Happy New Year...or, I'm Back...

Woah.
That was my reaction after I decided to finally check my blog and discovered that it had been almost two years since I last posted anything here.
So what happened? Well, stuff that I would rather not get into anymore, so let me just say that a few other reasons as to why I've not been posting on my blog for the longest time is because of work (I was usually too busy), and I was often tired, and, I must admit, too lazy.
But it's a New Year now. Again. Sheesh! "Where does the time go?" is the question I always ask myself annually at the start of the new year, as well as every so often.
And come the new year, mostly everyone would like to accomplish a few goals via the "infamous" New Year's Resolution(s). And, for the most part, people never really get to see their plans into fruition. I happen to be one of those poor, pathetic souls who make a list of things-to-do-for-the-year and never accomplish a single task. Still, it doesn't stop me from making my New Year's Resolution(s) at the beginning of every new year. And here I go again...
Where to begin...?

TARDINESS
This was really a big problem with me last year, especially at work (at Dream and for my dubbing sessions). I'd usually get to Dream-FM for my boardwork anywhere between ten to fifteen minutes late; and even worse, for my dubbing sessions at 20Plus in Makati, I'd get to the studio forty minutes, sometimes even an hour late! This year, I want to be able to arrive at work, at least five, maybe ten minutes, before I'm supposed to go on-air. The same goes for when I have to dub at 20Plus.
TEMPER
I'm pretty much a very patient guy. But when I'm on the road and I encounter stupid motorists, I truly have a short fuse; if you do something idiotic (with me being the recipient), all I see is red. So far, and thankfully, there's never been an incident similar to the one I had years ago wherein I chased down this guy driving a Pajero who cut me off in Ortigas. To cut it short, it ended with him going after me (after i gave him the finger) and pulling along side my car and pointing a gun at me (I was still running on adrenalin that, instead of being scared out of my wits, and thinking, I gave him the double finger -- what can I say? I'm nuts). Probably the worst "road rage incident" that I had last year was when this guy driving a public FX tried to run me off the road along Quirino on my way to work. My blood instantly boiled and I chased after him, drove on the wrong side of the road just to get to him, not caring about the oncoming vehicles, and rolling down my window in order to throw coins at him.
SPENDING SPREE
I accumulated a huge credit card debt last year, and this year, I want to try and lessen the amount of money that I spend for stuff that I buy; I want to lessen the usage of my credit card, period.
I have a friend who is what you'd call a "deprivation junky"; every year, he likes to set goals that deprive himself of certain things that he likes. A couple of years ago, he stopped himself from buying DVDs for a whole year, and last year, he got through the entire year without drinking Coke or any kind of soda. For 2009, he says that he will keep his spending for his "wants" (those include original and bootleg DVDs, books, clothes, shoes, bags and dolls [he's gay by the way, just in case you were wondering about the dolls] ) to not more than 5 thousand pesos a month.
I know that there's not a snowball's chance in hell that I'll be able to keep my own spending for my "wants" (and those are comic books, original and bootleg DVDs, CDs, and watching movies) to just, or even less, than 5k a month. There is just no way. For one thing, I already spend a little over two grand every week for my comics alone.
And so, in regards to my comic book addiction, what I'd like to try to do is to lessen the number of titles that I subscribe to every week, maybe opt to buy some of the comics that I like in Trade Paperback form instead of the regular comic; it may cost anywhere between one to two thousand pesos, but, at least, it usually takes awhile before a certain title gets collected in Trade Paperback, giving me some time or a gap where I won't have to buy a certain comic or comics when it comes out for the month.
As much as possible, I really should resort to the Internet now when it comes to getting my CDs and DVDs. If I can download a song and/or a movie (even TV shows), then that will be my so-called avenue for acquiring these particular "wants" of mine. Unless a song I download is terrible in quality, or perhaps I absolutely love the artist, the album, or the movie, then that should be the only time when I go and buy myself a CD or DVD. Of course, I have to upgrade from my prepaid, dial-up Internet and get a DSL Internet connection first (yes, I know, I still live in the "stone age"; I'm probably the only one left in the world who still uses dial-up to get connected to the web).
When it comes to watching movies (and I don't mean at home, watching a DVD), I absolutely have to watch it (usually) more than three times at the cinema. In fact, my friends and other people who know me know that I will go and see a movie over and over; ten times.... heck, even more than that if i love(d) the movie.
Some of the movies I'd seen more than ten times at the cineplex are the Lord of The Rings trilogy, Iron Man, The Matrix and The Dark Knight (almost or exactly 20 times each).And that's only a few examples that I came up with at the top of my head. The movie I'd seen in cinemas the most number of times? Speed. I don't remember the exact number (it was a long time ago), but I do believe it was more than 30 times. I know. Ridiculous. But back then (when I saw Speed that is), I had more time (to watch movies); my shift in radio (at Magic 89.9) was in the wee hours of the morning (2 to 6am), leaving me free the whole day to just bum around. Nowadays, I've got my radio DJ gig at Dream-FM, my TV-voice over gig at TV5 and my dubbing. Plus, I still have my hosting and voice over (for live events, commercials and AVPs) stints as well. I may be a lot busier now than I used to be (when I got to watch Speed those oh-too-many number of times years ago), but I always make time to watch movies; it's my only other means of relaxation other than watching TV.
Y'know, just thinking about it now, I suddenly realize that, if I watch a certain movie, say, ten times -- at a hundred fifty pesos per screening, multiply that by ten, then I normally spend fifteen frickin' thousand pesos every time I go see just the one movie. That amount didn't even include what I spend for my "pre-requisite grub" every time I go watch a movie. Plus, I try and watch every (new) movie that comes out every week...! And so.... yikes.
So this year, I want to try and change my movie-watching habits and see just the one movie... just the one time. Or maybe twice. But ten times or more? I'll certainly try not to do that.
LATE TO REPLY
Over the course of the year, I'd developed a bad habit of replying very late, and sometimes, not even (replying), to some people with regards to (usually) job offers (hostings, voice overs or dubbing). It often starts with me telling myself that I'll just text this certain individual "tomorrow". But then, that "tomorrow" becomes "several days later". And then, because so much time has already passed, I become embarrassed to respond, hence "several days later" becomes "several weeks later". Or sometimes, out of sheer embarrassment, I no longer reply to someone's text message. Sometimes I actually do (reply), even with so many weeks elapsing, but more often than not, I don't. That's gotta change this year. Or I'm going to stand losing extra income.
TALENT FEE
Speaking of income, I've also got to learn to not be embarrassed to give people who hire me a more "deserving" price for my services (deserving for me that is). For the longest time, I'd been charging some or most people a talent fee rate that I've had for,uhm, forever now. It's been years, everything else has gone up (prices for fuel, food, etc), except for my rate. I know I'm not a celebrity or even the best around, but I'm certainly more capable than most at what I do (particularly with hosting). When I do voice over gigs, I'd often see a lot of these model or semi-famous celebs who get paid way more than they should (simply because of who they are, rather than any talent), and they don't deserve it because, frankly speaking, they suck. One perfect example? Asia Agcaoili. Then again, I don't exactly have boobs and can't pull off wearing something that's close-to-naked when hosting. Hehe.
This year, I want to try and be more selective when it comes to picking gigs to accept. And to charge the correct talent fee rate for myself.
SHAPE UP
One of the resolutions that I've been making every year for as long as I can remember is to get back in the gym, and this year is no different. At the start of last year, I actually managed to condition myself into dieting, and succeeded; something I have to do again for the next couple of months or so, given that, during the Holidays, like everyone else, I ate a lot more than usual.
Will 2009 be the year that I finally get my lazy @$$ in shape? Probably not. But who knows? Maybe.

I'll probably go bust with these New Year's Resolutions that I've made, like every year, but I don't care. You gotta have a goal, even if it's pointless.

'Nuff said.