My last Facebook status had read: "... is amused at the fact that nomatter how long you've known the people you love, you still learnsomething new about them. It makes your friendships and relationshipsmore interesting and exciting day by day."

So true. Even though you think you know a person inside and out, nomatter how close you already are, you still discover something newabout them, like a new quirk, a new hobby or talent, or just somethingthat they've been keeping for quite a long time. Or it just tells usthat we still grow and learn something about ourselves and others everyday. That's what also makes me love my friends and loved ones even more.


Randomness. I inherited a laptop from my brother 3 years ago, then itcrashed and when I was about to have it fixed, we couldn't find theadapter because my mom had misplaced it along with a whole bunch ofwires and cables. Never got around to buying a new adapter because Ihad resorted to using the PC again. Even though every file and rawphoto in the laptop was very precious, I learned how to detach myselfand have a clean slate again. The laptop stayed in my room, untouched,like a huge paperweight or bookend.

But surprise, while my mom was looking for a spare antenna for one ofour old radios, she finally found the bag that had the laptop's adapterinside, along with an extra mouse, a USB cable and two 3 1/2 floppydisks, hahaha. After 3 long years, my laptop was alive again. Ofcourse, I had to check and reformat the darn thing and re-install somestuff this entire evening, but yay, at least I have a working laptopagain. And to think that before I had to look for the adapter 3 yearsago, I was about to pay someone to do all that stuff for me, when Icould actually do it myself.

I caught an episode of My Boys on ETC this afternoon. The subplot was about this "decathlon" of boardgames that Brendan, Kenny, Mike and Andy play at Crowley's. They wereplaying these classic board games and other crazy games, such asSorry!, Candy Land, and I think they were also playing Taboo at onepoint.

The last time I played a board game was about 3-4 years ago. Someoneleft a Snakes-and-Ladders game in the office, and we would play acouple of rounds after lunch. Then there was also that time when Carms,Jay, Grae and I went crazy over Jenga when we met up once at Hobbeslast month.

I miss board games and those simple game nights with friends. I want toplay Clue, Uno, Monopoly, Taboo, Jenga, Pictionary and Twister again!To anyone who's stumped about what to give me for my birthday (not tobe joined with Christmas, hahaha!), those classic (I mean the realthing) games are also on my wish list. Then let's have a game night!

I had mentioned in my previous post about worlds about how worldscollide, like when I took Tad to Peaberry Cafe last Sunday to meetRonelli.

Ronelli had been a friend of mine from Trumpets Playshop Alabang'sfirst musical theater class under Tita Menchu. It was the firstacting/musical theater workshop I had ever taken. I was onlycomfortable in class because I had friends there. Other than that, Iwas quiet as a mouse. I had too many inhibitions that I was afraid thatI might do all the exercises wrong. Part of the reason was that I knewall of us weren't in the same "skill level," as some of them hadalready done this before, even professionally. I was even careful aboutthe way I moved and talked. But hey, I did make a lot of friendsthrough that workshop. Good friends, though not as close, save for acouple of them. I even put Putting It Together (our showcase) and the class' bond on a high pedestal even after thefew workshops after that. Sure, we bonded, but I felt as if there werestill walls separating some of us because of certain differences. Justa feeling. It would sometimes seem as if there was something's wrongwith the way that girl stared, or how that guy spoke.

Fast forward to several years later. I started from scratch andattended a beginning acting workshop under Tanghalang Pilipino. Again,I was sort of comfortable at first only because I had a couple offriends enrolled in the same class. During the first couple of days, Iput up a wall because I was still used to the Playshop environment. Butday by day, the wall came down. I realized that all of us were on thesame playing field, just there want to learn, and just have a go at it.I was no longer afraid to try anything. My eagerness and enthusiasmremoved my inhibitions. I stopped listening to people's accents becauseto them, I was the one with the weird accent (hahaha, Mimay and Niccocan attest to this, because they did this often). This was a class thathad no pre-judgments over you, or wherever you came from, as long asyou knew how to get along with different people, wear your heart onyour sleeve, and give it all you've got. So we have the passion. Wealso had that crazy bond, the type that you can never get sick of eachother. Our crazy glue? The girl with the amazing voice and upbeatpersonality who played my alter ego, and the guy with so much passionin his bones and loves his friends til the end.

Two workshops that were so different from each other.

When Ronelli, a former classmate from Trumpets Playshop, and Tad, myboyfriend from Tanghalang Pilipino, met at Peaberry last Sunday, I hadno idea if they had anything in common. Ronelli talked the way shealways did, straight English with a slight accent. Tad was merely beinghimself and compromised, and didn't mind stumbling over the occasionalEnglish words. I was actually amused at the fact that it was the firsttime I heard Ronelli say anything in Filipino. When we started talkingabout coffee drinking, coffee routines, and the different kinds ofcoffee, the "language barrier" disappeared.

I have yet to invite Ronelli to a TP show. Hopefully when Flores Para Los Muertos does a rerun, I'll invite her to come. She did say that she hasn't seena play in ages. And I have to check out Peaberry's acoustic nights.Maybe I could get Tad to sing during one of those nights, hehehe. Andwho knows, maybe Ronelli can overcome her "singing trauma" as well,even if I have to hold the microphone for her, hahaha.

During this morning's homily, I heard Father Gerry say that heaven can be found in simple contentment.He's right. I always find bits of heaven in simple joys--a sincere andcomforting hug, a welcome visitor, spending time with a loved one,meeting old friends, pigging out to good food, and hanging out at acoffee shop.

I found all those in one lovely Sunday afternoon such as today.

Tad had been kind of busy with Madonna Brava and Flores Para Los Muertos that we haven't spent much quality time together, let alone drop by myhouse for a visit. He's been feeling kind of down and out lately thatsometimes he could get pretty cranky, even though it was his birthdaylast Friday, so I persuaded him to come visit so he can let out somesteam, chill and basically just hang out. I told him I wanted to checkout Peaberry Cafe, this coffee shop that my friend Ronelli had justopened here at our village, and I thought that we could go there as mybelated birthday treat for him.

I knew Ronelli from the first year Playshop opened an Alabang branch,as we were both in Tita Menchu's musical theater workshop. I haven'tseen her in years, so this was a good excuse to see her. I've seenphotos of Peaberry on Facebook, and the place looks pretty promising.It sort of reminded me of Central Perk from Friends, plus the "Kopihaus" from Kopihaus # 8 (Drei and Nicco's thesis).

Thankfully, Ronelli told me that Peaberry was open today even though itwas a holiday, but when we got there, I actually thought that they wereclosed (even though the sign out front said that they were open)because there was hardly anyone there except for this middle-aged ladysitting in one of the couches, and one of the employees behind thecounter. Oh well, they're open anyway, so Tad and I each ordered iceblended coffees, then sat at a table outside so he can smoke.

I got the ice blended black forest while Tad played it safe with awhite chocolate mocha. Thankfully the black forest was sweet enough formy taste, because I don't like it when drinks get too sweet. Tadthought thought that the white chocolate mocha was pretty OK as well,though I knew he was looking for a certain taste. While we were sittingthere, a group of girls arrived and also sat at a table outside.Finally, more customers, hahaha. I guess we just came at lazy hourduring a holiday, which was why there wasn't anyone there. Anyway, whenI saw the other group order a plate of mini tacos, I was dying to trythose as well, but I stayed put. But a few minutes after Tad hadfinished his drink along with a couple of cigarettes, he wanted toorder another drink, hahaha! We waited for a few more minutes then hestood up to order the mint java chip this time. I, on the other hand,was curious about their cheeseburgers, because the photos and commentson their Facebook page sounded so appealing.

No sooner after the cheeseburger (that came with a side order of Frenchfries) arrived, a car pulled up right in front of the cafe. It wasRonelli and her husband Paul. Man, it was great to see Ronelli again!Haha, when she saw the cheeseburger (which was untouched because wewere still on the fries), she affirmed that the cheeseburger was theirbest selling item on the menu. Once she stepped inside for a while, Ilet Tad have a go at the cheeseburger first before I did. And yep, itreally was awesome. The burger patty was thick and juicy, and theentire thing was bursting with flavor. No wonder it's their best-seller. Yummy.

Ronelli sat with us for a while and talked and caught up on news as wefinished off our food and drinks, so she got to know Tad a little more.Haha, Ronelli from my past world of theater and Tad from my current. Ilove it when worlds like these collide. Tad was a little tongue-tiedbecause Ronelli spoke straight English most of the time, but they werein the same wavelength when we started talking about different kinds ofcoffee. Hmmm... maybe some time, after a few more visits, maybe Ronellican teach me to do latte art, hehehe. Plus we could definitely hold aPlayshop MT '99 reunion there.

We never got to hang out inside the cafe as we chose to sit in thesmoking area, but I have to admit, the interior of the cafe is reallygorgeous and had that cozy, homey feel. We'll surely come back andfrequent this place, because it's got a lot of promise, from thecoffee, the food (I have yet to try their pasta), the ambiance, and ofcourse, the friendly owners.

Shamless plug... If you guys (especially the ones in the South) want tocheck it out, Peaberry Cafe can be found at 511 Capitoline Hills, BFResort Village, Las Pinas City. They're open everyday from 11:00 amuntil 11:00 pm.

Chat session with a friend. Well, this is not to be taken tooseriously, but part of it is really serious matter. We just took itlightly to ease things up. Hindi pa rin talaga maiwasan ang mgaganitong tao. Or worse, mga ganitong kaibigan.

Friend: o kumsta pala sya?
Friend: ako hindi na nya ko tintetext
Friend: nakuha na nya gusto nya eh!!
Friend: user si _____!
Friend: hahaha
Me: wahahahahahahaha
Me: i-text siya ngayon, dali
Friend: ayoko
Me: ay, tampo
Me: hahaha
Friend: wala syang kwenta
Friend: user sya
Friend: HAHHA
Me: eh parang hindi ka na nasanay kay _____
Me: magpaparamdam lang yan if may kailangan or if you sing [him/her] praises
Friend: ewan ko sa kanya
Friend: tse sya!
Friend: haha
Me: sabihin mo tampo ka, magtetext yan
Friend: hindi nga ako mgakatext . huhuh
Friend: sira ba ang globe?

Ahahaha, then we dropped the subject.

Well, some things never really change. So we have no choice but to moveon and get used to it. But because we're still friends, we still lovethem no matter what.

Brief exchange from last Saturday...

Kath: May kamukha ka na artista... Sa ABS...
Me: (*shrugs*) Uhm, wala akong alam sa showbiz eh. Kakahiya, ahehe.
Kath: Mas nakakahiya naman pag masyadong marami kang alam, hahaha!

I admit, I used to be a groupie of some artist at some point in my life.I know at least a handful of people who can attest to that. I had someaccess to certain information, being friends with some of the "innercircle" and the artists themselves. But at least I know where to drawthe line. There are some who don't. While I was chatting with Teena,she had even mentioned a particular "R" from our past. That person'sstill out there somewhere, and even though R had drifted away, thatsame person is still lurking in other people's interests to the extreme.

My advice to people who tend to go crazy with their fanaticism--pleasedon't go overboard. I mean, it's alright to do research on people youadmire, but there's a fine line between researching and stalking (toinclude other people that are connected to that object of obsession aswell). It could start off as funny or amusing, but it could come out asannoying to some.

Just a thought. Not to point fingers, really, but just to state apoint, because I'm really concerned about some people who could beinvolved.

"Nakakapagod magtampo."

That's a line that I haven't used in over 2 years. And sad to say,that's what was running in my head the whole day. I hate it when youthink things will be OK that day then it all just goes pffft. I alwaysput off one day to spend the time just to be there, and I guess I wasexpecting that today will be like that. But I guess it wasn't so Iwasted the entire day just brooding, right until the very last minuteof the day.

And to make things worse, I think this damn computer monitor is readyto give up on me. It keeps flickering and changing colors and it annoysme like hell because it's hurting my eyes. I just want to slam my fistinto it not just because of that but because I've been brooding. Anyonewant to buy me a new monitor?