Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

A month before Christmas, I again spent days after agonizing days of designing the official postcard for the stations.

It's not that I am running out of ideas, but creativity was so hard to come by when you're swamped with a hundred other things to worry about (yeah right. Excuses!).

This year's SWS postcard underwent the most toxic process of revisions I've ever had since I volunteered to do this annual tradition, and all those effort doesn't even show in the final product.

But the whole process reminded me of the things to be thankful for, and ultimately the postcard carried the question that sums up all we've been wanting to say (or rather, ask):

What is the best Christmas gift you have ever received?

Here's what our kababayans answered.

Mine's the gift of life and love.

And just recently... forgiveness.

The year 2008 has been one that makes us appreciate every little blessing that comes our way. Every single lull in between problems, every little good thing -- is a gift that makes up the many best gifts this year.

What's yours?

Wishing everyone a safe, happy, and healthy year ahead.

Fade

The glory of redemption flashed before my eyes...

Then slowly fade.




Swet, I don't want to end up seventh again.

Again

Here I go again, begging the stars for inspiration. That the cosmos grant me just a little bit of creativity to get through this.

It's that time of the year again when we have to defy spatial laws, and fit thirty-plus faces in a half-letter sized postcard.

The quest for this year's SWS Christmas card is on.

I hope the smiley in the night sky brings forth ideas.

Time is running out.

Kaya kami pollsters...

dahil siguro magaling kaming magtanong, makinig, at mag-analyze.

But we're not PR specialists or sales executives which, more or less, involve persuasion, selling, campaigning, among others.

Bakit ko ba naisip ito?

Bago nag-RnR sa Laguna hot springs (blog on this to follow!) about two weeks ago, nalaman ko na meditation session pala ang gustong i-promote ng mga nasa nakatataas (i.e., the VP and the HR).

Pero anong nangyari? Dahil naniniwala kami sa democracy, nag-offer ng isa pang activity para may mapag-pilian ang mga tao.

Ang second option? Hot springs.

Hot springs!

What do you expect people will choose?

Anyway, moving on...

Ngayon, theme naman ng christmas party ang pinag-pipilian.

Ang mga bagong staffs ang bumubuo ng Mas-Mas Committee, at sa tuwing christmas season, itong ang pinaka-makapangyarihang kumite.

In short, ito lang ang kaisa-isang pagkakataon na sunud-sunuran kaming lahat sa gustong mangyari ng mga baguhang staffs. Sabi nga noon ni Papa Bear, "Make it good, guys, this is the only time you could make us do anything."

Pero democratic process pa rin syempre -- kailangang may botohan.

Ang Mas-Mas Comm ay may pet and preferred theme: "MTV Becoming".

Personally, I think it's an awesome theme, at suportado ko sila sa ideya nilang iyon.

At mukhang okay rin ang mga lumalabas na other options: red carpet, masquerade, and others that are of similar complexity, difficulty, and challenge-factor.

But when the routing slip came to me, I died...

Someone placed "Sporty" as one of the options, and it's getting most of the freakin' votes.

Okay na yung iba options: Anime, Masquerade, Arabian Nights, and Animal Costume, eh. But... Sporty?

Oh well.

As I said, we're not very good at selling or promoting an idea.

Pero dahil personally ay hindi ako sold sa ideya na Sporty ang mananalong theme, gumawa ako ng maliit na campaign para sa aking napipisil na theme (see flyer below).

Good luck na lang. ^^ Balita ko puspusan din ang kampanya ng Field para sa "Arabian Nights".

....whois drunk

office. 12.12 am on my pc clock.

anyone who did not have anything rush rush to do can go home 2 pm. -- thai is anytone but techies, and admin and jeanette and her minions, namely marco and the newbie techie/admin liza.

immediately after 6 pm. the tequilla suddenly found its way on the white table....with the lime following closely.

leo took the 1st 2 shots.

then mae decided to join leo. d along withb leo raided mm's fridge for some food, and the admon kitchen for drinking paraphernalia, like knife for the lime and some "pulutan".

more tequilla.

relatively new tecghie anne was coaxed to take her first sip of tequilla, ever.

and then more tequilla.

more stories...and firstr impressions from anne.

more tequilla..

mear was watchingbth tye telen0vela by abc-cbn.

more tequilla.

and stories about you-know-who and the old guy with the pinkhhj nipples came out flowing

more tequilla. thank not it's cuervo and not the damnable "mojitos"

more stories to share -- who can master whom? who;s more likely to leave when-not if but when? thankfully, not who's heavier, or who's more drunj.

more tequilla.

with chips and pancit canton in between.

more tequilla.

and then the worlddf syarted to swirld.

as in seeing anything and everyone in double vision.

more tequilla.

more stories.

and then the reklativelty newbie anne started to call the "uwak" somewhere around the tech cr.

no more tequilla.

t5hanks to mear, the only one sober to call mcdo for some food...actually the one sober to look after 3 people who consumed about 300 ml each of ci\uervo tequilla, with 38 percent alcohol volume.

no more tequilla..

anne's asleep...and her beloved sergey's suddenly oneline @ ym.

what shouuld 2 drunk techies tell ajother drunk techies' sigfnificant other? -- that she forgot to log-out- that's safer.

no more tequilla


leo's drunk.

mae's dizzy and about to call the "uwak"

sustenance finally arrived.

thanks mear.

anne's drunk to the world, dead asleep.

leo's drunk.

i amm drunk. and i'm blogging...and i can't even spell correctyklyu...who cares..i'm drunk...that's a valid excuse, right?

all thanks to jose 1+liter of jose cuevo..that's about 300 ml of tequilla each for the 3 of us.

god, please no hang-over the next daty.

Happy 23!

A staffer from a major broadsheet called last Thursday asking me for a one-liner about why surveys are important.

I declined and told her, “For a question as significant as that, I might give an answer lesser than what has already been written, emphasized, and told many times over by Dr. M.”

“Tama ka,” she said, “he is, as far as we all know, the one who fought the hardest for survey freedom. I better try and ask him.”

“Before you call him, read this first,” directing her to the link.

I suggest we all read it, too, again. ^ ^

***

Last Aug. 8 marked the 23rd birthday of the stations, and celebrated it with the traditional pictorials (oh yeah! It’s always fun sitting and waiting under the hot sun for that precious picture-perfect moment), a simple salo-salo, and whatever program our beloved HR can think of.

That “whatever” was handed down to me last, last Friday – a week before the anniversary – while we were all neck-deep with all sorts of deadlines and reports.

A video presentation, she said, something just like the 20th, but this time focusing on the people.

I was staring at her blankly. ”Do you know how long it took me to do that eeny-weeny, little show? Weeks! With an ‘s’!”

But hey, it’s the anniversary. Why not give it a shot like we always do?

And so the little show was slapped together, presented, applauded, protested, criticized, and is now back in my hands for improvements.

At least now I have 18 calendar days to do it.

The most common comment about the show?

Not enough old pictures.

I agree.

Sometimes we have to look back and remind ourselves where we came from, and why we are here in the first place.

Happy 23rd birthday, Mother Stations! Cheers to us all who are, and have been, part of it.

A visit to Coolwaves

Just when my love for hard drinks was about to be resurrected, along came this so-called tequila to shoot it down and bury it back six feet under.

Here's a shot of the teh-killah that killed us all.

A closer inspection of the label would show that agave is not even in the ingredients.

Anyway, we were in Coolwaves, Bulacan sometime first week of April not to kill our brains cells but to spend some quality time with Lynn who, as of blog time, is now with her hubby in Australia.

It was an evening trip from SWS office in Quezon City to Bulacan (thanks to Ar and Ahmed for the ride) which showcased the outstanding tracking and guiding skills of Vlad, who was then on a separate trip with his wife, in-laws, etc.

With Mike describing our whereabouts through the cellphone, Vlad was able to track us down and finally tailgate us along NLEX. I say it was an amazing feat, considering how heavy the traffic was in that area.

Getting to the resort was a bit tricky (watch for the flags, said Vlad), especially at night. When we got there, the place was so packed it took Mae a while to bag a cozy room for all seven of us.

Lynn did a great job of concealing the bottled goodies in her bags by covering them with uhm swimwear and undies. I guess they were effective barriers against the security guard's poking stick. Peace, Lynn!

The guard did let the harmless-looking local wine through without corkage fee. How kind of him.

And so we drank, ate barbeque, and talked about Lynn's life in SWS.



I blacked out on my nth shot of teh-killah. Shucks, I was hoping to see Lynn cry before I crash, but no -- I was never built for hard drinks, much more for killer teh-killahs.

Maybe the other Techies could fill-in the gap in the story. I was just told the next morning that everyone else took a dip at one the pools while I lie wasted on the bed.

I woke up with a nasty headache and no recollection of how I ended up in bed. This worried me a lot, knowing I have done really stupid things in the past after having too much liquor. It was a relief to be told later that I went to bed quietly and just blacked out.

Everyone who've had the teh-killah suffered major headache that morning.

The resort's main attraction is the artificial waves which, unfortunately, never happened during our stay.

The resort staffs kept telling us, "Ayan na. Paaandarin na." Pero namuti na ang mata at nangulubot na ang balat namin sa kahihintay, walang tinamaan ng kulog na waves.

But hey, forget about the non-existent waves and the killer tequila. It is a nice place, and it's the people around you that makes it better.

Cheers!

And all the best to you, Lynn!

WANTED: Ice Cream

The Birthday Ice Cream, February 28, 2008, 24 days after my actual 23rd birthday:

Double Dutch yum yum :) Unfortunately, we didn't know that it contains peanuts and almonds. Too bad for Vlad, a fervent lobbyist for the ice cream since my birthday, who can't eat anything with peanuts/almonds because of his gout problem :(

WANTED: ICE CREAM

-----
From VLAD2 To 15:58.19, wed 06

ICE CREAM SA MINI STOP
Sa ganitong mainit na araw
Ice cream ang masarap kaulayaw
Sa nakaraang nag-birthday
Ikaw huwag malumbay
Dahil ang ice cream sa mini stop ay mura lang
At hatid nito'y saya sa bawat nilalang
Kung kaya't sa iyong bulsa ay dumukot
Upang mawala na itong ating pagkabagot


p.s.

samahan mo pa ng song and dance number, baka magpabili na ako ng icre cream...


mae

Checklist

... lambanog, sandals, batteries, insect repellant, hard-boiled egg, eaji, spam, camera, vodka, adobo, kumot, paalam sa misis, bus tickets, jacket, bigas, social obligations, ahit ng balbas, spooning, panlaban sa lamig, bomika, flush toilet, nilagang aso, yakap, shotgun, sunblock, bonfire, charger, palay...

The Techies are up to something...

Abangan!