Tripping Over the Steps to Dating (or Just Getting a Date)

Forget first date jitters. That's nothing compared to pre-date nervousness. Building the nerve to ask someone out is the worst, but the feeling of relief when she accepts (or humiliation when she declines) is emotionally proportional to it.

It depresses my when I think about the last time I asked someone out on a date, where the girl is not “just a friend,” and you had hopes of seeing her more on a social basis. Way too long.

Lately I've been leaning on the philosophy of "Regret is worse then embarrassment or humiliation." “Better to have tried to as ask her that not to speak at all.” Tell her about it, as Billy Joel once sang. Seize the day and talk to the girl, or you’ll end up a 26-year-old virgin with no social life whose “soulmate” is out prancing in Paris. Wanna ask her out? Then ask. Her. Out. If you’re going to dilly-dally about, don’t take too long. Just don’t not do anything, because that feeling of uncertainty and “What if” will haunt you the rest of your life. A bad memory that bugs you more than the itchiest itch, that nastiest sore, the most persistent stomach cramp.

If a girl declines my invitation for a date, that’s fine, especially if she already has other plans. Decline away. Just don’t thank me for the invitation afterwards. Personal pet peeve of mine. Wanna thank me? Then accept the invitation. It’s a date, not a diamond ring. That your can decline but thank me for, anyway.

Sometimes declining the invite (if she didn’t other plans) is sign of hesitation on her part. Another is her asking if her brother/ sister could come. (A pseudo chaperone? What is this, 1955?) Then there’s when she says she’s busy for the whole week. Personally I think that’s overkill but at least you get the message (i.e. not interested). Finally is when she doesn’t respond at all even though you know she heard the question. Not too rude, I don’t think.

Why People Don't Suck Most of the Time

A week before Father's Day Pa lost his cellphone. Seems while riding a cab home the button latch of his cellphone holder came off and it was left inside the cab, with the phone of course. I felt partly responsible because the cellphone holder was actually mine and I took his newer one with the more secure button latch. Guilt-ridden I took a chance and sent a text message to the phone (it was still ringing when I called it) saying it was considered missing/ stolen and to call my house if found and maybe inquire about a reward. Grasping at straws, I know. Or so I thought.

Come Father's Day I see Pa with a cellphone and cellphone holder. I thought Ma got him a new set as a gift (w/c she didn't charge me for). A week later I check out the phone and to my surprise it had the label stickers I made for him in case the phone got lost. It was the same phone. Turns out somebody found the phone in the cab, called the house and Aissa met the guy at his office in Makati to retrieve it. She gave him an envelope with 500 bucks in it. Seems low, which is why I'm glad I didn't mention a specific amount for the reward.

Oh, and I found my lost-for-a-week driver's license. For now, all seems well the world. : )

Win some, lose a lot.

The good news is the home PC is fixed again (not that I had any time to despair over it crashing this morning as Boit brought it with him to work and brought it back good as new). The bad news is in the process I lost my "downloads in progress" of Six Feet Under and Part 10 of The Sopranos Season 1 via IMesh. (Okay, there was Tia Bella too but I was done downloading her weeks ago.)

Of Shaolin Babies and Terrorist Attacks

This thing gets updated the day after the fact because I do this in the office (work time well spent, I know), but better than nothing.

My 1-year-old niece Jasmine got her head shaved recently (to encourage the future growth of what would hopefully be thicker, shinier hair) so now she looks like one of those little Shaolin kids statuettes that grace our stairway. And wouldn't you know it, the moment she's bald her head gets scraped after tripping, but not on the shaven area, which dimishes the level of irony somewhat. Traffic jam when you're already late. A "No Smoking" sign on your cigarette break.

Watched the HBO/CNN tribute film about the 9-11 terrorist attacks on TV. Every time the film showed footage of the planes hitting the World Trade Center (it was a good/bad time to a video camera nut) a small pang of despair hits me. Small as I lack the emotional attachment to New York City. But when they played phone messages of those calling from inside the WTC (a few from the actual floors where the plane hit) and showed close-up shots of those who lept from the building I almost wept. Almost as I am not much of a weeper. What surprised me was finding out that a third building collapsed (designated WT building # 7) and that Mayor Guilliani and his staff were nearby when the second (North) tower collapsed. It was like a scence from Dante's Peak (I regret using a bad movie reference for this) as the huge clouds of ash and smoke headed towards them, and like Lot's wife they looked back when they should have been running foward. They even showed a Filipino teenager (even if the strap of his backpack obscured it, I'm sure that was Philippines printed on his shirt) showing TV news cameras pictures of his mother the day after the towers collapsed. She worked there.

According to the film the 9-11 incident was the most documented event world of all time, which shouldn't be surprising. World War II or the JFK's assassination didn't have the benefit of satellite news, the Internet or the Handycam. Almost as if everyone was there.

The Night We First Met...Again

Last night after dinner at the Steak Factory, courtesy of 3-Ku (my 2nd time there after Boit's b-day celebration, but I again ordered the Hungry Man's Steak 'coz the only other "filling" choice of Rib-Eye was too pricey), the family took a stroll around the Podium Mall. My high school classmate Rachel wasn't at her "post" at their family's optical shop.

While looking around the second floor I caught a glimpse of a lady I knew-- by face if not by name (story of my life) -- having dinner with someone at the Banana Leaf Curry Shop. Feeling gutsy (and bored from the walking) I headed for the restaurant and took a seat next to her. Jean (on the business card she gave me) doesn't remember how we met, either, but it was okay. She introduced me to her "dinner date" Christy. A real cutie, by any standard. At that moment I really regretted not having any calling cards at hand. We chatted for a while as other familar faces cames in eat, Judy Ann Santos among them. She's a lot lighter-skinned than I thought. Several other faces I recognized from college (Annette Yap's cousin, for one) also came.

Actually Juday's just one of several celebrity sightings for me that night. Ana Roces had dinner with friends at the Steak Factory, and after my little chat with Jean and Christy I saw Former PNP Chief Director General Edgar Aglipay eating with his family at a cafe on the ground floor.

A not-so-boring night, all in all. Too bad it's ruined by the fact I had to come in the office the next morning (today) for an "ocular inspection" by the Touch Mobile people.

"Months later, he returns."

Yes, it's been a while. Wonder how long I'll last this time. Since my last entry, I:

- Stopped updating the office journal
- Saw my office workforce go down from 60-something people to 5 (Yup, no more call center. Just Touch Mobile. Only I, Joy, Lala, John and Nonoy are left).
- Attended two wedding receptions for my old high-school classmates
- Got a new backpack (zipper on the old one broke)
- Got Dad a DVD player (not with my money alone, of course)
- Celebrated my birthday with a little bowling party
- Got turned down for a date thrice.
- Found out where my ex-girlfriend is "hiding." (France)
- Became a godfather to my niece Mia.
- Watched 18 movies (5 in the theater, the rest via VHS, VCD and DVD)
- Went out on 1 real date and one group date
- Did a buch of other stuff that won't register at the moment but who cares.

Oh, yes: I've moved up to the 3rd floor bedroom with my brother while the house goes under major renovation. They got rid of the carpeting. Floor's all shiny now, but not scratch-proof, so no more footwear allowed inside.

Life's too short. Must consider dating more often. Getting rejected more often isn't considered but makes its way into the equation, anyway.

For this Sunday it was the wedding of my sister-in-law and Herman's sister Jean (first name Heidi) and Aladdin, who turns out to be Cathy Sy's brother (the one who answers the phone sometimes). Cathy was there, of course and was busy all day coordinating (typical of her not to relax, even on a Sunday) the entourage at church then later on at the reception at the Westin Philippine Plaza. Another surprise guest (for me, anyway) was Julie and Winnie Chen and the rest of their immediate family. She reminded me of the China tapes I've yet to get around to editing.

I've been making more entries here than in my office computer journal, probably because the latter is so freakin' slow. No signs of it getting fixed soon, too. sigh.

ANYway, today 3-Ku celebrated his birthday and for the first time he took a few relatives (all 23 of us) out to dinner at Le Souffle at Fort Bonifacio. I ordered the rib-eye Angus beef steak, while my Soup of the Day was a creamy orange-colored cheese whatever. My first taste of souffle was sweet...literally. It was like something you'd order at Dulcinea, all small and sweet, like a jelly roll squeezed into a dixie cup. The bill ran to about 20 grand. Sheesh. For 24 pieces of really salty oyster it was about 91+ bucks a piece.

I attended the wedding reception of Edwin Ong and his girlfriend Jen. I would've attended the wedding itself but the 8AM schedule was just too much. Parents were godparents and Boit was best man.

Before reaching the 2nd floor I ran into Christina and Kelly Cai who were attending the 1st B-day party of Aldwin's cousin. (Ran into Aldwin after the party.) Upstairs it was like a mini SJCS Alumni association reunion, with better attendance, at least when it came to alumni I actually knew. Batch 91 (Gregory, Polly, Kelly, Ann Margaret, Melissa) and Batch 92 (Laurie, Ida, Rissa, Kendreck, Nath, etc.) were in abundance. Even Walter showed up, sans socks and shoes (seriously...he wore sandals). It was thoroughly enjoyable, especially with all the hobnobbing I got to do.

Afterwards it all started to slow down (or maybe it was because I was feeling pooped). Kit Tanco pushed the term "fashionably late" to the extreme when she showed up to drop off the wedding gift just as everybody was leaving. Albert, Diane, Boit and I decided to walk around Virra Mall for a while. While browsing mags in National Bookstore I saw Avigale, still with her nerdy-looking boyfriend. (If you're reading this Avi, I apologize, but we've drifted anyway.) After getting my comics I rode a bus home since I still had to update the news on Touch Mobile.

My cousin took us to Rockwell's Power Plant Mall for dinner, specifically the Hot! Cafe. It was my first time at either place. The Page One Bookstore was fascinating. Better stocked than PowerBooks, presumably, except on the graphic novel section.

After some "fine Filipino dining," I tried to walk off my meal of friend dumplings, potato, cheese sticks, breaded porkchop and mocca frappe. My two surprise sightings for the evening cosisted of Sarah Hung with her (I'm assuming) boyfriend headed for the parking lot, and long-lost SJCS classmate Sherman Lee, now taller and running his own food stall somewhere in City Hall, according to him.

By tomorrow morning I would have finished all my rented videos: Almost Famous, Remember the Titans, The Mexican, Sugar and Spice and the last 2 volumes of The Sopranos.