I must admit that I have a problem. I don't know how to stay away from the ocean. I really do love it, you know. But I must hate it on principle.

Originally posed April 11, 2007.
[reposted because of this]

Third day back from the beach, and I'm still hearing the waves.

The problem with vacations is that they're never quite enough. No matter how much time you spend "unwinding", you always want more. more. more. and more.

I thought half a week of frolicking would get me on my feet, ready to tackle the work week. But instead, I find myself daydreaming of the ocean. My beloved ocean. My beloved Moalboal.

And now, I can't work. I can't even get my mind to focus. All I really want is to lie down on the sand as if there's no tomorrow.

Sigh.

When's the next road trip?

I still think Bon and Mark would make a great couple. There's so much chemistry there, I swear! Hahahaha. Let this be my last will and testament: If I die an early death, Bonita Marie Cabiles should marry Mark Austin Ladanan.

Daan Pa Lagi Ko!
Originally posted by Bon, March 2, 2007.
[reposted because of this]

This is the work of the devil...

JR: ingon si manoi wat, "kabaw na ko, magbinuotan na ko kay bons!" ingon ko, "ngano man?" ang iyang tubag: "para maapil ko sa chismiss!" unya nihirit dayon si mark..."pare, di man kinahanglan."

*****************

Loose Translation:
(postcript added by Y for the benefit of our English readers)

The king says to his subjects, "I will be a more benevolent deity from now on." And his bewildered minions ask, "Why?" To that, the god replied, "So that the powerful witch will grant me more spells." At this point, the king's brother says, "But there's no need!" The end.

and this is why i don't want to leave cebu. khyle is my world.

Originally posted February 18, 2007.
[reposted because of this]

Mark, Khyle, and I went to a children's party today. The clown mistakently called us "Mom and Dad", and a warm feeling took hold of me, causing me to smile for the rest of the day. Fattery? Perhaps. Maternal pride? Definitely. I don't know if I'll ever give birth, but I know for certain that I will always be a Mom for Khyle. Khyle makes me so happy. I am happiest when I'm with Khyle. I like myself when I'm with Khyle. My baby Khyle. I love Khyle.

see what i mean? hahahah.

Originally posted February 14, 2007.
[reposted because of this]

I just realized that before Mark and I became a couple, I've never had a Valentine's Day with a man. Through some weird twist of fate, I always ended up alone, depressed, and pining for nothing in particular on (what i used to call -) doomsday.

In particular, there was one doomsday when Mia and I locked ourselves in our dorm room - armed with lots of ginpo and those rope-like marshmallows. The marshmallows were our salvation, Mia said. The idea was to hang ourselves with those sugar-coated "ropes" to end our misery. heh.

It's the fault of those darned capitalists, deluding women with their carefully orchestrated hype.

The pressure they place on all the hapless single people in the world is cruel. Nay, downright sadistic even.

So what if it's February 14? So what?

I don't feel any different today than in any other day of the year. It's an ordinary day, even more ordinary than the most blah of thursdays.

When you're in love, so I read, everyday is Valentine's Day.

I beg to differ.

If everyday were Valentine's Day, I wouldn't leave my house to brave the onslaught of giddy people in restaurants and the tumultuous traffic on the street. I wouldn't open my eyes either - if only to block out the vision of a world bathed in repulsive pink. Ugh. Can you imagine?

Valentine's Day should not be a public spectacle. It should be a private moment, sweet and intimate. A moment dictated not by commercialized norms, but inspired simply by the rhythm of your pulse. That's a Valentine's Day.

That being said...

Gen, you still have 6 hours. More or less. Tic.Tock.

:-)

aaah. valentine's day brings out the best and the worst in people. *sigh*

Originally posted February 14, 2007.
[reposted because of this]

Happy Day of Hearts!

...to the lovelorn and the love-weary. to the ecstatic and the desperate. to the overjoyed and the overstarved.

through the half-closed windows of lovers' room. through the wide welcoming doors of the family den. through the warm hugs of happy friends. love flows.

As of this writing, "toddler" no longer applies to Khyle. He's now a boy. *sigh* How fast time flies.

Originally posted February 2, 2007.
[reposted because of this]

I can't believe that our little Khyle is in school. I'm so proud. Teary-eyed, emotion-choked proud. Khyle is now officially a toddler. *sniff*

I wish I could have been there yesterday, on his very first day in school. It should have been a big moment. But it passed without much ceremony.

I feel an urge to hand out cigars. Yey, my nephew's in school! Cigars for everyone!

There's an interesting story behind this. hahaha. I'll save it up for our next beer session, okay?

Originally posted by Mark, January 10, 2007.
[reposted because of this]

"Creatures like the sheep, that are used to traveling, know about moving on."
- Santiago (The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho)

Originally posted December 28, 2006.
[reposted because of this]

Routines can be stifling. It is these everyday things that remind me how mundane my life is; how ordinary my existence.

yeah, right...

(believable ba? maka-ilad diay ko. bwahahha)

Bwahahahaha...remember this?

Life
by Mark, August 14, 2006

Life is good when it's not bad.

Life is happy when it's not sad.

Life is white when it's not black.

Life is my tummy without the six-pack.

-----------------------------
Looks simple...but read it again...simple ra gihapon...but that's life...

Strangely, washing dishes seems to be a fetish for Bon. I don't get it. I just don't.

Dishwashing
Posted by Bon, July 2, 2006

My newfound friend, the Wikipedia, states that :

"Washing dishes is considered the traditional punishment for being unable to pay a bill at a restaurant. However, evidence that this is actually practiced is anecdotal."

But there may be some grain of truth in the first statement. For those of you who frequent the love-nest of Mark and Yan a.k.a. condo/motel/hotel/apartelle ng bayan, you would most likely find me washing dishes. Something that Mark and Yan would always try to talk me out of doing while Gen, on the other hand, would encourage me to do. Tongue Don't get me wrong, I do insist on doing the dishes and the more the merrier for me. Why?

1. It's my thinking time. It allows me to plan and strategize what my next move will be when I'm hit once again by the unceasing quarter-life crisis. I'm beginning to think that it'll not go away and will just transform into mid-life crisis. So, bring on the dishes!
2. It is my only form of release ... to unleash my mild obsessive-compulsive behavior. I admit, I did manifest the signs but I have learned to let go after an "awareness" session with my German existentialist professor.
3. It's my stress release after a really irritating situation or after seeing someone who irritates every part of my being. (Hehe! You go figure.)
4. I am still hoping that someday .... one day ... Mark Ladanan will let me sing.
5. And last, it is my form of self-administered punishment. Perhaps I see the washing and cleaning as a metaphor of me being cleansed/washed from the mistake I did.

I really don't know how it started. But when you live in an urban jungle where your daily stress level has become a natural high, you have to be really creative and try to find just about anything to keep your sanity.

Try washing the dishes and see what else is washed away.

p.s. I do not and will not accept dishwashing services.

So much has happened in one year. Gen has quit smoking, while I've increased my nicotine dosage. Because I can't wait for cigarettes to kill me. Just kidding.

Last June 2006, Gen and I posted a couple of odes to our favorite vice, smoking. Ahhh. There is something so darned sexy about a stick between my lips. And I am talking about cigarettes, mind you.

Death of a Cigarette Stick
Posted by Gen, June 3, 2006

There it was.
Recklessly between my
Fingers—a cigarette.
Waiting to burn,
To commence its death.

Flickers of red
Kissed the white sheet
As its Being lives—
Dead leaves
Turning crimson.

I take in a breath.
I take out its life.
A tart taste, it leaves
A statement: my life,
It, too, is taking.

We prolong our exchange,
This stick and I,
Idly killing each other
Waiting for the end.
Wanting for the end.

Its life's end, I sucked.
Crushed its burning life.
Now crumpled and thrown,
I gaze at it, envious,
It has served its purpose.

Cigarette Break
Posted by Yan, June 3, 2006

In the haze of cigarette smoke, she finds love
and passion and fear and hope.
A whiff of

Sanity,
a moment so lucid

that night lit by one fading ember
blinds the stars or the flashing
billboards across the street

She puffs for redemption
with sight so clear
that the wafting smoke

is a gray whirl and
a spiraling vision and
a cloud of possibilities

where, finally, finally
life awakens in that single flicker
between the last puff
and the search for
a crystalline ashtray

Here are some of our favorite blogs and websites:

• Himantayon: A True Story
  Chronicling the limits of our humanity - in pure, unadulterated Cebuano
  
• Fubar Genre: The Genre of Fubar
  Failed attempts at cryptic truths
  
• A Copywriter's Notebook
  The Works of the Divine Feminine a.k.a. Genee
  
• The Corteses: Alli, Toni, and Angelo
  Life is absofuckinly beautiful for the Corteses
  
• Dasig: None But Ourselves Can Free Our Minds
  Jojo chronicles his life in Singapore and his take on current issues
  
• Cebu Diver: The Ultimate Cebu Diving Resource
  A collaborative effort to bring relevant, up-to-date about the world of scuba diving
  
• Hastang: The Official Website
  Official website of Cebu-based, female-fronted indie band Hastang
  
• The World of Hastang
  Official blog of the greatest indie rock band in the world
  
• Guile is Paperbag
  Pakapin lang ni sya. harharhar.
  
• Siya si Kai
  Her name is Kai. And she deviates.
  
• Alli & Toni: Together for 50 Years
  Alli and Toni on Multiply
  
• Zai Angelo on Multiply
  Alli & Toni's adorable baby boy
  
• Swirling Vortex: The Beginning
  This was where it all began