Hair vanity.

How do you get rid of styling wax? Hair wax has got to be the vilest product ever to be applied on hair. Hahaha. I'm overreacting. But yeah, I hate it. After a pictorial last night, I had to shampoo my hair 6 times just to take out all the product. And my hair still isn't back to normal.

I swear, if I ever see that someone plans to put styling wax on my hair again, I will hunt down the damn thing and chuck it out the nearest window.

Yes, I'm very particular about what goes in my hair, but I had no clue about using styling wax. Sorry po, wash and wear lang ang buhok ko, and it can hardly carry a curl. That's why stylists can get vicious if they really want to pull something off, and cement my hair with mousse, hair spray, and the toughest hair gels they can get their hands on. I remember having to sleep in curlers overnight before one show, and having my hair curled 4 times during another.

Speaking of hairstyling, I find it funny for most people wanting their hair to be straight. A lot have had their hair relaxed and rebonded, and purchased all those shampoos that claim to straighten hair. As for myself, I've always wanted my hair curly, but after going through 3 perms as a kid, bagsak pa rin ang buhok ko.

Another note on vanity. Why do people want to be white? Feeling ba nila, pag maputi na sila, maganda na sila? No offense ha. But does beauty have to be that shallow? There are other ways to be beautiful. I actually found that billboard of Jinky Oda for that whitening thing very disturbing. People, be proud naman of your skin color. It's part of who you are. Unless, of course, you want to be someone else. Baka sawa na rin kayo sa pagiging Pinoy niyo, nyahahay. I hope not.

Trivial pondering.

A month's challenge: To make this character distinctly different from the original two actors who had created and performed it before. Huwaw. Simple enough? I don't know. I'm still working on the character profile.


Another challenge. How do you keep this kind of secret?


Is it me, or did I just see Idina Menzel's email address in this one Yahoo group that I'm in? *shrug* Maybe it could just be someone using Idina's name in her email, but hello, isn't that impersonating a celebrity? But if it's really her... huwaw, so I guess that means I know her email address? Hahaha.

CCP weekend, sans Cinemalaya audition.

Was in CCP this weekend, but I didn't audition for Cinemalaya. Funny, I didn't feel like trying out for it this year.

Saturday was basically just to drop by and see Tad. Gerilya was running again for a two-weekend engagement, and because he only had that one scene in the second act, I could bug him in the buffeteria while he was waiting for his scene. Friends who were auditioning for the Cinemalaya dropped by every once in a while. Apparently the audition process upstairs in the MKP was faster and more organized this year, they said. But nope, I still didn't go, hahaha.

Sunday was mainly to watch I-Land. It was required for my one class, but even though it wasn't, I still really wanted to go because I've always been curious about the art of hula since I was a kid. I think my aunt mentioned before that one of my cousins used to dance the hula, while another pair of cousins danced Tahitian.

Arrived way too early in CCP because I went straight there after hearing mass with my mom. After a quick lunch, I hung out in my favorite spot in the LT lobby with Tad when he arrived. When he had to go to Batute to do his prosthetics, I still had a lot of time to kill. Dingdong, who had arrived while Tad and I were hanging out and talking at the entrance, was at the Cinemalaya auditions, so I went upstairs as well to keep him company. Hahaha, chika galore. Mostly about upcoming productions, guest lists (HAHAHA!) and fake minus ones. Still pretty early when he had finished inside the MKP, so we went down to the LT lobby.

I-Land had reserved seating (thank goodness I bought my ticket the day before), but there was already a line outside the door because of some high school students. Because I really didn't have to rush to get a good seat due to my early purchase, I dilly-dallied in the lobby with Dingdong as I waited for the chimes instead, hahaha. Surprise, I found Carlo standing nearby! Yay! It was the first time in ages since I last saw him, so I almost tackled him as I went over to give him a hug, hahaha. Dingdong quipped that I was invading personal space again, as I did to him when he went to see Hairspray. Anyway, Carlo was watching Gerilya, but because we haven't talked in ages, we decided to meet up after our respective shows. Dingdong had to go to the gym then, so off I went inside the Little Theater.

Yay, good seat. Miss Nikki did say that in this show, closer was better. I had chosen a 5th row orchestra side seat near the aisle, so it was still near the center but at a cheaper price (thank you, student discount). Apparently, this was a one-man show. Keo Woolford had also given a hula workshop for the AC last Tuesday, so I got even more curious about the show. It was a semi-autobiography with the use of monologues and dances. The stage just consisted of a circular mat in the center, and a curved set piece on stage right which also served as a projector screen. He was funny, he was charming, he was such a delight to watch. He talked about growing up trying to learn the hula and looking where he could fit in, inside and outside of Hawaii. When he did the basic steps of the hula, I was fascinated by his movements, which were very graceful and fluid. He executed moves from disco, jazz, hiphop, and some were even boyband-ish that I couldn't help but laugh out loud. But as he shifted to the hula, it was beautiful. Tad was right, the music was also pretty soothing. And yep, this is one guy who is not afraid to wear a skirt, I had said to myself, as he changed into his hula costume right there onstage.

After the show (which was about an hour and a half), I was dying to meet him but there wasn't a meet and greet. Which was just as well, as the kids I saw the show with were noisily loitering around the lobby. Oh well. Found Opa at the entrance, and we hung back in one corner of the lobby as I waited for the crowd to thin. As it turned out, she was going to the Cinemalaya audition, so when the crowd dispersed, we finally stood up and headed for the elevator. Eep, there he was. Keo Woolford was already in the lobby, talking with some friends or guests. Hahaha, I tugged on Opa's sleeve and said that I want to have a photo taken with him, so we waited until he was finished talking with the people he was with. Hahaha, gave this pathetic opening line about the AC workshop he gave, and told him that my boyfriend was part of it, then briefly raved about the show before I asked for a photo op, hahaha! Lara and Mandy, this is for you...


Anyway, I went with Opa up to the 4th floor so she can sign up and wait for her turn. More chika galore, and even with her TKM friends Kimmy and Chona. The whole thing only took about half an hour, then we went back down again so Opa can take out some food to eat. Hahaha, by the time we got back to the lobby, Gerilya had already finished, so we stayed in the LT lobby where it was less crowded than Batute. Hahaha, ended up hearing funny work and vacation anecdotes from Paolo and Miss Yvette with Carlo and Mike.

After a while, all 6 of us trooped to the conference room, where the Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah cast was prepping up for their pictorial. Hahaha, ayan, dahil Zsa Zsa na ulit, nabuhay ulit si Carlo sa CCP. Sila Zshali, Tin, Hilary, Micah and Dyown na lang. Listened to Paolo play the piano for a bit, then more chika at the south entrance (which I fondly call the lung center) before we finally called it a day.

And now it's back to life. Monday. With a little extra. Hopefully. Oh well.

One Hogi Hall bachelor gone.

PJ and Joy tied the knot yesterday at St. James the Great Parish. So there, one of the Hogi Hall guys finally got hitched. And their long-standing bet since we all graduated from high school is still on. My goodness, at this age, I know everyone already wants to lose that darn bet.

Aris had already mapped out a carpool schedule last week, as Rosa, Iam, Raffy and I are all hitching a ride with him. I was the first to be picked up, and I left the house with my hair still damp because effort talaga sa makeup. Iam was up next, but by the time we had arrived at her house, she had just stepped out of the show, hahaha! So we had to wait for her for half an hour, but we were still pretty early anyway. When Iam was done, we only had to ring the doorbell at Raffy's and he was already out the door, plus he was also equipped with coffee. Rosa, on the other hand, didn't want to rush, so it was decided that we'll just meet her at Mount McDo. We had a little breakfast while we waited for her, then off to St. James.

Huwaw, surprise! Seph had a haircut! Josh wore colorful sneakers with his suit. Paco flew all the way from Davao just for PJ's wedding. And May looked like a Turkish princess, hahaha. Once the ceremony began, our trio was giggling as Josh showed off his shoes as he walked down the aisle. The ring bearer was super adorable, and so was the flower girl. When the bride was about to walk down the aisle, holy kamote, the church doors wouldn't open, hahaha! I think they got all confused pushing and pulling the doors from both sides so it took a few moments. Of course, Joy was gorgeous as she walked with her mom to the altar. Iam just had to squeal with giddiness as we took a peek at PJ while Joy was walking, ahehehe. All througout the ceremony, there were whispered quips among our trio, so I wasn't really surprised that my bungisngis smile was immortalized yet again in the on-site AVP.

The priest seemed to be friends with the couple, or at least with PJ's family, based on how he kept putting in jokes in the homily. And the entire wedding was pretty simple and intimate. Just family and a few close friends were invited.

At this point, can I just say that this wouldn't be complete without a "Hogi moment," so here we go. I had forgotten to have my dress adjusted, so there I was, in a strapless dress that was theatening to slip, hahaha! If I was as gifted as Rosa, there would've been ample support, ahehehe. Anyway.

The traditional exit of the newlyweds required some tossing of small projectiles, so there was the usual rose petals, plus rice. They even added bubble blowers to make it more fun. Haha, Rosa wanted to both toss petals and blow bubbles, so I offered to hold her bottle of bubble solution as I was going to blow bubbles as well. Kris, on the other hand, who was one of the bubble blowers, was so excited that she almost threw her bottle of bubble solution at the couple, hahahaha!

Off the Bellevue for the reception. Shared a table with Rosa, Iam, Aris, Raffy, Seph, Mon and Den. Lamon galore. Hahaha, takaw tingin din ako. When Iam couldn't finish her food, I took it. Rosa's as well, but I still didn't get to finish everything. Ahahaha. I was still chowing down when they had already started all the AVPs. Santa banana, they even included that semi-formal high school photo of our barkada? Ahahaha.

Thank goodness PJ and Joy had "randomly" pre-selected the ones who will get the bouquet and garter. It saved the rest of us humiliation from dodging the bouquet toss, hahaha! The garter went to Paco, and the bouquet went to Clarissa (whom I vaguely knew from grade school productions).

After all the festivities, Iam was raring to go visit Zobel after the reception, while the guys just wanted to go home and just wait for an evening out. The ones who ended up going to Zobel were Iam, Rosa, Aris, Raffy and me. Because of the strict security our old alma mater had, I had managed to contact dear old Brother Ceci beforehand so we had an excuse to enter the campus aside from the mere fact that we were alumni.

There are some alumni who love coming back to their alma mater. Some hated going back. I thought I'd be one of the people who loved coming back. Now, I'm not sure. I can't really tell. Zobel's so different now. The entire campus, the faculty (save for some familiar faces), and the students. The kids are so different now. How different? Ahehehe, if you know me well, you know what I mean. But other than that, it was still great to see familiar faces from the faculty and admin, the people who knew us as little kids and were genuinely surprised to see us grown-up (wahahaha) and glad to see us visiting.

With Ms. Sabarre (3rd grade Filipino teacher), Mrs. de Vera (my first grade adviser) and Ms. Africa.
Photo courtesy of Brother Ceci.

Spent the entire visit with Brother Ceci, the school's resident storyteller. (Brother, I know you're reading this, hahaha. I really wanted to tell this part in the best way I can, pero I don't think this gives it justice.) It was amusing to see that all the kids knew him, all kept coming up to him, and he knew everyone, or at least an idea of who each of them are. He was everyone's friend. He loved talking to them, sharing stories, and in turn, he learned the story of each and every kid. Then there's another thing different from the old Zobel we grew up in. Back then, it was Brother Felix who knew everyone's name and birthday, because he called each and every one of us once a year on our birthday. Mostly small talk and whatever, and we leave his office with a stampita he gives to us as a birthday present. Rosa, Iam and I even spent every other recess and lunch periods in Brother Ceci's small office in the Campus ministry, just to talk, learn a little more from his huge book of sign language, doodle on his blackboard, and basically just hang out. These days, it's the Brothers themselves who went to the kids to talk, especially when there's something bothering them. And each of them have their own stories to tell, need a listening ear for whatever problem or obstacle they have because they don't have anyone else to share it with.

Brother Ceci told us anecdotes about certain kids he knew and watched growing up in Zobel, and even alumni he had talked to (no surprise that one of them was an actor I've sort of worked with). Hahaha, Iam and I quipped that hopefully next time we see him, we have our own story we can tell him that he can share with the kids who are dying to listen to him.

All in all, it was a good day well spent.

Subukan lang ito.

Opa, ikaw ang inisip ko kaya ganito ang entry ko, haha. Special request mo kasi eh.


Matigas talaga ulo ko. Mahirap pigilan, pero tulad nga ng sinabi ko dati, makulit talaga ako. Susubukan ulit natin. Pero syempre, malamang may kapalit yan. Tingnan ko muna.


Ang daming beses mong maririnig sa iba't ibang tao sa iba't ibang okasyon ang mga salitang "I miss you." Madalas sincere, pero minsan may mga times na sinasabi ito dahil wala nang ibang masabi. Di naman kayo close, so bakit mo naman sasabihin yun? Hahaha, kasi parang nawawalan na ng essence yung pagsabi eh. Pero nakakatuwa talaga makita pag sinasabi ng tao kapag sincere siya. Makikita mo sa mata at maririnig sa tono ng boses.


Matapos ang halos limang taon, ngayon ko lang napalipat ang thesis ko from VHS. Ano ba naman yan, napaka-old school. VHS. Ang obsolete na, hahaha. Ang nakakatawa pa, nung pinanood ko ulit siya last year, hindi ko napansin na recycled lang pala ang video cassette na yun. May pelikula pang pinatungan para lang ma-record ang thesis namin. Pero kamusta naman ang pagka-label ng cassette. Yung makapal na masking tape ang ginamit para dun sa main label, at may erasure pa. Hahaha. Napaka-tempting na ipa-request na palitan yung label, o maski ako na lang ang magpalit, wahahaha.

Pinanood ko ulit kahapon yung buong video. Nung huling beses kong pinanood, ang iniisip ko ang mga notes, ang mga pwede pang gawin sa show na yun. At syempre ang mga alaalala kasama ang mga kwela na taong yun. Mga simula ng mga pagkakaibigan, at ang pag-usbong ng karir sa mga iilan sa kanila. Pero hindi ito yung mga iniisip ko habang pinanood ko ulit siya. Ngayon ko lang na-enjoy ang pagpapanood doon. Tawa ako ng tawa sa mga nakalimutan na linya (at hello, sung-through na musical ito ha), mga nakalimutan na sayaw, at mga nuances na hindi mo mapapansin sa simula. Patapos na ang unang yugto (Act 1?) nung napansin ko na ang lakas na pala ng halakhak ko habang mag-isa sa kwarto ko.

Tamad pa akong i-edit at i-upload ang video para sa mga nag-aabang na makita ito. Pero sana this week o next week, maaayos ko na.


Nung Huwebes, nagkasalubong kami ni Nar sa lobby ng Little Theater matapos ng 3pm show ng Pamaypay, Kutsilyo at Yantok. Nanggaling siya sa Atlantis nung umaga at ako naman ay nagpapalipas ng oras habang pinapa-transfer ang thesis ko. Ang sabi pa niya sakin ay magkapareho daw kami ng aura ni Lawyn at magkamukha pa kami. Ahehehe, ang nasagot ko lang sa kanya ay dahil magkakilala na kami nung grade school pa (grade 7 ako at grade 5 si Lawyn). At nung unang pasok niya sa CSB, pinagtripan namin ang mga kakilala namin (pati isang prof) na magkapatid kami. Kamusta naman at naniwala sila dahil magkapareho daw kami ng mata. Hanggang ngayon pala ay papasa pa rin kaming magkapatid.


May kasalan nanaman sa Biyernes. Ikakasal na ang kabarkada naming si PJ kay Joy. Nakakatawa dahil hindi si PJ ang na-expect ko na isa sa mga mauunang ikakasal sa barkada. Natatawa din ako dahil si Seph talaga ang tinatawag na "perennial best man" ng barkada. Mukhang lagi siyang maghahanda ng best man speech sa kasal ng bawat lalaki sa barkada, kung balak talaga nilang magpakasal, ahehehe.

At dahil malapit na rin naman ang lugar, yun na rin ang pagkakataon na bumisita sa aming alma mater. Sa tagal naming nawala, ngayon pa lang kami babalik. Sabi nga ni Brother Ceci nung tinext ko siya nung isang linggo, "Welcome home!" Sana nga "welcome home" nga ang pakiramdam pag pumunta kami dun. Parang sobrang dami na ng pagbabagong pinagdaanan ng De La Salle Zobel matapos ang sampung taon naming nawala.

To 2 more N's.

Nicco and Nar got into Spring Awakening! Yahoooo! To my baby bro, I told you so, ahahaha. To my BFF, fan mo na ako dati, mas fan mo na ako ngayon! Can't wait to watch this one. Break a leg sa inyo! =)

Questions.

Maybe some of you guys would be curious enough to answer these, hahaha.

1) This question popped in my head last Wednesday afternoon. In today's society/world, what's the difference between an artist and a designer? Because there are some artists that cross the threshold and can be designers as well. Designers, on the other hand, are sometimes considered artists as well. *shrug*

2) From a lecture on directing I attended several years back, I remember the speaker saying, "You want the actors feel like they did/created it themselves." So to actors and directors alike, what's your take on this?

3) A friend is writing a musical for a children's workshop showcase, and had said, "I started with the songs because it's a musical. I'm working my way around the music, instead of the words." So I've been wondering about this as well. When writing a musical, which comes first, the spoken dialogue or the songs? Now that I think about it, in musical theater, the songs are also lines that are just put to music (I don't know if I'm making sense, hahaha). Aren't they? So shouldn't the spoken lines be written first?


There are so many stuff on my desktop that's waiting for me to be read. Aristotle's Poetics has been sitting there for weeks now, but so is an ebook of Twilight, hahaha. I'm putting off the latter for now, but I'll let it sit there as well. At least couple of projects still in the works are also in line, asking for my input. Oh well.


Nikki and I met up again yesterday just to catch up on each other's news. Because she went shopping already, plus it was raining, I chose not to go to the mall and decided on hanging out at Starbucks in Harbour Square. Still poised as ever, based on the stories she told about her training in PAL, I can actually imagine her running up and down the aisle, shouting emergency instructions at everyone, dodging everything she runs into, HAHAHA.

Darn, sitting there at Starbucks, so near, yet so far from Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah rehearsals. Ahehehe.

1st randomness of the year.

Hahaha, first blog entry of the consisting of random stuff? This is new.

Last January 1st was the second new year's day in a row I spent with Tad's family from his mother's side. I just have to thank the holidays because traveling all the way to Fairview from Las Pinas can be quite exhausting if it were a regular day, considering all that traffic.

In my family, when there's a get-together of some sort, my mom and my aunts would compete good-naturedly about whose son looks more handsome (haha, like what happened during my brother's wedding). The funny thing I've noticed in Tad's family was that they enjoy checking out the significant others that their sons bring to the reunion, hahaha. Thank goodness I've already been introduced last year. This year, everyone was dying to meet Kuya Mac's Olive, and JR's Jewel. My goodness, showcase ng girlfriends ba ito? Hahaha. It's like the moms and aunts were all waiting for each other to say whose girlfriend was the prettiest, or whatever. If that's not the topic, it's about when each son will get married first, ahahaha.

Isa lang ang masasabi ko. I love Tita Amy's improvised nacho dip, hahaha.

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I started watching old episodes of Perfect Strangers again. I just love Bronson Pinchot as Balki. I remember back when my brother and I were kids, when we loved doing the "dance of joy."

I'm still a huge Bronson Pinchot fan until now. I still can't forget his role in The First Wives Club, and his singing voice from Putting It Together keeps playing in my head.

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I passed by SM department store yesterday after shopping, checking out the makeup selections. One saleslady from this popular makeup brand noticed that I was checking out their long-lash mascara and said, "Ma'am, maganda po yan. Parang naka-fake eyelashes kayo."

Uh, hello? Why would I want anyone notice that I have fake eyelashes? Hahahaha.