I wish you look at me that way

Oh man, last night's videoke with Mark, Jen and Bom was full of awesome! We got to camwhore to our hearts' content, and this time we're complete! We also got to sing again (not that I'm any good at it, but still), and the songs we chose... all fun.

We ended up singing a lot of 98 Degrees songs and I didn't know until then how much I missed their songs! Yeah, I did have a boyband phase just like everybody else, but I was more into latter artists like 98 Degrees and 5ive than into Backstreet Boys and N'Sync. We sang The Invisible Man, Because of You, The Hardest Thing, I Do (I used to like this for a wedding song!), Was It Something I Didn't Say and Still.

I would probably look for their album later *coughtorrentscough*, but right now I'm browsing through youtube for the vids of their songs. I didn't expect to find a vid of Still (I luff this song!)since it wasn't released as a single, but somehow I couldn't find the other songs. This is what I found:



Don't you just love them? Classic boyband stuff, the arm stretching, the finger pointing, yes, the camwhoring! But I think Nick Lachey has a pretty great voice. Too bad the whole Jessica Simpson thing happened. He could have been a good solo artist.

Now I need to find videos of 5ive and LFO, too!

4P Reunion: We're On It Again!

My high school classmates (a few select people, actually) had our yearly high school reunion yesterday at Ketz's house. But don't be deceived. We went not out of genuine affection or desire to see one another. Oh no. We chose to be there so that one don't become the topic of conversation and butt of jokes. You wouldn't want to be in that position!

The videoke was forgotten. The DVDs were forgotten. We just ate and talked and talked and talked for an obscene number of hours. We discussed almost everything, from catching up with our present status (or non-status as the case may be!), to reminiscing about classmates and schoolmates and teachers most of us barely recall, to discussing AIDS, congresswomen with questionable fashion sense and basal temperature method. But mostly the discussions were about People-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named and fortunately for them, our conversations couldn't go on forever or they would have lost their tongues for the number of times they have bitten it yesterday!

So until the next reunion! For those who weren't there, you missed a lot!

Make Me Forget!

My high school classmates put up a Multiply group for us. I excitedly browsed through the pictures that they uploaded. And then I saw this:




I didn’t even recognize myself here initially! And, was I wearing a goddamn dress?! Oh shoot, I was wearing a goddamn dress! I couldn’t even remember when this picture was shot, nor the reason why I am not in my uniform!



I wonder what other high school memories I conveniently forgotten hahaha!

4Pilot Batch '97

Ten years ago, I said goodbye to my high school life.

I never cried during my elementary and college graduations. But I did cry when I graduated from high school. Heck, I was already crying two days before our graduation while my classmates were signing my high school uniform and Eraserheads’ “Minsan” was playing in the background. It was hard to say goodbye to these people with whom I spent some of the best years of my life.

But I realized, later on, I was not crying because I’m leaving my friends behind. I’m crying over the passing of an era.

But I was not sad for too long – because while I can’t go back to our past, there are my high school friends I could always go back to. Ten years since we graduated, they’ve been one of the constant things in my life. All of them have changed since our teenage years, but they’re still the same bunch of immature kids who like to talk loud and long, laugh at the silliest jokes, nitpick at grammar and spelling, who sing and dance with wild abandon, gossip about celebrities and non-celebrities. They’re still the same bunch of immature kids who, even though you haven’t talked to them for so long, will find ways just to reach you when you badly need a friend. And the good thing is that you don’t even have to call for help – for they seem to go back to you just at the right moment.

Looking back, I shouldn’t have been friends with these people. I never even wanted to study in UST. I never even wanted to be in the Pilot section. I guess I was glad I never got what I wanted. And to think that the first classmate I got to befriend was the person with whom I share the same birthday and whose mom share the same first name as my mom. Coincidence or not, I’m glad things turned out the way they did.

So, consider this as my personal toast to those four years of (almost) care-free high school days, and the last ten years wherein we’ve hurdled far tougher challenges than the activity board and one stupid bitch commanding us to "kiss the ground".

And here’s wishing for ten or so more years of being friends for life. =)



***

But the toast won’t be complete without this little trip down memory lane:

Three years of owning the fifth floor. Hundred or so student teachers. More I.W. than Encounter. Filching of Activity sheets from the activity board.

Pilot-Regular rivalry.

Dance practices. Cheering practices. Song and dance practices.

Sir Jucutan who have no idea we’re photocopying the drawings of his previous students.

Scouting. Camping. CAT. Classroom as changing room. The “mysterious” disappearance of valuables.

Top 20 at 12 with Triggerman. Eraserheads. Grin Department. Tropang Trumpo. Mr. Beans.

Syato. Over-the-bakod at the Engineering Complex. UST Basketball Team UAAP Champion for 4 years. Betting on “ending”.

Open forums.

Gala uniform. “Stick-on” patches. “Ribbon your piping”. “Multi-layered” IDs.

McJoan. Slush puppy. Love teams, reel and real. Sweet Valley. Varsitarian and Vuisitarian. World Youth Day. Field trip at Coca Cola Plant. DOS and floppy drives. Vocalization with Mr. Ibarra.

Chalks and ceiling fans.

Vandalisms. No permanent seating arrangement, teacher-initiated or not. The love-hate relationships. Batibot as meeting place. The Annual that never was.

The "notorious" tag.

"4P cheerers, 4P cheerers nasaan kayo?"

Joy!!!

Joysimbs,

It was only now that I truly realized – you’re leaving.

Well, it’s not as if you’ll be gone for good, or that we won’t get in touch. But knowing that you’re a thousand miles away instead of being just a phone call or text message away, it makes a lot of difference. I am going to miss our impromptu shopping, and the pleasure of knowing that I can always call on you to go with me on gigs, and the sudden coffee breaks or eating out. I am going to miss the person who appreciates my weirdness and obsessions, the friend who knows how to listen and to offer sensible advices, the one who has a lot of hidden talents, like twisting a cherry stick on her mouth.

I realized I have yet to drive you around, and that we have yet to go to Ilocos, that we haven’t watched Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo, that we haven’t gone back yet to our review school. But there is always next time, and I’m looking forward to you coming back.

I am going to miss you, bru. But I’m glad that you’re a thousand miles away and that you’re going to have a really incredible experience. I’ll pray for your safety there and that you find the “answers” you’re looking for. Know that I’m always here for you, no matter what. Ingat!

For Melissa

I guess I've always known that Melle was living on borrowed time. But knowing doesn't make the surprise and sadness any lesser when I heard the news that she passed away.

Melissa, or Melle as we fondly call her, was my high school classmate. We weren't particularly close, but our class had been together for 4 years (and managed to keep in touch even after all these years) that it felt like all of us are friends for life. She was one of our classmates who looked so "dalaga" when we were freshmen. She was our Vice President then and her loud voice was so suited in keeping the class in order (I can still hear her shouting "Classmates QUIETTT!!!). She usually took part in our class' favorite intermission number for school activities; i.e. dancing. She was one of our cheerleaders in 4th year. She is so prangka and mataray (she can raise her eyebrows to high heavens) but she's also sweet and very loyal to her friends. When we were in college, she gamely taught us how to conjugate French verbs. In our last reunion, she enthusiastically danced PBB's signature "Pinoy Ako" dance and told us jokingly that she would audition for the next PBB.

I suppose I am not the right person to speak up about Melissa, other than the Melissa I've known as a classmate. I wasn't there for the most part of her adult life. Certainly, I wasn't even there to see how she was when she was discharged from the hospital after her long confinement - and I chose so for purely selfish reasons. I couldn't bear to see this person - someone who's strong-willed and full of life - look diminished, for that is what her sickness has done to her. But only physically, for her resolve - and her family's and loved ones' patience and devotion - never wavered. Truly, something to be admired.

Now, more than ever, I realized how short life is. It's not entirely a depressing realization, but maybe a stark reminder that life is a precious gift, a gift we shouldn't squander. It seems that for Melissa to die at such a young age was a cruel fate. I know, it seemed that way to me. But knowing how she had triumphed over her many trials and struggles, knowing the depth of love showered to her by her family, her daughter, her boyfriend and her friends until the very last days of her life - yes, she might have lived a short life, but such an inspiring, love-filled life!

This isn't just a time to grieve for the lost of a beloved friend, but also a time to celebrate her life and the different ways she had touched ours. I'm sure Melle would have wanted it that way.


PS
a few hours before I received the news, ketz even called me and mock-demand why I haven't updated my blog. I guess this isn't the update she's looking for, or the kind of entry I relish writing...