The Novice Backpacker

Hope to see you guys there!

2009-10-15T06:32:36Z

Avast, me hearties, yo ho!

2009-08-15T19:32:15Z

Be seeing you all soon! We open on September 20th, and we're running all the way through November! Tickets are available through Ticketworld at select National Bookstore branches, select Robinsons Department Stores, Ayala Malls - Greenbelt 1 or Glorietta 1, the TicketWorld Office, or the Ticketworld website! You may also contact Ticketworld by calling (63) 2 891 9999.

Based on the classic tale by Robert Louis Stevenson. Directed by Michael Williams. All shows begin at 3PM at the Insular Life Theater, Filinvest Corporate City, Alabang. Visit the Theater Down South website or

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<a href="http://www.theaterdownsouth.com"><img class="alignmiddleb" src="http://3.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_koflu7reEK1qzgl46o1_500.jpg" border="0"></a> Be seeing you all soon! We open on September 20th, and we're running all the way through November! Tickets are available through Ticketworld at select National Bookstore branches, select Robinsons Department Stores, Ayala Malls - Greenbelt 1 or Glorietta 1, the TicketWorld Office, or the <a href="http://www.ticketworld.com.ph/events/default.asp?event_name=Treasure%20Island">Ticketworld website</a>! You may also contact Ticketworld by calling (63) 2 891 9999. Based on the classic tale by Robert Louis Stevenson. Directed by Michael Williams. All shows begin at 3PM at the Insular Life Theater, Filinvest Corporate City, Alabang. Visit the <a href="http://www.theaterdownsouth.com">Theater Down South website</a> or <a href="mailto:" info@theaterdownsouth.com="">e-mail us</a> for information, show booking, and other inquiries. You may also give us a call at (63) 927 8336243. Treasure Island is presented through a special arrangement with <a href="http://www.mtishows.com/">Music Theater International</a> (MTI). 421 West 54 Street, New York N.Y. 10019.

Begin - Brendan Kennelly

2009-07-30T17:31:42Z

Begin again to the summoning birds

to the sight of light at the window,

begin to the roar of morning traffic

all along Pembroke Road.

Every beginning is a promise

born in light and dying in dark

determination and exaltation of springtime

flowering the way to work.

Begin to the pageant of queuing girls

the arrogant loneliness of swans in the canal

bridges linking the past and the future

old friends passing through with us still.

Begin to the loneliness that cannot end

since it perhaps is what makes us begin,

begin to wonder at unknown faces

at crying birds in the sudden rain

at branches stark in the willing sunlight

at seagulls foraging for bread

at couples sharing a sunny secret

alone together while making good.

Though we live in a world that dreams of ending

that always seems about to give in

something that will not acknowledge conclusion

insists that we forever begin.

Life's too short

2009-06-19T18:57:04Z

Damn right.

SOURCE

Really?

2009-06-10T19:03:17Z

This can't be real.

Hm.

2009-05-23T09:00:50Z

Wait...so where are they looking?

HAHAHAH

2009-05-19T05:28:56Z

Also: The Helen Keller Simulator.

Theater 101

2009-05-15T09:11:26Z

There is no drama without contrast.

16 things

2009-05-07T01:39:22Z

16 Things That It Took Me Over 50 Years to Learn

by Dave Barry, Nationally Syndicated Columnist

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

2 If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be 18meetings. 19

3. There is a very fine line between 18hobby 19 and 18mental illness. 19

4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

5. You should not confuse your career with your life.

6. Nobody cares if you can 19t dance well. Just get up and dance.

7. Never lick a steak knife.

8. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.
--AMEN!

9. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.

10. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she 19s pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

11. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age eleven.

12. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.

13. A person, who is nice to you, but rude to a waiter, is not a nice person (this is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.).

14. Your friends love you anyway.

15. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

16.Thought for the day: Men are like fine wine. They start out as grapes, and it 19s up to the women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

(via victoryblues)

TV FTW

2009-05-06T22:57:13Z

I had a scare earlier this year because I heard that FOX's new show, Fringe, just might get the axe when the season ends. But after watching the 19th episode tonight, I decided to check on the status of that news and learned that they picked the show up for a second season! It's awesome news, especially since that last show I sort of got hooked on early last year, New Amsterdam, was cancelled after one season. They'll be airing Fringe's season finale next week.

CBS recently came up with an extended miniseries that will run through July. It's called Harper's Island, a show that feels like an uber long slasher film. It's set in an island in the Northwestern United States, where just several years prior a gruesome murder took place. At least one person gets killed off each week. Until now, a few episodes in, I'm wondering when they're gonna start noticing that people are going missing. I hope it has some sick plot twist somewhere.

Finally, I cannot wait for the second season of True Blood. Several teasers have been released already, and it's all looking pretty good. Just a couple more weeks!

P.S. I never thought I'd be sucked in by Heroes ever again, but I was proven wrong. Why must the season end now??
P.P.S. On an unrelated note, I haven't been in the theatres lately. I miss it tremendously! Is there anything good out?

HELL YES!

2009-05-01T20:36:48Z

29

2009-02-18T20:11:40Z

When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes,

I all alone beweep my outcast state,

And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,

And look upon myself and curse my fate,

Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,

Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,

Desiring this man’s art and that man’s scope,

With what I most enjoy contented least;

Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,

Haply I think on thee, and then my state,

Like to the lark at break of day arising

From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven’s gate;

For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings

That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

(Shakespeare)

I honestly love this sonnet.

At last!

2009-02-16T23:14:39Z

In the wee hours of the morning, I was able to come up with a Tumblr theme from scratch. There's no JavaScript involved. Yet. That's proving to be too ambitious at this stage.

For now, though, I'm happy.

And now to sleep. I've been working on this since last night and I just realised I spent at least 8 hours on this theme.

Good night.

P.S. Visit my tumblr.

We Made This

2009-02-14T23:36:04Z

We Made This

It's 4.44am and I am awake

2009-01-30T20:53:01Z

I've been reading about people waiting for their lives to 'start happening,' and it got me thinking.

What would happen to them if they woke up one day and they're 40 and they realized their lives had begun 20 years ago, that they threw it all away, and the only reason they kept waiting was that they expected their lives to be different?

What if the opportunities had been staring them in the face, but they were looking too far out? What if they kept complaining about their problems and failed to realize they had been the tipping point of their lives and that all they needed to do was to suck it all in?

And while there were questions, I came up with one resolution. More of a hope, really:

I hope to appreciate my life more. I want to.

I wish I had a friend like Saul

2009-01-29T12:55:33Z

Saul: Wait. What do you mean it’s dead?
Dale: What do I mean? I mean the battery’s dead. The battery’s dead!
Saul: No, no… what do you mean?
Dale: How can I explain this to you differently? The battery is dead. It ceased to live. It’s deceased now. The car needs a battery to start, Saul.
Saul: How did this happen?
Dale: Well we clearly fell asleep with the battery on and-…
Saul: Aw, man… Talk radio?
Dale: Yes, talk radio.
Saul: So boring, man! The car just committed suicide.

We'll hope it's not for nothing at all.

2009-01-23T17:30:49Z

Sometimes, I think I'm too old to still be where I am. Sometimes, I think that I have to ditch taking baby steps and hurry up and take bigger strides and make bigger decisions if I want to go places. Sometimes, I think that while all the people around me are starting to make something on their own, I'm still here, merely taking in the scenery. And it's not all because I'm stressing about growing old or dying. It's just that I don't want to wake up old one day and realise that time just passed me by, and that I am basically just a square or two from where I began, if not in the same place.

Most of the time I think to myself that I want to be able to do the things that I want to do—become one of the best at what I do, fix my house (if not build a new one), give back to my family, travel, learn, meet a lot of new people, make a handful or two more good friends, live in a foreign country—and still be considerably young at the end of it.

Sometimes I wish I was born someplace else, where I would surely have more (and better) opportunities, where life would be better. But then I tell myself—and even imagine other people tell me—that it's pretty naive to wish for such things, that we have to make the most of what we have, that we just have to find the right set of opportunities, that life elsewhere is not necessarily better...just decidedly different. The thing that sucks, though, is I still end up wishing, because the other half of me knows that that other half (and that the imaginary 'other people') can't possibly know all that for sure. As much as we try to plan and make sense of life, in my opinion, the details are still incredibly volatile and unpredictable, and no one will ever know for certain.

Sometimes, I think to myself that taking these so-called baby steps really suck and that I want to start running and cutting corners. Sometimes, I get so tired of all the waiting, of all the believing that something bigger and better is going to come and that I am just being prepared for it.

But for now, it's all I know.

Because Helvetica is popular (and common)

2009-01-20T07:41:52Z

...and apparently the title is, too.

Here's an ad I made for Avantism's first anniversary last year:

And here's an ad for HBO's special on the Inauguration:

Awesome sauce.

First breath after coma

2009-01-16T19:51:46Z

I've been doing some thinking lately. And putting all other considerations such as ethics and all such guidelines aside, I just came up with some rhetorical questions.

People dictate areas in our own personal lives, right down to the way we feel about the way we look, dress, write, and even manage our own space, practical or virtual. And it goes both ways. We tend to do it to other people, too.

And I'm just wondering why. Is it absolutely necessary for us to expect other people to live their lives according to our rules, and for them to expect us to live according to their standards?

Why do we get labelled as push-overs when we give, and stubborn when we don't?

Why must there be a label in the first place?

Why must our jobs be deemed unimportant by people with 'more important' jobs? Don't we all contribute to society?

Why must we feel at least a little threatened when we're asked what major are we gonna take, or what major are we taking, or if we finished our major at all? Don't things work out differently for each of us, and aren't we entitled to the choices we make according to our own individual design?

...Let's move to smaller things.

Why must we hear from those who came before us that the music from their generation was better than ours, and that we should listen to that instead? Can't we all just enjoy our own brand of music?

Why must other people tell us which movies to see and which ones not to? Can't we accept the fact that it's possible for other people to enjoy what we don't?

...Or to medium-sized things.

Why do we strictly adhere to etiquette when we tend to throw common decency out the window? Isn't it what's inside that matters at the end of the day and not what we just show others?

Why is there such a thing as peer pressure? Don't we have our own lives and our own expectations of ourselves to deal with?

Why can't we accept other people for being 'different' when we live in a diverse society?

Why do we expect other people to respond to situations the way we do when we don't respond to them the way they do? (yes, I just blew my mind)

Can't we really accept the fact that we are all unique?

We're all uniquely beautiful.
We're all uniquely talented.
We're all uniquely tall (or short).
We're all uniquely scarred.
We're all uniquely responsive.
We're all uniquely successful.

When we accept the fact that we all don't have to live or be the same as everyone else, and just start to live our own lives, won't it make living so much easier for all of us? Won't we then be free from having to claw our way through everything and put so much effort into being appreciated by everybody else?

Why must we give other people rules, anyway? Aren't we all just as lost as the next person?

Just asking.

Coraline

2009-01-15T17:11:36Z

This made me lol

2009-01-15T08:45:01Z

Pineapple Express Alternate Ending
Silly as hell.

We'll write a song that turns out the lights

2009-01-13T07:02:26Z

I only had 4 hours of sleep because I woke up with the right side of my face throbbing with pain. 2 Tylenols later, I was back in bed, but I couldn't get back to sleep. Which was good, because I was having apocalyptic probably-undead-related dreams before I woke up in the first place. As much as I love zombies, I hate dreaming about being in Dawn of the Dead-esque situations, because it simply isn't as fun as watching other people be in them.

So here I am, with a wide-awake mind and a very tired body, hungry, cranky, and in pain. I can't stand music very long, and I am speaking with a lisp. This will probably last at least a week... or so.

On the other hand, I haven't been unproductive. This period of momentary unemployment has enabled me to do a few things:

1. I was able to put together and finish my partial portfolio, which I can now distribute through e-mail in PDF format. I recently got wind of an awesome deal with a Canadian company that would enable me to work from home, which is really the perfect thing for me at the moment. I e-mailed my portfolio (yesssss, I feel so high tech), and I really hope I get the job. It's seriously hard work, but it would be good enough to take care of a few things. See it here. It's a hefty 8MB, but I daresay it's worth the wait.

2. I designed a theme for an 8000-strong predominantly-Filipino (and predominantly-female) Twilight group here on Multiply. I put it up this morning at around 4 or 5 before going to bed, and it's been getting great feedback. See it live here.

3. I put up a new theme for Theater Down South's online community, Downstage. Special thanks to Jammi Nedjadi, who took the photo I used in the banner.

4. I finished my sister's new blog theme after being harassed by her for so long. That's Gabe Saporta of Cobra Starship. I based the theme on him and his outrageous choice of colour. Haha. Follow me.

5. I started participating in the 365 project, where you take a photo everyday and post it on Flickr. It's fun, you should try it. And no, I don't think you have to be particularly smashing with it. Just take a pic, that's all. No embellishments necessary. At least that's how I play it.

Current status: Waiting for water delivery services to get here so I can go back to bed. I am seriously unfit for any physical activity or social interaction. I'm also not looking forward to lunch or any other meal, because I'm sure it's gonna hurt.
Line in my head: "Don't sell your heart, don't say we're not meant to be." -Check Yes Juliet, We the Kings (great band, check them out)
Shout out: Damn youuuu, gluttonyisabliss!

Google her.

2009-01-08T09:04:34Z

I got this in my email last night:

Good Day Honey,

My name is Joydesmond,24 years old girl I am very intrested to your profile i saw your profile the in (www.multiply.com) so i will like to know you, I will like you to send me an email to my private address (djoydesmond@yahoo.com) so that i can give you my pictures for you to know whom i am.I believe after then we will know each other very well, Remember colour or distance means nothing rather true LOVE,HONEST,CARING and UNDERSTANDING matters allot in every human life.I will be waiting to read from you soon,Take good care of your self and all that belong to you over there bye.Here is my email adress again (djoydesmond@yahoo.com)
Your in lovely Joydesmond.

I had half a mind to reply to her, but before I did, I decided to screen her name through Google (it sometimes works), and according to a couple sites, it's all a scam.

Nice to meet you, Joy Desmond.

See the sites here, here, and here.

Discovery No. 16

2008-12-31T18:17:29Z

Or is it 17? I forget.

Anyway, here's my gift to you for the New Year. It's 2009 people, let's start it with something creative. Don't freak out, okay?

And no, you're not getting rickroll'd.

I promise.

No such thing

2008-12-24T05:25:09Z