Monday, February 27, 2012

perennially lonely


The entire weekend could have ended with a ho-hum sigh of discontent if not for an invitation to an art fair somewhere in Makati. After I handed my broken, beloved camera to its service center (which begs for a different post) late Saturday afternoon, I met up with Sara, ogle at quirky things in the said gathering of buyers and sellers, until both of us thought we have better things to do. Like have a couple of drinks and talk about better things to do.

In the course of the night, Yas from Alabang joined us at a pub near SaGuijo, a café-cum-bar wedged in the maze of San Antonio Village. Eva was supposed to be with us but she had
spiels to do, Sam was practicing how to drive (and joy-riding the entire night), and Philip was happily in love and could not even respond to our calls. Also, someone long thought to be a ghost of the past apparated from somewhere nearby. The latter was a proof of the dangers of proximity. It all happened, unplanned, but it was nonetheless charming. I guess spontaneity is that one rare gem of occasions.

To commemorate the 555th post of this schizophrenic blog, here are some of the things that make up our banter:

  • How a broken compass works as embodied by a person who does not want to read maps.
  • How camera repair service costs as much as a new camera.
  • How a camera is needed in every occasion.
  • How a camera captures what you miss in the blur of an occasion.
  • How people could have beautiful cars at such a young age.
  • How people do not want to have beautiful cars in a lifetime.
  • How that long weekend in June could be the perfect opportunity for trying out that new car.
  • How people need a beautiful beach in every vacation.
  • How rhum becomes the training ground for beginners in a little city somewhere in the Visayas.
  • How most of us face a computer for hours at work.
  • How sub-zero beer works like magic.
  • How three bottles of beer could get you an extra-large shirt.
  • How a family name could scatter all over the country.
  • How a name could sound truly Filipino based on semantics, syntax, and pak! factor.
  • How a name could be pretentious.
  • How a name, a face of the person behind that name that is plastered on a book , which is edited by the person with that name could be the ultimate form of pretentiousness.
  • How that could be a result of miscommunication and graduation gift surprises.
  • How artifice and pretention could easily make an event.
  • How artifice and pretention differ from art and preservation.
  • How some people need to attend the annual Cosmopolitan Bachelor Bash.
  • How some people need to attend the annual FHM’s 100 Sexiest Women.
  • How saddening it could be when a friend who organizes or sponsors these two events forgets to give you your VIP pass.
  • How cigarette differs from electronic cigarette.
  • How an electronic cigarette could only provide a thin feel of smoke.
  • How nicotine makes you addicted to cigarette.
  • How nicotine gum fails at replacing the cigarette.
  • How a climb to Mount Pulag, Luzon’s highest peak, makes you regret of smoking cigarettes.
  • How a climb could be risky.
  • How people take risks.
  • How people should take risks more often.
  • How people keep themselves away from risks.
  • How people see themselves as risks.
  • How any small house, dilapidated or not, could be a venue for emerging, indie bands.
  • How doing so could further establish one’s indie cred.
  • How reconnecting with an old acquaintance sparks new connections.
  • How reconnecting with an old-recent(?) acquaintance sparks something more than connection.
  • How connections should have never been established in the first place.
  • How social media hide in a veil of goals to connect people.
  • How social media perpetuate a culture of delays, especially in writing.
  • How social media sate our human desire to be liked, mentioned, relevant, on the loop.
  • How social media could be a seed for art.
  • How art should always be separated from religion even if it touches on one.
  • How limiting and selfish one’s take on art could be.
  • How artists should be torchbearers of production and not polarization.
  • How polarization could be a fuel for production.
  • How many workshops need funding, as usual.
  • How plagiarism could be a result of subconscious idolization of the text being read.
  • How idolization blurs the line between praise and indolence.
  • How much themes could business owners think to refresh their line of motels.
  • How motels could offer perks with a frequenter’s card. For example, an umbrella.
  • How dental braces perfect and ruin a smile.
  • How longganisa tastes like when dipped in soup.
  • How a face registers to other people, as exemplified by this concern: “I hope he finds someone. Gusto ko siya makitang happy. Parang perennially lonely itong batang to.

And that, people, is how good friends who have never seen each other in a long time talk and backstab at each other from five o’clock in the afternoon to five o’clock in the morning. Yes, we are varsity players in this game of talking too much without really saying that much. Or so it seems.

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