Videoke Night...

Normally, I would choose to stay home, watch some TV, or possibly sleep. I already work too much that I'm often tired and would rather rest when I'm not working. But, one of my New Year's resolutions was that I would make this year not simply about work, work and work. I told myself that I would gimmick/party as hard as I work (or, at least, as hard as I'd been working for, uhm, as long as I can remember), time and energy willing.
This was the first of what will be many more gimmicks or get-togethers with friends and such. I was actually touched that I was one of those who got invited by Karylle to join her and company for some videoke-ing (I know she didn't specifically ask me, but being asked just the same was good enough for me), and it was a fun evening. It's a rarety that I get to unwind and it was quite nice, never mind the fact that I was a bit tired (I had work yesterday morning at Dream-FM and then dubbing in the afternoon 'til the time I went to Centerstage in Makati).

I really didn't know what the reason was for the get-together. I thought that it was to celebrate the birthday of (sir) Jesmond (the current boss of Polyeast Records). But then, I found out that Centerstage (Makati) had opened a new, huge wing (the name escapes me), perfect for large, private functions or gatherings. The place was actually so big that even with the number of people who came that night, there was still so much more room!

Karylle wanted everyone to see the new "room" and give it a test run of sorts. It's a very nice function room and I probably would have wanted to "rent" out the place as well for whatever get-togethers I might have in the future. The problem? It's a little too expensive! For me anyway.

I probably should have kept my trap shut and be intimidated by the fact that I was with some professional singers there (Karylle, of course, as well Hale's vocalist Champ and, as I found out, this fella by the name of Nani - who was the entertainment of the night - and Zsa Zsa Padilla also came by), but that didn't really stop me from "belting" out a couple of tunes in front of everyone. I couldn't help it -- it had been awhile since I last went videoke-ing with my best friend and the usual cohorts we go with when we go out to a videoke joint, I wanted to sing! Besides, I also had hoped that with me showing that I wasn't afraid to make an idiot of myself, my other friends from Polyeast would also follow suit. Well, they did. But only very much earlier that evening, before anyone else had arrived.

I made sure to pick a song that was well within my reach, vocally, so as to not embarrass myself too much in front of everyone else (well, when more people had arrived): Beautiful In My Eyes by Joshua Kadison is always my first pick if I'm going to do any singing in front of people that I don't know (all that well or at all), because Kadison's voice or vocals, uh, "registers low", just like my own voice. I can't exactly do any ear-piercing singing, so I stick to songs that I can sing. Of course, in front of other people I'm comfortable with, that's another story.

I kinda wish though everyone from Polyeast Records had done their turn in front of the mic. Sure, most of them sang, but only when there were just a few of us at the time. Except for myself and Romy (the guy who sits at the desk at the lobby of the Polyeast office), nobody else really dared sing when there were more people. Which was kind of a shame. We were supposed to have fun (not that we didn't)!

If there was a Coolest Chick of The Night award, it should go to Zsa Zsa Padilla! First of all, she slimmed down from the last time I saw her (when I was hosting her mall shows last year), she looks great! Apparently, she'd been taking this asthma medicine that had steroids in it, which was what caused her weight gain. She changed medicines, and now she's thin(ner) and looks terrific! But what really impressed me was how she behaved, how she interacted with her daughters. She was dancing and singing along and even sang Evanescence's Bring Me To Life! Wow.

All in all, it was a great and fun evening. Truthfully, I'm wishing that I get to go out some time soon, just with my close friends from Polyeast, and go to a videoke bar, drink, sing and be merry!
But, damn, I look fat in these pics!
'Nuff said.

It's 2010, Baby...

It's the first day to the/a new year! It's 2010, baby!! Oh, how time flies. Honestly, I didn't even feel that another year has just passed us by. Which, I guess, can be or is a good thing. I want to forget a lot about the previous year. Truthfully, I don't remember most of what happened, or what I did during 2009. Some of the things I do remember? Michael Jackson and Brittany Murphy's deaths, the Ampatuan massacre, Ondoy, Tiger Woods and Manny Pacquiao's infidelities and a thief constantly breaking into my apartment. Of course, it's not all bad. But why is it, so far, I can only remember a few of (the) good things? And two of them are movies : Star Trek and Avatar. The other is the fact that I nearly caught the thief who broke into my pad (he was breaking into my place one Saturday morning, I woke up, chased him down, but he got away because I couldn't get past the gate of my apartment due to the fact that I was only in my underwear).
Before posting, I was contemplating on whether I should make another list of New Year's resolutions, and making this post about said list. But then, like every year, I know that I would just end up breaking most, if not all of them. What the heck....
One of the things I noticed about myself in regards to last year is that I've been prone to get agitated on the road more than ever when encountering stupid motorists (of both private and public utility vehicles). I'll be the first to admit, I have road rage. I've just been fortunate, thus far, not to have come across anyone whom I've actually had to get into a fist fight or war of (curse) words, or worse, get myself shot. Whew. But I can't expect to get lucky all the time. I really have to try and calm down and just ignore these morons on the road. My patience has been skating on thin ice a lot lately most likely because of exhaustion and lack of sleep. I remember having a breakdown in my car one morning on the way to work. Here's hoping that doesn't happen again or anytime soon this 2010.
As much as I would like to cut down on work this year, I can't. I have to keep working. I don't work, I starve. I also have a lot of bills to pay every month. Plus, I am a certified workaholic. But I will try and get as much sleep and rest as I can every chance I get. Not to say that I'm going to coop myself up at home every time I'm not working. I also want to try and spend time doing a lot of other stuff that is not work-related when I'm not working. Maybe go out with friends, drink and unwind, etc, just to make sure my life won't only be about work. But then again, that would entirely depend on the kind of schedule I'm going to have this year. Hopefully, time permitting, I'll be able to do other stuff that isn't only about hosting, dubbing and/or my radio and tv gigs.
I've spent a lot on comic books the previous year. And because of work, I haven't had much time to read every title that I've purchased that I've accumulated a big pile of unread comics. I've got to cram and read, read and read, just so I can finally also decide on what titles to cut down on. Because I've got to be honest, some of the comic books that I've been buying are a bit of a let-down (The Mighty Avengers, The New Avengers, to name a few). Even though it's too late and I've already fallen off the wagon so to speak and have gotten back into my comic-buying-addiction again, I don't necessarily want to go cold turkey and cut off comic books from my life (being a little dramatic there, I know). I love comics. Besides movies, it's another one of my means of "escapism". It makes me happy. I love the artwork and super heroes and super villains. But I know that when I get to spend over three thousand pesos every week, just for comic books, it's, well..... ridiculous! I've got to lessen the titles I purchase every week, stat!
I've been eating a lot the past few months. I've managed to lose weight at the start of '09 (or was it the year before that?), but eating food is too damn hard to resist, especially if the food you get to eat is delicious! I mean, eating is good, of course -- one has to eat. But gluttony is not exactly good either. And that's what I've been doing. Fortunately, I've managed not to look so fat in a lot of the pics that I've been in - in fact, I actually look quite good, shape-wise that is - but I know I've gained weight. And I don't like that. I can see it when I look at myself in the mirror. My face is rounder (not as round as it had gotten back in '08, thank God) and the tummy -- ! Oh, the horror...! The other night, I ran into a friend and he said I was "(so) fat"! Of course, we hadn't seen each other in years, and back then, I was a scrawny runt. I know that I'm not that fat. But, still, I feel fat. So, last night, I swore that I'd not have any rice for the next couple of months or so (please, please, let my will power be strong enough), try and cut down on soft drinks, and, more importantly, lessen the amount of food I eat!
I am also in terrible shape. Something that I've been meaning to do in, like....forever, is to go back to the gym and work out again! I don't really remember how long ago I made that plan, but it's been years. And, so far, it hasn't happened yet. This year? I'm going to cross my fingers and hope that my lazy ass manages to find its way back into the gym. Rock-hard abs, here I come?
This 2010, I want to post more stuff on my blog(s). I seem to recall me making that resolution last year as well. Besides being too busy, laziness is another reason why I never got to write more posts. Sometimes, I feel that some of the things I want to post about is just too short. Why do I even worry about that kind of thing? It's not like anyone really reads my blog (heck, I don't invite anyone to check out my blog), so why should I care? I guess it's mainly because I feel that if I were only going to write a post that is a short one, then I should just do it on Facebook and Twitter (two things I got into only last year). Blog posts are meant to be long, be more elaborate or perhaps more detailed, allowing the one writing to really let loose with whatever is on his/her mind.
As always, I've been tardy at work. In fact, I have been arriving so late almost every single day at Dream-FM, especially during my sign-on shift(s). And when I say late, I mean 30 minutes to an hour or even an hour and a half! Yes, I've been that tardy. Hopefully, I can keep it down to "just" five minutes. I know that I'm still going to be late anyway, so I won't even try and say that I'm going to change and not be late anymore this year.
Well, there we have it -- my New Year's Resolutions for 2010.
'Nuff said.