
"Kids nowadays," not a few of my friends have said. "Why would they cry over some stupid boy band?"
Yeah. True. Why would they cry over some stupid boy band? Why won't they cry over, say, not getting tickets to Armin van Buuren despite joining every Twitter contest and using every Twitter hashtag? Clearly five handsome boys with some (some) musical talent and loads of good looks are not worth crying over. Clearly a Dutch DJ who just stands there, alone, fiddling with his gadgets, huge pair of headphones slapped on him, making hand gestures to himself - clearly this weird guy is worth crying over.
Read more »
5/29/2014
‒
5/28/2014
‒
May is almost over. I've only written three blog entries. The gaps between them are long again - ten days, roughly, although I mostly attribute this to how busy I've been lately. In fact, I have at least three blog entries in my head. I'm just not writing them down yet.
In days like these I wish I could write spontaneously again, like I did in this blog's early years. I'd just sit down and talk about my day and something would come up. It wouldn't be perfect, but it's still something. But now, more often than not, I have the need to make sure everything clicks in my head before writing it down. It has to be all laid out - the arguments, the way the arguments get there, you get the idea - they all have to be laid out before I write a single word.
So, yes, my writing has fallen victim to my undeclared philosophy of making sure everything is planned out before taking a first step. You know, that thing most people seem to hate?
Read more »
In days like these I wish I could write spontaneously again, like I did in this blog's early years. I'd just sit down and talk about my day and something would come up. It wouldn't be perfect, but it's still something. But now, more often than not, I have the need to make sure everything clicks in my head before writing it down. It has to be all laid out - the arguments, the way the arguments get there, you get the idea - they all have to be laid out before I write a single word.
So, yes, my writing has fallen victim to my undeclared philosophy of making sure everything is planned out before taking a first step. You know, that thing most people seem to hate?
Read more »
5/20/2014
‒
Just days before I took off for Ilocos, I was wondering why, all of a sudden, everybody I know was either planning to go there, or was already there, or was interested in going there. Since when, I wondered, did Ilocos suddenly become an urban tourist's darling destination?
Read more »
5/11/2014
‒
There's no way she's here, right now, where you are, right now. There's no way that you two are walking the same ground, breathing the same air, hearing the same sounds, sharing the same time.
But you try to know anyway. Could this be her? That profile looks familiar. The fall of her hair, the curve of her waist, the size of her arms. It looks familiar. Or, it's just you imposing familiar images on someone who just happens to be there. Still, you want answers. Or, you're interested in answers, but this isn't a life-or-death question, a question that'll get you rich or something.
Could this be her?
Read more »
But you try to know anyway. Could this be her? That profile looks familiar. The fall of her hair, the curve of her waist, the size of her arms. It looks familiar. Or, it's just you imposing familiar images on someone who just happens to be there. Still, you want answers. Or, you're interested in answers, but this isn't a life-or-death question, a question that'll get you rich or something.
Could this be her?
Read more »
5/02/2014
‒
Yesterday was Labor Day, another holiday. Tomorrow is a Saturday. Thus, if you're smart enough, you should have taken a leave today, so you'll have a four-day weekend.
Alas, I'm not that smart, because I'm typing this from the office, because things get really busy.
But you know what I'll say here. I'm not really a guy who likes holidays. Sure, I appreciate the extra hours of sleep, but I'd find myself a bit more bored than usual because I have little to do. I always say I'll start a marathon of, say, True Detective, but that never happens because my attention span is too short to watch so much television in so little time. (I'm still stuck at the second episode, which means, yes, I have seen Alexandra Daddario naked.)
Read more »
Alas, I'm not that smart, because I'm typing this from the office, because things get really busy.
But you know what I'll say here. I'm not really a guy who likes holidays. Sure, I appreciate the extra hours of sleep, but I'd find myself a bit more bored than usual because I have little to do. I always say I'll start a marathon of, say, True Detective, but that never happens because my attention span is too short to watch so much television in so little time. (I'm still stuck at the second episode, which means, yes, I have seen Alexandra Daddario naked.)
Read more »
Niko Batallones writes The Upper Blog.
Subscribe to this blog,
follow him on Twitter,
or check out Nicksy Once Monthly,
his monthly (for now) music newsletter.
Unless otherwise stated, this blog's content are owned by Niko Batallones. No part of this blog may be reproduced elsewhere without proper permission and attribution.
All opinions stated in this blog are solely those of the writer's, and does not reflect those of his employers, or the organizations he is affiliated with.
Some photographs have been edited using post-production curves from Shalla Yu.
Powered by Blogger. Established in 2005.
View this blog's entries from