Where Dreams Are Made

what you make of them. Break them, keep them, shelve them, regret them; it's totally up to you. And because I have the upper hand and the keyboard is my subordinate, I will make promises. Yes, simply because I can.

Promise #1. I promise to pay more attention to my blog and set aside some time for it or get some cure for my laziness in posting.

Promise #2. I promise to update at least once a week even if work and extracurricular activities may take up 90% of my non-sleeping time.

Promise #3. I promise to play badminton next week.

Promise #4. I promise to focus on what I'm writing as I have just dicovered I've typed the html tag for bold this way: <b>stupidly</i>. Of course I made the necessary corrections already so they're displaying properly now. Thanks heaps to opts for teaching me how to <b>display</b> html tags.

Promis #5. I promise to finish The Watchmen in April and set aside more time for reading.

Promis #6. I promise to save up.

Promise #7. I promise to spell promise correctly from this point onward. (Work, brain! Dammit, work!)

Promise #8. I promise not to buy another trade paperback or book unless I've finished reading two books/TPBs from our mini-library.

Promise #9. I promise to watch any of the DVDs gathering dust in our room one weekend in April.

Promise #10. I promise to forget less. If that is feasible at all.

I see I've promised quite a lot of things. Next step, delete this blog entry. Haha, just kidding. I'll just move on to another topic since the preceding promises have been somewhat tedious to make.

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FOR REEL

I hear Alan Moore's V for Vendetta will be adapted to film. No news yet who will be doing it. Promise my good friend that you'll read V for Vendetta first before watching it. You have a helluva long time to source one and do that. Request originated from Ramon, coursed through Quark. :)

Astonishing X-Men writer Joss Whedon's film/tv projects are Wonder Woman and Serenity (an original sci-fi series).

Transformers, the movie, will be helmed by Spielberg. The script is yet to be written or finished.

That's all I remember right now. Oops, did I just revoke Promise #10? kcuF. This is more difficult than I expected.

I got through my first week of work at DSI. Yey! :) I still have to acclimatize myself with waking up at 6:30 every morning. So far, so good. However, I noticed that by Thursday my body was starting to act stubbornly. Waking up beacame a bit more difficult. Thank god for the short walk from the MRT station to the office. At least that gets the blood circulating. I also noticed that by the end of the week, my mind was giving my body permission to crash. By Friday's end, my body was so tired it was ready to collapse. But I couldn't let it. We had a gig scheduled last Friday at Big Sky Mind. And masochist that I am, I just had to stay chatting with friends until 5:30am. Yes, I'm trying to kill myself. As if that wasn't enough, I had to wake up at 9:30am yesterday for an editing. With only two and a half hours of sleep, I mustered all the strength that I could to get out of bed, take a shower, and trudge to the production house. My hands were numb, my head was reeling, my comprehension was slow. It took so much effort to do the simplest things. Lack of sleep coupled with a nasty, ass-kicking, head-splitting, hangover. It just had to be that way. Gah.

But I got through the day. And now, I feel that I've gotten enough rest to sustain me for the coming week. Assuming that I'll be sleeping early tonight and the succeeding days. Hehe.

You know, I missed so many people--friends I haven't seen in ages! And the sad thing was, I only realized I missed them when I saw them. Night 'til daybreak wasn't enough to catch up on everything. But we did manage to talk about the heart of matters. And matters of the heart. We've realized that growing up isn't an easy task: planning for the future becomes more urgent and problems become more complicated. Suddenly, not everything is black-and-white or cut-and-dried. You have to be more flexible with your decisions. I'm sorry for being cryptic; some things just can't be shared. But this I'm willing to share: no matter what happens, I will always be here for my friends. I may not see them often, but the minute they come running to me crying, I'll bash the offender's head in to tomorrow. Or something.

On a lighter note, this is what arrived last week. I'm still drooling over it so my keyboard is a bit messy right now.


Don't you just love the brilliant man?

Oh, and I just learned that Mike Carey (Lucifer) and Glenn Fabry (Endless Nights, Hellblazer, and The Preacher) worked on the comic adaptation of Neverwhere due out, maybe, in June--another thing to look forward to and save up for, along with Gaiman's latest novel, The Anansi Boys (coming out last quarter of the year). Also, don't forget Neil Gaiman and Dave Mckean's brainchild, Mirrormask! I am almost trembling with excitement over all these fantastic things to come! :D

Movies and corresponding toys to look forward to:

Star Wars: Episode III-Revenge of the Sith - toys due out in April (at least in the States)
Mirrormask - I still don't have news if some compnay will be getting the rights for toy production, but I do know that the OST will be coming out in September
Sin City - toys coming out soon (movie-accurate figures of Marv, Yellow Bastard, Manute, and Hartigan by NECA)
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - toys coming out mid-year
Robots - toys out now, I believe (I think I've already seen some in the malls)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - release date of toys yet to be revealed but there will be an articulated 12-inch Willy Wonka and an in-scale Oompa Lumpa fig!
Fantastic Four - first and second waves will be out soon, if they haven't been released already
Batman Begins - 5-inch figures to be released by Mattel in May; statues to be released by DC Direct
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - we don't collect Harry Potter toys, just books and movies
The Wallace and Gromit Movie: Curse of the Were-Rabbit - no news about toys yet, but the movie sounds interesting; stars Helena Bonham Carter, Peter Sallis, and Ralph Fiennes
The Chronicles of Narnia - collectibles range from action figures to statues to movie replicas

Let's go a year further and list some must-sees in 2006:

Indiana Jones 4
Iron Man
Pirates of the Caribbean 2
Superman Returns
X-Men 3

And to further spice up your day like it did mine, read this quirky article. As if things weren't weird enough, the hubby, having just woken up, told me about his dream that David Lee Roth was getting us as sessionists for his world tour. Yeah, the old geezer must have his consciousness working so hard dreaming of a comeback that he actually was able to invade people's subconscious. David Lee Roth. LOL! What could be more absurd than that?

Shucks, I just realized I forgot to invite Kai to the gig last Friday. I promise I won't forget next time. :)

Whew, what a lengthy post. Looks like I really missed blogging.

The hubby and I went to check out Gateway Mall last Saturday. Is the Philippines the country with the most malls per square kilometer? The ones along EDSA alone must be around 13 already (give or take)! I don't know why it's so. Is it the solution to our country's crumbling economy?

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Apart from the incredulity over malls sprouting like mushrooms, I was also amazed by the "coincidence" of bumping into 7 friends that day (len and her homeboy, dandelionfluff, Owel, Paul, Julie, and Hannah). All in Gateway Mall. And these people don't even frequent the place (I think).

There's nothing much to rave about the place. But I like their atrium. It's landscaped with plants and trees, a small bridge, and a koi pond with carp. After strolling about checking out the stores, we decided to try out Taco Bell. Sucked. 'Nuff said. :p

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Today was my first day at work. I was overwhelmed by the scope of the project we're handling; to be honest, it was kind of daunting. Not only that, I was also intimidated by the place. I haven't worked in such a large institution as ADB. I was thinking during the start of my orientation that I was way in over my head. But those feelings of inadequacy soon dissipated when I began to understand the various components of the project and what it is I'm supposed to do. I have begun familiarizing myself with the project, getting to know my new officemates, and learning my way around the building. Would you believe I got lost in the complex this afternoon on my way home?! I must've walked for more than ten minutes trying to find the exit. What an eejit. :p It seemed that I had taken the wrong elevator. I hope that doesn't happen again tomorrow. I am so bad with directions! And now, because of all that walking around (plus the trip by foot to Rufo's and the head office in Medical Plaza earlier in the afternoon), the balls of my feet are suffering from burst blisters. They aren't really used to wearing high heeled shoes, at least not the whole day and not subject to much walking. Now, I don't know what shoes I'll be wearing tomorrow. I can barely walk. I'm so sorry, feet. I love you to pieces but I wouldn't actually want you falling into pieces. And I guess there'll be no badminton for me for a while. Sigh.

That pretty much sums up my first day of work. This weekend I'll be posting pics of the new toys that just arrived yesterday. Happiness. :)

Lots of last minute preparations before I report for work next week. After almost two years of being married, I just only got to change my name early this week. I am such a procrastinator. I was actually avoiding the proverbial waiting-in-long-lines in government offices. But guess what? If you have the patience and the will, you can actually accomplish everything in just two days! Yes, that includes the driver's license. That took the longest, actually. Almost half a day. But I'm happy with it: of all the driver's license pictures I've had, this one is the most, if not the only, presentable one. Wehehe.

Anyway, I promised michelangelus that I'd go over the fanfic. However, I've just finished printing it. I got sick two days ago. Had the bi-monthly case of rhinitis. Sometimes it's stress-related, other times it's caused by dust particles. See, the dust fancy the computer area--well, the whole room actually. I have to make do with intensive cleaning during weekends to get that chi flowing nicely so I can restore some normalcy in my life. God knows I need to master the sleeping habits of a non-nocturnal person.

Well, that's it for now. Time to sprinkle that sleepdust I bought in the black market today. No, it's not anything illegal. Morpheus himself made it; so it says on the vial. And tomorrow when I wake up--that should be early in the morning--I will have a print-out of michelangelus' Inuyasha fanfic waiting for me at breakfast. ;)

Oh, and this has been taking up my time, too. It's my cousin's fault. He got me hooked.

I have a job! Woot!

Finally, I've got something better/more productive to do with my time. I'm a lazyass no more! It's been a while since I've held a corporate job. I guess it will take me some time to get used to 9-5 work. Nevertheless, I'm excited. And Rej will be my officemate! I start on the 14th. Things are finally falling into place. Dandelionfluff and Candice share the same sentiment. And, to borrow from opts's philosophy, I believe the universe is indeed taking care of us.

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This afternoon I met up with an old friend. He'll be going back to the States this weekend and was kind enough to squeeze in a meeting with me before he left. I finally met his wife, too. Felt good to see a friend who only shows up once in a while--because it's physically impossible to do otherwise as he works in the States. The reason for the rendezvous was to exchange CDs. He's a major Elvis Costello fan, too. And, being the good friend that he is, he gave me these:


The Delivery Man and Imperial Bedroom (Rhino Release)
I couldn't have asked for anything more. The Delivery Man is EC's latest album and Imperial Bedroom is a Rhino Release--meaning it has a bonus disc and liner notes written by no other than Costello himself. This, along with opts's "continuing" presents (Elvis Costello and The Attractions' early stuff) should be enough ear candy to last me for an indefinite period of time. Thank you, good friends. :)

In exchange for the EC CDs, I gave my friend Manny a copy of Sugrafree's Dramachine and Urban Dub's Influence. I hope he likes them. Well, I'm pretty sure he'll like them. :)

When sorrows come, they come not in single spies, but in battalions. -- Shakespeare.

When expenses come, they come not in single pesos, but in thousands. -- Me.

My motherboard and processor got fried two days ago. Turned out, the fan perched on top of the processor tray got dislodged. How it happened, I leave to mystery. Good thing the HD wasn't damaged. Had it been so, I'd not only be set back financially, but also spiritually. Part of my sould resides in the hard drive. That's where most of my thoughts and visions lie.

Mental note: Back up Drive D.

My CPU was only three years old before it met its untimely death. It was as reliable as they come, though a bit (just a bit) on the slow side. Not that it really mattered at the time. I notice it now because with this new set, booting takes seconds, installations are quicker, and programs load faster. However, XP still takes forever to shut down. Well, a minute short of forever this time since the processor's faster.

Last night I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning spring cleaning the hard drive. I threw most of the old files away. I have this habit of saving stuff I come across on the net but don't have time to read, and eventually forgetting about them. I also have tons of duplicate pictures because when I resize them for posting, I don't throw the original away. I guess I really have to be more assertive in that aspect from now on. Junk piles as easily in your drive as it does in your room. It's insidious.

Below are the books that have been keeping me busy. I've finished Murder Mysteries already. I think I like the short story version better. Maybe because I read it first. But I think it's really different when you read something and the visualualization is left to your imagination. The comic book adaptation is still nice to have in one's collection, though.


I am currently reading The Watchmen. This is the first Alan Moore book that I'll be tackling. I like how it uses both script and narrative to further involve the reader in the Watchmen's world. I swear, there really must be something in the water in Britain. How do they come up with such literary geniuses? Maybe it's in the teeth. Okay, mean joke. Scratch that.

After The Watchmen, next in line is Lucifer Vol. 2. This is something that I've lagged behind on. The trade paperback edition is now in the seventh volume. I just don't have the money to buy everything. Especially now (refer to above computer mishap). Hopefully, by the time I finish the second, I'll have the dough to buy the third. A book at a time. If only TPBs weren't so expensive! Sigh.

I was also planning on enrolling in a gym. But now, with the money gone to the new chips, the only workout I'll be having is typing. I have to milk this thing for what it's worth. Need to get more writing gigs. With that, I end this entry. Time to fix my portfolio.