The Burnout.

I woke up with the weirdest mood. I usually spend my time facing the computer and this day made it odd. I was so bored, I dont even want to go to the office anymore.

Not working isnt reality, I know. But it's just like its too routinary, or mundane, and sometimes, super frustrating. Im not complaining ladies and gentlemen. I know that most of us are dreaming on getting enough money, or more, just to waste your time, being a sloth or a bear who just wanted to hibernate. I think Im old. I just wanna spend my time sleeping. In which, I really dont want to do.

I wanna go to the mall again, buy things I'll think I might need someday. That ends up dusted and boxed til the end of time. I just wanna get my own place, have a car, and strut like a douche without anything to do. Oh my god i just wanna get rich NOW.

My life is a total bore nowadays. I just go to work, then home, or to the hospital 3 times a week to get my phototherapy treatment. Which is soooooo costly by the way. It will seem like I am working to just get that treatment. Doctor says psoriasis is triggered by stress, and I am stressed with my life. Solving problems, which by the way, ARENT MINE. I just like to go away, and not worry about anything. Feel the rain and the sun. Talk with friends, dwell with insult-based humor, cook, blah.

I dont want to work. Gad.

Now

(Apps) Where Did My Money Go?

I have been having that question since high school. Everytime you have cash on hand, small expenses are usually forgotten, not learning your lesson of budgeting well.

I have tried a couple of mobile expense trackers. I installed EasyMoney on my android phone. It has categories that will soon collect input and puts a percentage report, to which category you have spent most. You will also see the details after clicking on the category percentage rate. My trouble with it was, customization. It doesnt allow me to add my own category and I cant see my expenses in daily or weekly order. I cant remember if this app is limited for 30 days only since i only downloaded it as a free app.

I also used Expensify on three phones. iOs, Blackberry and Android. You can attach a picture of your receipt whenever you put in a data. This is a free app, but you can only use it online. Function is nearly perfect but I find it complicated to use.

I am now using CashTrails on iOs. I downloaded a free version and tried it for a week. You can customize currency, it lets you set auto-conversion (e.g. dollar to PhP), sets Accounts, very easy-to-read reports (category-wise, via date and structure), transfer of balance (for more convenient tracking) and its offline. I purchased it for 3.99$ (thats about 200PhP) and I never had a problem using it.

As I track my expenses, I also get to know what I ate, where Ive been, and who Im with. It seemed like a journal using money language. I just hope I could budget well. Looking back makes me feel so guilty on what Ive bought impulsively. But not the app :)

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For Your Entertainment: Child Contestant on Willing Willie

I have watched the video without reading the blog content of the person who posted this. And so I thought, ah, this guy seemed to be the most obvious sitting duck coz he does not have shame to do such easy task of humiliating people, sugar-coating it as "help".

But this video... I cant even finish it. I stopped in the middle where the child seemed to be doing what he doesnt want to do. Not that I blame him for that. I blame everyone in the studio who enjoys that kind of entertainment, laughing every single time the kid says something real. "ano ang dad mo? Ano siya?" I was aghasted anticipating what the child might say and hear the world laugh from it.

This is just... like how I see gladiators try to fight a beast in the middle of an arena. Slave to poverty, trying to survive the things it commanded for him to do, from a monstrous need of others' entertainment. But in movies, fighters seemed tougher, braver and agile. Pretty much, an adult.

Now, how do we try to point out the details leading to this form of demise. The show itself promises hope for the people who needed money. But before joining in the so-called game, contestants must show their talent. Of course we know there is a screening for that, then why is this okay?

The audience pretty much enjoyed it. No one complained. In fact, they found it cute. They laughed every single time the child struggled for answers. Not needing a Psych degree, we all know whats going on inside that childs mind. He was nervous, scared and wondering... Why are they all laughing? Especially on the part where the host emphasized his question.

"Bakit may parlor tatay mo? Ano siya?"
"Kasi po... Para hanapbuhay."
"Ano ang ginagawa niya sa parlor?" "Naggugupit."

After the second question thrown out, the audience laughed as if it was a big joke.

So I cut my writing to this part and watched the video again. The kid was crying when he was dancing like a stripper, stopped, then the host asked him to do it again. The place was roaring with laughter. They were applauding, then Willie asked, "sino nagturo sa yo nyan?" "Si Tita po tsaka si Papa."

So the kid might be thinking, this aint bad. I was just dancing. But we all know its wrong. Its pretty much teaching him words he doesnt understand, and let him say it. We know that, that is never okay.

Norms are dictated by the society. A thing seems right if majority agrees that it actually is.

The last minute of the video got weirder. The kid stood on the stage as the platform lifted while adults were pretending to be excited to touch him. If its Justin Beiber they were trying to imitate, he didnt gyrate like a helpless kid.

It is the entertainment many of us enjoyed. Little acts we ignore, laugh about, and wouldnt care less after. We swam on apathy, drowning to the darkest trench our kids learn to hold their breath to.

SomedayDream

As we go through a phase where the OPM scene is conquered by foreign acts, all those Filipino songs that linger inside cabs, jeepneys, convenience stores and probably in every teen's mp3 player are replaced by a language that an ordinary pinoy can't understand, it is a different feeling knowing that a different-sounding pure Filipino artist is frequently hitting the radio charts.

It was a rainy afternoon when we dropped by a recording studio and Rez aka SomedayDream happened to be there. We were there to listen to a friend's new album that has already been released months ago, and then a catchy unfamiliar digital pop song started playing caught our attention. To describe it easily, it is somehow similar to the previous independent artist Owl City. I thought, for a 20-year-old new artist, in the dark age of the OPM scene, how can he pull this off?

But a few months later, I got to tune in to my usual radio station and his first independently released song "Hey Daydreamer" is climbing the charts on speed. DJs were receiving calls who the artist was and also were surprised that he is Pinoy. The track is not your ordinary feel-good song that would just make you sway and sing along. It would make you tap your feet and clap with the rhythm. (So I suggest that you will never do that while driving.)

Somedaydream is Rez himself. Similar to Chris Carraba as Dashboard Confessional that started being a solo artist then grew as a band. One thing about SDD is it makes us anticipate for his next songs that will soon invade the airwaves and hopefully start a new trend to rebuild the striving music industry.

Visit Somedaydream's Facebook Page, http://www.facebook.com/somedaydream and follow his Twitter page @sdrez.

Year-end.

I expected a shortage of cabs this morning but it wasnt like this. It's more of 2 empty cabs an hour if you see the ratio. I was already late meeting up with Mamu and the rest of my friends going to Zong Centris. Its at the corner of EDSA and Q.Ave. It's actually my first time going there and I thought it's a new mall that I just ignored passing by EDSA.

It rained when I was passing by Araneta. Traffic was okay til I was crossing the other side of the highway. Off the cab, I saw a gloomy looking mall with a big SM hypermart inside. This couldn't be it, I thought. Walked around, texted Mamu, and she replied "Malapit sa bilog bilog." Like what? Then I saw Leeza hurrying up the stairs, dodging the rain.

So we walked a little and saw a little Fort Bonifacio-ish area. With mushroom-like structures and, I suppose, a high-end one. It had restos like Clawdaddy, Itallianis and a Fully Booked waiting to be constructed. It also has a carousel and a mini-train in the middle of the park.

Zong, Centris

Mini-Train

They mentioned these mushroom-like towers are solar-powered. Hmmmm

Centris

Mamu, Jamie, Hannah and Hazel were already there at Zong. As far as I can recall, we were the only people eating there. But I tell you that the food was great.

I seriously didn't know the name of what we ate but I just munched my morning away.

So Celest, and Champ arrived as we were talking and laughing and chewing all at the same time. We are called happy friends for a reason. Jamie brought their awesome cake (which Ive heard was a bestseller last Christmas) then Mamu and Hannah gave us gifts. Oh I forgot to mention that our camwhoring theme was Asian poses. Since I think the 2009 boom of peace-sign poses evolved into many.

Me/Brick-shitting Bunny, Leeza/Crying Lady, Champ/Bunny/Devil/I seriously dont know

Had coffee after at Coffee Bean and stayed there for hours. Kristina arrived looking pretty6 as she is. Then everyone still talked about lovelifes, music, the industry and mainly just camwhoring. KC, Mamu's niece, was also there and played in the park before everyone parted ways. Jamie dropped me off at Trinoma, so I could pick up some things before going home.

(L-R) Joan, Me, Leeza, Champ, Mamu, Hannah, Hazel, Jamie ♥, Celest took the pic ^_^

I posted at Facebook that I was there and Ivan texted me to wait for them. We looked at some shoes, stopped by at Cibo to grab some drinks then decided to watch Dalaw in Newport Cinema, Resorts World. I never wondered what's in there except that its a big-ass Casino but it looked like um... a building full of stuff.

So Jam, Jp, Ivan and I went from north to south, listening to 2010 hits, remixed by DJ Bryan Cua. Checked if the LFS was 1045 and somehow surpised that a ticket costs 500 pesos.

Wanna know why? Seats were velvet lazyboys, unlimited cheese/buttered popcorn, unlimited soda of your choice, and a personal butler. Like you just press a button if you want your bucket refilled. A friend said who would want an unlimited popcorn? Well, I had 6 buckets.

Movie was too predictable. But its somehow okay. Somehow. Whatever I was enjoying my seat. I couldve slept it off.

After the movie, at around 1230mn, we went to Jupiter for some Chicboy. Its grilled chicken/pork cebuano style. I dunno if some people havent tried it yet but its great for its price. Really cheap and really good. Awesome combo.

The next day, I got me some groceries for New Years eve but the day was awful. It didnt match up with my awesome day though. Next next day, Trish and I had our year-end tradition by grabbing coffee while summarizing our entire year. We both had a great year though and felt like 2011 is going to be really promising. :D

Happy New Year everyone! ♥