Twenty o Four

Usually, at this time of the year, I'll usually have some super pensive moment, and just reflect on the year that's passed, and just write about it. I have to say though, that I haven't had any time to just sit by myself to think and write. I think I have a lot to say about this year. Should I just write about it now, off the top of my head?

Well, this year was a pretty hard one, not just for myself but for my family, I think it's safe to say. It was difficult, but at the same time, I think that it was a pretty good year for us as well. Speaking for myself, it was a huge learning year for me. There were a few moments of disappointment but also so many good times.

I've had a lot of time to think about everything, my past, my present and my very important future. I think that I've changed a lot this year. Call me vain, but I think that they were all positive changes and all for the better. At least, I hope so. I found out a lot about myself and who I was, again, ever changing.

At the end of tomorrow, this year will be over, and 2005 makes it's entrance. But this year, 2004 will be one of the most memorable years of my life. It could even possibly be the best year that I've ever experienced.

February 21 2004, I went to my very first concert ever, and it rocked. I had my first taste of what being a part of a live audience was, I felt the excitement of seeing someone that before then I had only heard through the speakers of my stereo, or seen through the TV screen. Thank you Jason Mraz for making my first concert experience one that will always be imbedded in my mind.

March 12 2004, three days before my birthday, I went and saw one of the best bands in the world, at least, to me. I was really far from the stage, and I didn't have my glasses yet, so they were a blur of a dot, but I could hear them perfectly and despite the distance, I loved every second of it. How I wish I could've met them that night. Incubus rocks my world.

May 4th, 2004. The birth of my nephew Dylan Matthew Miguel Arvisu. The joy of my family, the love of my sister's life, the happiest baby you will ever meet. He's growing up so fast, and he never ceases to amaze me and he always makes me smile no matter how down I might be. Loving him comes so easily, and I love him so much. I could go on and on about him.

June 12 2004 (I think), free concert! But it was someone I liked, and I was glad to see him perform, and to hear his songs. He really is talented. I got his autograph after the show. Ben Jelen. I doubt you've heard of him, but he's pretty good, go check him out.

June 15 2004. Now this is truly a night that I will forever remember, and think about and talk about for as long as I love them and even after that. Linkin Park, live in Manila. Need I say more? I met them that night, all six of them, shook their hands, said hello, got their autographs, was a complete and totally dorky fanatic, saw them perform live, was part of the wildest mosh pit ever, unbelievable. Even now, I can't believe that they were actually just inches in front of me a table between us, that I actually did meet them however brief it was. Truly an amazing night.

August 17 2004. I saw Hoobastank live in Manila. Concert number five. That was cool, I think I have an entry about it. I just feel really lucky to have been able to see them perform, cuz I am a fan. Maybe not a hardcore one, but I like their music and that's all there is to it.

October something 2004. I went to see her with my sister, and we had the worst seats in the house, but it was a lot of fun because I was with Thea. We heard her fine though, it was great. Alicia Keys.

After seeing all those people perform live, I just look back and just know how lucky I really am. I loved all of them so much more after experiencing the live show. I have so much respect for them for being able to do what they do. For a certain two, I thought I loved them as much as I could, and after their concerts, I realised that I could love them even more. It's insane.

So those were probably the key events of this year. And again, I cannot stress enough how lucky I know I am despite hardships and trouble. I have an amazing family that I absolutely love, and that's all I need to get through anything. So as long as we're together and the love for each other is there, then I think we're okay.

I really look forward to next year. I'm looking forward to it being even better than this year. I'm prepared for more change, positive changes to be exact. There's a lot of anticipation, I think, but I'll just take it day by day, and not get too ahead of myself. Take it as it comes, and hope for the best. Let's see what happens.

Read Me

I was experimenting with my blog just now, and I added a chat box over on the side bar. I got it to work, but then decided that I didn't want it there. It just looked off, maybe I did something wrong, but either way, I changed my mind and decided not to put it there.

This morning, I went to Makati to meet up with a friend. It was the earliest that I had ever been out in a really long time. I was out of the house at 9:30 in the morning so that I could meet up with her thirty minutes later, and I was really okay with it. I didn't mind waking up early to go out at all. I think, if anything, I needed it.

I took the train to get there and to get home, all by myself (yay =P). I met up with Sian who I met through the LPU. I first met her in person back in June while we were waiting to meet Linkin Park, and then we met up again at the Hoobastank concert in August. This morning, we did some Collision Course promoting in the mall. The first person we saw was actually a friend of mine who was in fact a Linkin Park fan, and he said that the album rocked. We gave him two stickers.

It was fun, going up to random people asking if they liked LP, telling them about the mash up, giving them stickers. Sian actually went up to one guy, but he said that he liked Usher. No sticker for him. So it was cool, I hadn't done that before and it was fun.

Most of my friends are into hip hop and generally, our musical taste clashes, so when I'm with my friends, I don't talk about LP too much because they aren't interested in that topic, so it's nice to have a different set of people and friends that I can actually have Linkin Park conversations with if I wanted.

So there. Now I'm just hanging out, pretty much. There's not a lot going on online right now though.

Several Topics

I'm back home in Manila, we got back this afternoon. I was listening to the radio from my cell phone on the bus. I have pre-sets, so I just keep clicking until I find something decent to listen to. So on our way home, I'm clicking through the stations, and I stop at one cuz they're playing Numb/Encore by Linkin Park and Jay-Z. And after that song the DJ says that he wants to say hi to Ella and someone else (I couldn't make it out), and I immediately thought of Ella from the LPU, and it turns out that it was her, and our friend Sian. They were promoting Collision Course. That was pretty cool.

I was just at the department store looking for a Christmas present for Dylan, the last person on my list. And the amount of people there was just crazy. Even just getting there, going through the mall was such a hassle because of the crowds. I walk pretty fast as my normal pace, so I usually get caught up behind people taking their sweet time, and I usually end up getting pissed because of how incredibly slow they're walking. But with the reagular crowd being doubled this time of the year, I knew that I couldn't get mad, because it wouldn't do me any good. So I walked considerably slower than usual and just told myself to be patient and to just chill out, and thankfully, it payed off.

So, I got through that. After, my mom was hungry and she wanted to go to McDonlad's for a burger. It was the first time I've eaten an actual "meal" there since I saw "Super Size Me". And I don't know why, whether I just wasn't really that hungry, or if the documentary was affecting my brain, or whatever, but the food just didn't taste as good as it used to. Weird.

Well, that's it for now. Be back with something else some other time.

Can't Think of a Title

I'm here in Laguna, visiting yet again. I'm at a mall right now, at an internet cafe. On our way here, (to Laguna, not to the mall) we take a bus. But unfortunately, the bus we usually take, we missed by seconds, literally, so we had to go over to the other bus terminal. In order to do that, we had to cross a really wide road, at least ten lanes of oncoming traffic without getting killed, and lucky for us, we did that pretty successfully. It wasn't jay walking, there was just a lack of pedestrian crossing lanes, or whatever it's called. Really, there were cops, and they didn't arrest us or anything. Ten lanes of maniacal drivers...

Other than that, I'm sorry to say, I have nothing else to talk about, I just thought I should update, or something. Unless you wouldn't mind me talking about Christmas, and how it doesn't feel like it at all. Well, you don't really have a choice, do you? As to seeing that it's my blog. So here I go, babble on!

Well, Christmas is about a week away, and the "spirit" is nowhere to be found. Honestly though, I'm okay with it. In the past, Christmas was always about the presents, and I can honestly say that I wouldn't mind if I didn't get anything this year. Really, all I want is for the family to be together, and I'm also looking forward to the food, because Holiday food never fails to impress.

Wow, I lost my train of thought. I'ma dork!

Addicted

Hello, my name is Aica, and I am an addict. Blame it all on my sister, she introduced it to me and got me hooked. Although she did warn me that it would be addictive, I went ahead with it anyway. I know what you're most probably thinking, and I can tell you right now, that it's not what you think. I have become addicted... to the art of jewellery making.

Thea's been making them for a while, it's been months now. She'd usually make them at Mars's house and so I'd never see her actually make them, all I saw were the finished products. She now stays with us during the week, so she decided to bring all the stuff with her and make them at home where she actually has the time to make them.

So, a few days ago, I go into the room and she's at it, making jewellery, and I'm there simply to observe. That is until she asks me if I'd like to make something. So I agree since it looks interesting, and besides, I had nothing to do anyway. I'm a really fast learner, so she only had to teach me once, and I was off.

In a few minutes, I had made my first pair of earrings. After an hour, I had made about a lot. My room is now littered with earrings, litterally hanging from any place possible. Yes, I was hooked, and I just kept making them and making them until I had run out of ideas or more likely, run out of energy.

I have so many now, it's crazy. I now have a pair to match every single outfit I have or ever will have from now until the rest of my life. Or, more believeably, until they go out of style. But honestly, even when that day comes, I'll probably still be wearing them.

There's a really good sense of accomplishment from being able to make something myself, even more so something I can actually use, everyday if I wanted, so I feel good. Now, it just seems dumb to go out and buy jewellery at what I now realise are pretty expensive prices. I like being able to do something productive with my time, and something fun at that, and inexpensive (one of the best parts). Something that keeps the boredom from seeping in is more than welcome.

Last night, there I was, making even more earrings, and then all of a sudden, I realised that we were out of hooks. What a crisis! Well, I took it as a sign that I had probably made enough earrings (at least, for now), and that I should now make more necklaces and bracelets to match the number of earrings. Which I am actually doing.

It's unbelievable the amount that I've made in just three days. Some of the ones I've made, I'm pretty attached to and am so proud of, and then there are also some that I'm not embarassed to admit, are just plain ugly. My problem now is that I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to keep them all...

HTML huh?

With the help of the internet and of my sister, I have been able to change something on this page. No, it's definitely nothing big, but it's something, and it's a start. If you would just look over to the right hand side bar, you might notice that I've succesfully added some links. WoOhOo!!! Yea, for some people, it's no big whoop, but for me, I'm ecstatic.

For one thing, I've never really been any good with computers, so every little thing counts. The computer has it's own language, and for someone like myself, it's not easy to understand. HTML is one thing, something that I'm trying to tackle. It's actually simple, but at the same time it can be very complicated. The formula or codes or whatever are kinda easy, but it's the application part that I'm confused with. I have what to put in, but I don't know where, and what else.

So there, I'm slowly learning, hopefully, it'll progress, and I'll understand it and get the hang of it some time. But for now, I need to learn more... Don't expect anything big, I'm going through this little by little.

BLaH BLaH

I said that I'd improve my blog appearance, but as you can most probably see, nothing has changed or improved. That's my bad... I'm just too lazy. Oh no! And really, without a book to help me out, I doubt I'll get far. I guess I'm just spoiled like that. To need a book in order for me to start.

Anyways, myspace sucks right now. It has so many bugs that it needs to work out, it's just completely annoying. I was gonna work on my profile page today, but nothing would load, there were always errors, and honestly, I just couldn't bother. So it's the same profile page until it fixes itself up. Do you want to see it?

http://profiles.myspace.com/users/8120863 there it is! It's so funny though, on my blog there, I complain about this site, and over here, I complain about that site. Complain complain complain... There wouldn't be anything to complain about if they'd just fix it. Ha!

Anyhows... The twenty fifth day is fast approaching, only two weeks away. This month is flying by. I'm excited to see my brother's reaction to what I got him. It's a pretty big present, so I had a bit of a time wrapping it up. I didn't have two of the same wrappers, so I had to use two different ones, and it looks so funny. But he's just gonna rip it off anyways, so it doesn't really matter. I'm thinking of being really mean and not putting it under the tree until the last possible moment.

I also want to see my dad's reaction to the present my sister and I got him. If you're reading this daddy, just know that you need it. haha. Well, there are two presents, but I'm talking about the one that smells nice. =)

I should go now, I'm just being weird.

I'm Freezing Cold!

I'm at an internet cafe right now, and it's freezing cold. I think it's because I'm sitting right beneath the vent. So, sucks for me. I knew I should've brought a jacket or a sweater or something like that.

We set up the Christmas tree yesterday afternoon. It's officially the earliest we have ever set it up. The reason being, that my mom doesn't have much time during the week with Dylan around, so yesterday was really the only time she could do it because the coming weekends are pretty booked too.

It looks pretty, except we haven't decorated it yet, because I'm waiting for my sister to get home (which is tonight), because I know she wants to decorate it. I think she enjoys it more than I do, which is pretty funny considering that she's older than me... haha =)

Also, we wanted to set it up early this year mainly for Dylan. It's his first Christmas, and I know that he'll get a major kick out of the lights. So we're all looking forward to his reaction.

So yea, just waiting for them to come home. It's incredible how much I miss them already, and it's only been about three days.

Holy Hell

This thing has gone haywire, and has just completely messed itself up. I didn't even do anything. My recent posts won't display, and my archive has disappeared, and being me, I have absolutely no idea how to fix it. Sucks... Damn it... now what?

Okay, all of a sudden it's fixed but my last entry is gone... Dude... stop confusing me! I'm so not in the mood right now...

I'm About to Be Legal

I'm turning eighteen in a few months. For the past few years, I've been pretty laid back and just kept the birthday celebrations on the down low. Mostly because I didn't really want to celebrate much. But next year, I want to really do something. At least... something more than what I've done during the past couple of birthdays.

I don't have any ideas as of now, I've actually never had any "birthday ideas". Would it be dumb of me to procrastinate the planning, or should I bust my brain thinking of what to do?

I don't want something big though, just simple. I guess if my friends are there, and we've got lots and lots of good food and good music, I'm good to go. The thing with me though, is that I would much rather stay at home than go out to a club and party. Yea, I'm a homebody, whereas my friends choose to live the party life.

But I guess I will think of something. I've got time.