Guitarchic Dot Net*

I have a confession to make. Not more than a week after I bought my Moleskine Journal, I lost it. And I couldn’t even blog about it because that would be plain stupid right? To gush about finally getting a Moleskine Journal, and to announce that you lost it a couple of days after? Sheesh.

I knew, however, that I’d find it somehow, and I kindof had an idea where to go. It should be right where I last saw it, I thought with confidence. After all, I didn’t think anyone would really take interest on a piece of notebook enough to steal it. Plus, it has my messy writing all over it already. Na-ah.

Ergo, six days after I noticed it missing, I traced my steps, went to Starbucks at Shangrila, and took my chance.

“Uhm, hi, I was wondering.. By any chance.. *stammering* Did u happen to see a moleskine journal… uhm.. it’s has a black leather..” Even before i finished my sentence, one of their crew was already on his way out back. I held my breath, and noticed some baristas smiling at me from the counter, and some grinning and nodding at each other as if they all have feasted on my journal already! Gah! Oh well. I didn’t care. I just wanted my Moleskine back.

Behold, I heaved a sigh of relief. There it was, the familiar leather bound mini-notebook, handed to me by a certain barista named Ducks — don’t ask me, I wondered what’s with the name too — and I went away with a huge smile on my face. Thank God.

Now just in case you happened to pass by Starbucks Shangrila, the one in 5th floor, do me a favor by thanking Ducks again for me will ya. Heh.

Maybe it’s true what they say. Moleskines really do travel a lot! As for my Moleskine Journal, here goes her first adventure. ;)

It’s been a while since an actual human being entrusted her blog design to me. Truth be told, the last time a stranger contacted me to redesign her Blogger template was two years ago, back in May 2005 when tables were the in-thing; CSS was alien; and the blogosphere, simpler. Overwhelmingly enough, that girl, Maan, still has that froggy layout on. And I often wonder why. :P Hehe.

Since then, however, it’s either I became too busy with other things that I had no choice but to turn down requests for redesign, or, I simply became too self-conscious about my craft that I preferred to just have my mess on my own domains for my own enjoyment or disgust. Hehe.

And then she came along, and after a few months of knowing her through her blog, a dinner date and coffee at Cravings, and some texts and emails here and there, I knew that I just couldn’t turn down her request. And what an honor it was to tweak the online journal of a renown journalist and blogger, not to mention a very kind-hearted 40something such as her.

And what more of an honor (horror??!) to be called the “wisest 20something I know” by The Cathy Babao herself. (Wow, the pressure! LOL.) Seeing my link on her blogroll, lined up with highly respectable people who blog about life, careers, politics, charity work, family, and faith, (you get the drift), brings this sudden weight of pressure on me. I mean, imagine Kuya Bojie of Batibot singing, “alin, alin, alin ang naiba..” and everyone’s finger would point at my link. Get the picture?? Que horror!

Ohwells, at least the disclaimer is right there on the link text itself — “20something” being the operative word. 20somethings are still somehow entitled to be stupid and immature at times anyway, right? :P

Creating the design was a breeze, I actually had fun playing with Photoshop again. But the hardcoding part was more difficult than I thought. I originally made this really complicated layout using tables, hoping that I could make it work with the new Blogger set-up, but after hours of trying, I had to accept the grim reality that I’m not ready for complex CSS and table-less coding just yet. So I ended up just modifying an existing Blogger template and incorporating with it the header that I made. All things considered, I was kindof satisfied na rin with how things turned out.

So hey, check it out. I’m no Joni Ang or Liz Buenaflor or Mae Paulino. But well, I can always try. LOL. At the very least, I can help out modify Blogger layouts and make blog headers, if you’re sick of the usual Blogger template choices. Nope, no Wordpress themes and table-less stuff for me yet. I have a lot to learn.

In the end, it was a win-win case for me. I got a breather from all the SEO and writing I have to do, but more importantly, getting to know a new friend, getting a glimpse of mid-life through her, and being inspired, was the icing on the cake. It was lovely meeting you, Miss Cathy, and let me just say.. the feeling is mutual as I see you to be one of the wisest women I know online and offline as well. :)

Tonight, my friends and I were having our usual talk over coffee (and siopao, and mais con hielo, and whatever finger food was available) with Pastor Dave (who happens to be my Ninong too) and his lovely wife, Ninang Nory. Being about 20 years older than we are, I sometimes feel as if they’re in a constant lookout for ways to “connect” with our generation. And I have to say, as far as the generation gap is concerned, they are pretty much successful bridging it in. They’re definitely the coolest forty*bleep* yearolds in the planet.

There are, however, some bloopers here and there. And here’s the winning moment tonight:

Pastor Dave: “What’s that site you were talking about again..? Uh, pantyhose.com?”

The rest of us, staring at him, confused.

Pastor Dave: “The one with those videos you were all laughing about..?”

And then it dawned on her.

Normi: “Ohhh you mean happyslip.com!!
All: Oooohhhh!!

It was, of course, followed by an endless round of laughter. Pantyhose.com pala ha. :P

I guess there’s still generation gap, after all. :)

The night went on like that. But on top of all the laughter were insightful views about life, and relationships, and faith, and God, and family, and making the right choices, and just about anything under the sun. From as serious as spirituality and Bible doctrines to as trivial as pantyhose.com, er, happyslip.com, we all had our triple dose of self-reflections and realizations (more like reminders) that somehow fueled us up to face the world again.

My happy thoughts for the day: Faith. Friends. Laughter. And love everywhere. I’m stuffed. ♥

Oh, and Ninong Dave, if you’re reading this, it’s hap-py-slip, ok? :)

Yesterday was my first day back in the office since Dad passed away, and I wasn’t feeling well. On top of the emotional struggles I was going through, I had tummy cramps (what I first thought was dysmenorrhea lang) and back aches that were so painful I started to worry.

Halfway through the day, I contacted a doctor-friend, told him how I was feeling, and asked him to prescribe me anything that would give me immediate relief. I was desperate.

“Take Feldene Flash, 1 tablet, dissolve under tongue. If pain persists, punta ka na sa ER,” he simply texted. And so, to the nearest drug store, I went.

Amazingly, ten minutes after taking Feldene Flash, the pain was gone. All of it. (That fast? That easy?)

I don’t know how it happened, and what Feldene Flash has that made the pain go away. I didn’t bother trying to find out either. What mattered was suddenly, the day was easier to bear.

Now if only there’s a medicine that could take away that other form of pain — the one that comes with change; and letting go of something you’re not ready to let go of yet; and missing someone you can’t anymore have – please, let me know.

I need an overdose.

(Why does it feel like I have to take cobwebs off this site everytime I decide to press the “Write Post” button? Pfft.)

Hey. Look where I am now.

I didn’t expect that a time would come when I’d fall prey to the “elite” coffee shop culture where one pays around 150php worth of iced coffee and 200php worth of GlobeQuest credits in exchange for 2 measly hours of wifi connection and some snazzy ambience. So. Not. Me. (Or so I thought).

But living in an apartment with no telephone lines (and other related technology) to offer, and with the nearest hotspot in the form of Starbucks just few blocks away, I have to say, I don’t have much of a choice. Taking DELLilah the Laptop (his, not mine) whit me to Starbucks Pearl Drive, I suddenly hate myself for being judgmental of those people who hang out at coffee shops with their cute little laptops while sipping their fraps. Gag. I’ve crossovered.

Anyway. Since I’ve paid 400 bucks already (eww), I might as well make the most out of it and blog about, er, things I thought of blogging about but was not able to blog about because I’m so full of excuses (lame, I know). If only I had the time, and the will, and the internet access, I would have extensively blogged about:

(1) Pinkseo.Info getting banned out of Statcounter. My bandwidth has gone way beyond the limit that free accounts provide, hence, it’s either I upgrade to paid account, or they cut me off. It’s irritating and thrilling at the same time. Averaging around 9,000 unique visitors a day (where did that come from again??!), it would have been more exciting if the Ituloy Angsulong race was still on. My Google rank is still going up, see? Haynaku. I really should do something grand about that site. Think, think, think. (Suggestions, anyone?)

(2) Importing my four years worth of blogposts from there to here, following Joni’s step-by-step Importing-Tabulas-to-Wordpress initiative, to no avail. After successfully transferring my ten most recent posts, I came to accept the grim reality that I’m not (and never will I be) as patient as she is, and it’s gona take me 10 years to transfer all of them in. It did help, however, that I at least tried. You see, my attempt gave me no choice but to browse and read through four years worth of icky melodrama–making me realize in the end that it’s really better to just keep them there, after all, that’s where they should be–archived forever, haha. (I’m taking the “leave the past behind” mantra literally here, come on, help me out).

(3) Being tagged by some (online) friends–one I finally met face-to-face and one I was reunited with through the Ituloy Angsulong Night–to help out in the Stage and Decorations committee of Philippine Blog Awards 07. The pinoy online community is creating some noise, one big event after the other. (Watch out, The Third Iblog Summit is next.) And I feel honored to be part of it, in a way. At least this time they know me as “Riz”, and not “Pink”.

(4) Trusting people, and work issues, and Michael Scofield (coz my post about him has brought me quite a number of hits from search engines, coolness), and how much I love Music and Lyrics, and other mundane things I used to enjoy blogging about. Ang tamadtamadtamad ko na talagaaa.

Okaay now. My time is running out, and I’m getting kind of sleepy, and there’s work tomorrow, and I’m blabbering again, so I have. To Stop. Now.

The race (and the season) is over. Yesterday was the last day of collecting those little Starbucks stickers, and claiming the limited edition planners. Were you able to get yours?

As I was trying to clean my closet last night, I found my Starbucks planner lying underneath piles of bags, and cds, and clothes. Gah. So much for those overly priced Starbucks drinks. I barely touched my journal, I know, but I opened it anyway, and found this one (and only) entry I forgot I wrote on one of its pages.

Read the rest of this entry »

After 21 Cups, I finally got mine.

Since I first got my Starbucks Planner three years ago, the quest for that limited edition Starbucks Planner has become more than just, well, a quest, but an excuse to indulge in caffeine with friends (and make memories on the side). I dunno if Starbucks ever thought of it as something beyond marketing strategy. IMHO, knowingly or unknowingly, Starbucks has managed to come up with one of the most classic Yuletide traditions that our generation will carry with through time.

That’s what I’ve been telling this friend of mine. While he keeps on insisting that by collecting those little stickers we become victims of passive consumerism, my argument still stands–the coveted Starbucks Planner is just the icing on the cake. The classic feel-good moments, the heart-felt conversations (and laughtrips), and the memories made over Toffee Nut Latte and/or (insertyourfavoriteStarbucksdrinkhere) — these are the real deal.

Last year’s starbucks planner left me with pagefulls of lessons learned, rants, quotable quotes, sentimental junk and frozen moments. I wonder what the next year has in store? Yes, this year’s planner’s is a little bit too bulky and too pimped for me. The free stubs were gone, and I’m not really a fan of spring binds. But I do love its leather cover and matching pen, and the mushy little things that adorn its pages. I thought of selling it (like I said, I wasn’t into the planner more than I was with the tradition). Then again, it’s the product of all those Starbucks moments I had.. with you (and you, and you). So I’m keeping it. No more second thoughts.

I got my Starbucks Planner last Monday. Ikaw? Have you got yours yet? c”,)

Colorful, complicated rubics cube; Sweet, chilly toffee nut latte; Most people fail to see it but trust me, they make a great match. ♥

Yay for weekends, and starbucks planner seasons, and rubics cubes (however lousy I am at them), and cold December nights such as now (even if you don’t have anyone to hug and hold). Will you love me still even if my head’s all jumpy and meshed up? Take a detour?

By the way, dont forget the link looove. Ituloy Angsulong c”,)

If there is one art I’ve mastered the past five years, it’s this: Surviving Novembers with only love and grace to keep me through.

It’s a funny coincidence how Novembers have given me both the happiest and the most painful experiences in my 23 years of existence. One crossroad after another. One fairy tale preserved in a hard-bound journal forever. One leap into the unknown.

Which ultimately brought me to where I am now.

Now — Happy again, loving the sight of twinkling lights, singing radio mush, taking snap shots of the simplest things (rubics cube on a coffee table, droplets of rain on glass windows, red and green satin ribbons, and other beautiful things). I have everything.. just everything I ever need.

Last year, I looked forward to that time when I could smile again on a November day. The time has come. Who would have thought? :)

Colorful, complicated rubics cube; Sweet, chilly toffee nut latte;
Most people fail to see it but trust me, they make a great match.December nights, here we come. :)

* * *
Detours: Anywhere but here, maybe we don’t need words; Ituloy angsulong, maybe we can make it to finish line; Guitarchic dot net, maybe this time it will last.PS. Apologies for the emo-ness of this post. What can I do? It’s the season to be.. emo. c”,)