ode to youth

of birthdays and the days in between

october 19th. the eve of my 23rd birthday. we were all there waiting. so many excuses. finally you did come, and you made our day.

december 4th. ces' 20th birthday. we all piled into frank's car, which was still in its original paintwork, and headed to your house to fetch you. your city was a fun place to get lost in, when you're young and with friends you love.

november 20th. two days before frank's 20th birthday. i decided to cut out and run because i can't decide between frank's party and ness's party. so while i was wearing out my feet in hongkong, you were having a blast at the mall and frank's house.

one day in june. i'm sure it wasn't on the day of your 20th birthday. we spent a whole day at your house, met your parents and siblings, conducted some semblance of a workshop, and headed to the theater to see the controversial rosanna roces movie.

november 22nd. frank's 23rd birthday. you might say everyone who was anyone was there, except the one who i would've expected to be there. where were you? i didn't find out until much later.

december 8th. four days after ces celebrated her 23rd. i was worried about what my folks would say about getting home late, but it didn't matter. it was the last time i would see you, and you didn't even know it.

june 17th. you would have been 27 today. sometimes i wonder if our ties would be much stronger if we were given a chance to build them. maybe it's just our fate to have a few bittersweet memories to share. maybe we needed to wake up and stop being complacent. life is too short to waste wishing for something better.

tunnel vision

i found out today that it was the birthday of a favorite officemate. i like her a lot because there aren't many people around that i feel i'm on the same plane with, even if we are different in many aspects. we're the same age, we have similar taste in music and books, we're both on the other side of the kikay meter... we even go to the same gym (though not at the same time). when you meet that kind of person, especially in the office where most people are too different from you, it can feel like going back to those care free days.

it was a bit coincidental that she's in my mind a lot these days, because she just lent me her copy of harry potter and the order of the phoenix. i've wanted to read the series for a long time but i only got as far as book one and book two (which i saw on tv). now i'm so attached to the book that i bring it everywhere. i had to stop myself from reading it during work hours! that's the way i am when i'm fixated on a book. a good book is my waterloo. i can never rest until i finish it. even to the extent of staying up the whole night just to get to the end.

i can just imagine what i'm gonna do once i get home. i'll be chatting with my housemates for a bit, maybe finish off my macaroni salad. get dressed in my jammies and turn up the radio. i'm set for my marathon reading night.

(huh? strama? what strama?)

birthday bash

i just love october. every time i get within a few weeks to my birthday, i'm occupied thinking of all the things i want to do on that day (or week). like where i'd treat my best buds, or whether we'll go dancing or just hang out at some coffee shop. or who else i'll see or bump into while i'm out there.

however, it seemed that i was bound to be disappointed this year. my best friend (who is now also my roommate) is going on a trip up north, while my next closest friend has training scheduled every weeknight. we can't even go out all together on friday nights. so the day after my birthday i finally called my best male buddy and got him to go with me to the klite anniversary concert at the fort.

after bingeing on grilled eats, we took a short walk over to pier one and found true faith warming up the crowd. wow, i so loved that band! as there wasn't a large number of people we got great spots at the front. which was good thinking on our part because the next band was river maya. i had a great time singing along to the old songs, even if i'm not a great fan. by the time their set was done i had developed a fine crush on... hahaha! secret!

we stayed a little longer, watching hourglass (sans egay), bridge, and mojofly, before deciding to call it a night. we have also consumed 6 beers between the two of us, needless to say we had to call a halt to get home in one piece. as it was we were already acting like college kids... and bemoaning the fact that we aren't kids any more. do you know that walking at the fort at midnight is almost like strolling at lb? hmmm...

i really missed my late teenage years... i have always accepted that i'm a college kid at heart. and i'm glad that i got to indulge in one of my favorite things -- listening to great music -- for my birthday. a really cheap gimik (well, if you didn't count the dinner) with a friend who enjoyed it as much as i did, if not more. the ultimate celebration of life.

now, if i could only meet that guy...