Spoiled Survivor

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I checked out the CBS website. I forgot that the last episode would have 4 remaining survivors. I thought there were more episodes left. I know the survivor winner without watching the show. This can't be real :(

Whatta week!

Friday, we had our company Christmas Party. The upside? Got to see officemates that I hardly see anymore. Downside? I was part of registration. For 2 and a half hours. The food was good, the people were great, but I felt something missing. Right, my friends who are no longer with the company.

Saturday, went to the Anime/Comic/Gaming/Toy convention. Was able to buy a lot of comic books at low low prices. Was there with Kiko and Ninoy. Saw a lot of people from HeroManila and LetsC. Drooled over the Goliath action fig that cost 2,200 big ones. At least I was able to touch it :)

Sunday, was in Greenbelt with James and Luigi. We had dinner and laughed our way through the night.

Tuesday, went with Bridge and Shiela to Trina's birthday party. The food was delish!

Wednesday, was able to buy the Noble Causes TPB. Attended Ronnie's birthday party. Reconnected with my college friends and orgmates. Saw myself as Harry Potter in Ronnie's video, as well as some old college videos (did I really look like I was in High School back in College?).

Thursday, went shopping for gifts with Eunice and Erick.

Friday, had our HR Christmas lunch at Tianenmen (sp?). Evening, met up with Tonichi for comic shopping night.

Saturday, our Christmas party was postponed because Lorna's hubby was sick, and Yanni's brother was stabbed, a victim of the madman that went amok in Mandaluyong a few days ago. :(

It always happens. During the holidays, everything seems so fast. So many things happening at warp speed.

Here's a short but nice article that talks about Christmas-themed comic books. I'll come up with my list of fave Christmas stories soon :)

O Deadly Night
by Stuart Moore

“There’s no bigger closet sentimentalist in the world than a comic book fan. You have to sneak up on them, but they cry buckets if you catch them off-guard.” - Dave Sim

Which brings us to Christmas comics.

On the face of it, Christmas comics are an odd phenomenon. The whole point of the holidays is communal experience -- reunion with loved ones, families gathering together. But comics-reading -- any reading -- is an inherently solitary activity. How does this fit together?

Part of the answer is that kids are very sentimental -- teenagers especially. The same hormones that surge through their bodies, making them horny or causing growth spurts, can also make them weep on a dime. And when you reach that age where you have actual friends, forge bonds with people outside your immediate family, those bonds seem all the more important.

If a kid doesn’t have a lot of friends or a warm family, that sentimentalism gets shunted elsewhere -- into solitary pursuits, like comics. And if he/she does, comics can still be a welcome refuge from the frenzy of the holidays.

This sentimentalism also explains some of the rampant nostalgia in the comics field. I once asked a respected comics artist, “If so many comics fans remember their childhood years unhappily, why do they cling so tightly to the comics that were popular then? Doesn’t it just remind them of those bad times?” His reply, which made perfect sense, was that the comics were the good part of those people’s youth. If everyone’s beating you up and your family life’s a mess, naturally you’ll remember your quiet comics-reading moments with additional pleasure.

Wedding Blooper

I was right! I'll get to the blooper in a bit.

Yesterday, our friend Lorna was wed. We saw her dad and mom give her away to an unusually dashing Kuya Weng in Naval uniform (long hair cut short, no traces of his dreadlocks, clean shaven for the first time). There was a very stirring sword salute as well. Very touching wedding, with Yeng and Poch beside me acting as wedding photographers, especially with their girlfriends having big roles in the wedding.

We were happy to see Lorna have one of her longtime wishes come true, but sad to see so many of the barkada absent. Cathy's in Boston, Joey's in New York, James is in Shanghai, Kevin, Marge and Pines weren't invited, Ana, Lindsay and Lawrence didn't make it to the church, and Amor and Ronald weren't allowed to go on leave from work.

We were also separated into 2 groups because of a seating arrangement. Saren, Gerry and I made the most of it by laughing at almost everything! We were able to meet afterwards to make plans for the Christmas party this December 20 at Yeng and Trix's house. Wish Cathy and the others were here to celebrate it with us :(

The blooper? It happened during the catching of the bouquet. Very tense moment, hordes of single women gathered around the bride. Lorna tosses the bouquet... straight up to the ceiling, as it plops to the floor seconds later :)

After the wedding, instead of going out, the barkada went home.

We ARE getting old...

Sunday Once Again

But since James is in Shanghai, I went to Greenhills alone. Just as well, I enjoy reconnecting with the rest of civilization while strolling the malls. I was able to buy some Robotech comic books on sale and a few others. In Galleria, I bought the critically-acclaimed Mr. Majestic Trade Paperback, in preparation for his taking over Superman's role as the prime protector of Metropolis come 2004.

I also craved for pancakes, so I ordered my fave Chocolate Chips Pancakes with Peanut Butter over at Pancake House. Funny too, 'coz after eating, I saw Gary Lising enter the Gary Lising store hehehe.

Oh yeah, Alvin and I went to Starbucks Pearl last Friday to catch up and stuff. Told me the details about his break-up with Mabs. The next day, we bought our gift for Lorna at Galleria. It was a "mini-me" sized water dispenser for the bedroom. We also bumped into Gerry at Starbucks. Interesting conversation about fidelity and stagnation.

Degrassi and Survivor tonight!

Christmas without Cathy in a few weeks... :(