[here goes]

So.. it's been a while. As usual (as it's becoming more usual), I have a lot of stories to tell, but I'm not really up to telling it all. Suffice to say much has happened for the past few months. Here goes.

Work is taking up most of my time, and I'm enjoying my work very much. I'm pouring myself into it. Overtime is fun, and very rewarding. Upping my skills and learning all I can learn, and basically sponging up everything is all I'm doing right now.

An opportunity has also presented itself in Comics. I won't go into any details now, let's just say that a lot is in store for comics fans this holiday season and next year. A recently dead mag (of sorts) is seeking to make a comeback, and an entirely new one is seeking to set up its flag in the industry. I'm just along for the ride. If it all works out, it'll be an exciting 2008 so watch out!

I'm doing pages now, but I stopped because after getting hit by an inferiority complex thingie attack. I can't seem to draw to my expectations (maybe it's the lack of an electric sharpener - I keep sticking my pencil into empty air). I need a sharp pencil! Anyway, I'll get over this in a few minutes.

This has suddenly turned into a huge update... so I guess I might as well.

What else have I been doing? Collecting DVDs. I'm not a big fan of piracy but well... I can't help that Makati Cinema Square is such a convenient and abundant source of documentaries and research, and inspirational material in the form of pirated DVDs. I've recently completed my trilogies collection (the LotR, the Bourne trilogy, the Godfather, the Matrix, among others), my collection of Akira Kurosawa movies and other classic movies (Audrey Hepburn!), etc. I've been buying so many DVDs it's like an addiction.

My current favorite movies (these are the ones I keep watching over and over during my downtime) have been Lost in Translation, Black Hawk Down, The Bourne Ultimatum, Kingdom of Heaven (I got a copy that had the Pilgrim's Voyage in it, a subtitled version of the Movie discussing historical facts about the crusades and Saladin), and surprisingly, Shooter.

I wish I could've have blogged more often for the past few months, I had a lot of things to say about the movies I've been watching. I wish I could've shared it. Maybe I should start blogging more about movies.

As for anime, nothing exceptional has been come up recently so no news on this one, except maybe for a certain title called "Karas". Incredible animation. I also recently saw Paprika, after which I bought all the Satoshi Kon movies I could get my hands on, except of course for the ones I already had. Of all, I'd say Tokyo Godfathers is still my favorite Satoshi Kon movie.

Hayao Miyazaki's son has also recently dabbled in animation, Tales of Earthsea was a nice movie, although I think it lacked whatever it is that made his father's movies so great, although I particularly liked how magic was treated in that movie - it's mostly similar to my treatment in a story my friend (Gelo) and I have been working on. A huge project we've been working on for almost 2 years now.

Anyway... this has been a looong update.

I guess the biggest news is that Dianne and I have broken up. There are many reasons, mostly the usual reasons, everyone's heard of it at some time or another. We may get back together, we may not, who knows. For now things are probably better this way. But I can't deny that I do miss her. Or I miss "us", especially now after coming back to Elbi, after more than a month.

I guess what I'm feeling right now is a mixture of a kind of sadness and freedom and other things. Happiness, I can honestly say is lacking. Excitement for things to come, I can say is in abundance. While a large part of me has suddenly gone (which is mostly of my doing anyway, so I can't allow myself to complain), a lot of opportunities have recently come to my uh.. doorstep, mostly in the form of more work.

As for other romantic possibilities, I don't know. I'm giving things a rest. Love is as it turns out, is very very tiring. I guess I was wrong when I thought I could commit.

That's it for now. Oh and pardon the few paragraphs of emo, couldn't help it.

[exp hogging and some serious learnage]

So uh, some news about me: I've been concentrating on upping my drawing skills lately. The office atmosphere is really working its way into me recently, mass deviation uploads here and there. Dabbling in different pencilling styles, line styles, etc. Learning a few new Photoshop things as well. So I've been dumping a lot of stuff in deviantART lately. But can't seem to push myself to color any of them.

On other things. PixelHero is slowly dying. Haven't been paying much attention to it recently. An old disease coming back again: LOSING INTEREST. I guess I can force myself to get back into it again. Someday.

Been buying a lot of DVDs recently. Minor financial drain there. Catching up on movies. Also catching up on games, recently played Resident Evil 4 (GREAT GAME!!! 5 STARS!), unlocked EVERYThING... and now I'm back to watching movies again.

Anyway, yeah. Random stuff. Haha, what a worthless blog post. I actually DO have a lot of things to say about recent news though... local politics, local tv, hollywood, tv series... I'm just too lazy to write.

Ok the truth is... I really feel like I'm beginning to spread myself too thin. A year ago, I bummed around too much, and just stopped... dedicating myself to someone or something. But then after Dianne and I got together, and then I got into work. I finally felt like I'm back on track. But recently, I dunno, I just started to do all these things.. catching up to my drawing, catching up to doing work, finally doing some comics, the Boss actually asking me to help with Komikon.. and then I think about going back to school come November, and then I just think that all this may be too much for me to handle.

And so... I'll stop griping now and go back to work :p thinking about shit like this takes away too much time, and I have a lot of things to do. Work Work WORK!

EDIT: gah. typos. kakatamad.

[harry potter, wand duels, and other things]

Happy birthday Di! (batiin niyo siya!).

So Dianne and I finally saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. And what can I say, it was good, probably a 3/5 for me except for the... WIZARD DUELS!!! YEH! Damn. That part just blew me away. From reading the books, I had imagined the exchange of curses and counter-curses to fast, but I didn't imagine it to actually resemble a fast-paced swordfight! Nice.

Oh, and the other thing I noticed about Order of the Phoenix.. it's full of chics! (Tonks!!!). And about Book 7 the Deathly Hallows, it was the BEST! And that's all I'm going to say. Read it and see for yourself. I perfect ending for a great story.

Anyway, my shift is over and I'm going straight to elbi. I haven't been back for almost 3 weeks. I miss everyone. Tamang tama merong may Birthday :D

[the deathly hallows...]

has finally come! Teka, magkukulong lang ako sa isang kwarto at tatapusin yung libro. Spoilers shall come later :p

[pencilswordfish 7.0, "krusada", and other news]

I am now officially back to blogging. The template looks a lot like the one I used to have on the Skewed Studios server but a little different. It has the same overall look and design but with better pictures, better functionality AND a webcomic soon to be published (seryoso!).

I know I've said this many times before and failed to deliver, but this time I'm serious. If you don't believe me, just you wait. "Krusada" is coming to you real soon! Oh and do check out Ouijia Band at Pixel Hero Productions, a joint webcomic project with two of my fellow IAS youngblood, Therese and Chito.

In other news...

My first nephew was born today. Congratulations to my younger brother Ryan and his lovely Cha for a healthy baby boy! I know you guys'll make great parents (um.. yeah, go Go GO!). And don't worry about a thing, nandito lang kaming lahat, kami'ng bahala sa inyo ^^.

Last July 7, 2007 or the 7/7/7 day also happened to be Dianne and mine's monthsary. Astig! It's one of those cool little things that happen rarely in life, like a Comet that passes by only once every 50 years, or being born on the same day as some great man or woman in history, or being a baby born on the year of the Golden Dragon.

Transformers was great! A bit lacking in story but the special effects (the transformation sequences!) and action scenes more than made up for all of it. Freedom is the right of all sentient beings! Rar! Right on Optimus! And I am not ashamed to admit that I was having goosebumps while watching the film.

the Last Harry Potter book, the Deathly Hallows, is about to be released (1 more week!). But I suppose everyone knows that by know. I've always been a big fan. I read the first book in high school and I knew it was going to be a hit (I just didn't know how big a hit). I think I'm one of the book's earliest fans. It's a stupid silly elitist geek thing I have whenever someone mentions Harry Potter. Oh, and when the first movie came out, I knew then that Emma Watson was going to be hot or rather... cute lang pala.

Anyway, that would be all for now.

[back to Blogger!]

The "new blog" mentioned in the previous post, is now DEAD. So we're back here where we started. Expect some updates in the days to come. A (somewhat) new layout, some restructuring, and some upgrades and updates.

Blogger, I'm coming home ^^.