Some days are longer than most and it has been those kinds of days. But I don't want to go there just yet...lest I say too much and decide its best to throw things in the trash bin...

Something New

I'm not that desperate for a job, but if i think it's something different and interesting (and nothing illegal), then I'm game. So just the other week, one such oppurtunity presented itself. A boyfriend of a classmate of mine asked me if I would be interested in a dubbing gig. Yup, a dubbing gig, one that required people who know how to speak Bisaya (the more commonly used language in some parts of Visayas and Mindanao). Apparently, the GMA network is losing(daw!) to their rival in those regions and they are exploring ways to remedy that...and that's where they think dubbing some some tv series' and cartoons in Bisaya would help reel more viewers in. Though a friend told me that it's really their poor signal/reception they should be working on.

Needless to say, I was interested and went to Makati for my audition last Wednesday. They let me read a few lines to some well-known actor who guested on an arguably popular saturday night sitcom(hint hint). I got the part but didn't get to start dubbing 'coz there was a conflict with regards to the script from the Cebu translators. So... I went back Thursday evening. This time I travelled alone and was hoping I had remembered the directions correctly...and I got there in one piece naman. The office is at the tenth floor and it's weird coz there are no staircases...the only option was to take the clickety old elevator. The dubbing studion itself is quite small...just about the size of my room with a division in the middle to have two recording boxes. It was completely padded to make it soundproof but the good thing was that it was VERY cold(good thing I brought a jacket). I let the others go first so I could read the script beforehand and so I could see how the more seasoned dubbers went about it. I have to say that I was instantly impressed at how they went about with their work...they actually had to act out themselves while in the booth 'coz "internalizing" helped bring more feeling to their voices. And of course, I was also intimidated and suddenly felt insecure if it was really a good idea to get myself into this, I've never been too fond of hearing my own voice. But eventually, my turn came...and I had fun, really. I know my accent isn't really Bisaya or Tagalog, but I managed...they wouldn't have taken me in if I was so bad. It was quite an experience to have, and though it was my first time, the recorder and the manager treated me professionally and were really quite nice...so were the other dubbers(Though they did tend to talk about showbiz tsismis a lot, hmm, couldn't blame them I guess). They said I did a good job when I was done, but since it was quite late, I askewd if I could sleep over rather than go home at that ungodly hour. It was okay naman daw, the manager said people do it all the time. But befroe getting some shut eye, I went down to the 7-11 on the first floor and grabbed me a bite to eat.

Sitting there alone at 3am... I realized how I've always loved being awake while the whole city sleeps. It brings a sense of profoundness and calm...though at times, also a feeling of loneliness (which through time I have learned to like...yeah, I'm a masochist). I remember that's why I love it when my dad comes to town and I get to stay in the hotel. We'd watch a late movie and on the way home, I have this odd feeling of warmth walking past quiet coffee shops with friends sharing a laugh. Though i do wish that sometimes I'd get to do that more often myself, I am still quite content just being an observer. And when my dad dozes off, I get to stay by the large window, overlooking the city...all lit up but asleep. Sometimes I'd wish I'd brought my journal, or my brushes...but mostly I'm content just staring at everything like a kid walking into a toy shop. Of course, the breakfast buffet at the hotel is a whole other story entirely, hehe.

So I wake up at around six and take a jeep to the nearest MRT station, I head back home to take a shower. Wait. I skipped something. On the Pantranco jeep, I sat next to this girl(don't ask me if she was pretty...coz she was;p) and I asked her how much the fare was. She turned then smiled and said she wasn't sure herself and reached out her payment to the driver. When she got her change, she turned to me again, with that smile again(and I felt myself smiling back too!) and told me how much the fare was...and i thanked her. But i couldv'e swore that we stared at each other (smiling mind you), a several milliseconds than was necessary...I dunno, maybe I really wasn't awake yet. And I'm sure, when you think a moment like that hits you, especially with the guys(maybe girls too?)...you wonder if there was "something" there. And if there was...if you should do "something" about it. Well, in the duration of that short trip...I puzzled if it would have been appropriate to start a conversation with her, and I figured it wouldn't be...so i stayed mum. Hmmm...maybe I should've asked her for her number.

Anyway...

Like I said...I took a shower when I got home and dozed off a while. A "while" meaning I was late for the first class, hehe. But I was glad for the new experience, though next time, I hope I'll be assigned to dub the saturday morning cartoons instead...now that would be reeeeally funny:)

....

Last Monday, in spite of the rain some of my older boardmates (bar reviewees, an eng prof and the manager) decided to have a get-together(aka drinking session). They invited me over and wouldn't take no for an answer, and since I haven't really been social with them, I figured they might make the wrong impressions so I joined them. But I only agreed to a single shot of something with rum and chocolate milk and coffee(?)...and that was it. Though they were persistent that I have more,it was to no avail since I've had experience on my side of saying "no".

So, being a "bonding" session, maraming kwentuhan. And The most talkative one was the board manager whose stories would irritate me secretly...but more on that later. I've never really tried to talk or say hi to them before for the simple reason of me not being able to remember their names. So for the purposes of remembrance, they are Emi, Esme, Mike, Dennis, Nancy, and Ed. I guess they were curious aboutme since I was the "new one", so they asked a lot of questions and made a lot of unoriginal observations. But they were all friendly naman.

Now in the course of the long exchange of stories, some topics/stories didn't sit too well with me. For one, I didn't like how our boardinghouse manager was bragging about how he got some boarders he didn't like evicted out of the house (some being my friends). How he narrated certain events were really just one-sided, and though I'd try to inject a few facts as to how I knew things, he would dismiss them, so I didn't bother later on. Then may isa pa syang kwento that I demanded daw a new and bigger room, and that I wrote a formal letter that unless that happened, I would leave. That was a total lie. And I said that I did no such thing...but he dismissed it once again, but i let it go. Then he also talked about past employess, and apparently, they fired one because she was "stalking" me. She used to be the help and he said that she admittedly waited around everyday to see me go take my bath and head back to the room. And according to him, she was caught several times peeping through my room and according to her testimony, she'd watch me do everything from changing to sleeping. Though hearing this bothered me, it didn't bother me as much as most people would be. (later on, I inspected my room and found it hard to believe that someone could see everything if anything at all). Though those were good grounds of taking her out, it would have been better if he hadn't shared the story at all. The rest then started asking me questions about my so called "love life". As usual, I wouldn't really want to delve into the topic so I'd give some kind of response that closes it. But there goes mr. manager again running his mouth. If I myself didn't want to give information out, what makes him think he has any right to do so? I hate it when people would put some of the women I knew into a box or try to judge them. If this girl visits every now and then, or that one gave plane tickets to this country or that one is an heiress to an oil company somewhere...is really nobody's business. Some people should really learn not to put their noses just anywhere. He was probably just lying through his teeth anyway, just playing the crowd with his stupid stories and opinions. And If some of them were true, I'm pretty sure they were told in confidence...and he told it just out of passing fancy. Then he shifts the topic to his own experiences...about his sexual exploits of a homosexual nature. I get irritated again when he says that if he took me to this bar and that, I could definitely find somebody who'd support me with whatever I need. Is that meant to be a compliment??? The last straw comes when he questions the nature of the relationship with my ex. Like it's any of his business!? And he tells me a story that one time she visited, and nadapa daw or something. Then whenever she visits daw, nagmumura sya sa katulong or something. That is so not her. I really knew he was lying. But I didn't lose my cool...better people have tried to get into my skin and failed. But I can't stand him anymore. I think its time I find a new boardinghouse. On the bright side, I don't think the rest took most of the things he talked about too seriously...If they did, i think I would have taken a more active role.

....

I realize that I still have the tendency to try and defend my ex when I hear bad stuff said about her. I guess that'll never change. But I'd have to admit that as of late, my memory falters, I start questioning...I'm not sure if things were the way I remembered them to be. How I wish I could be with old friends, those that knew her, and that they'd tell me that she was the way I remembered her. Time has a way of making us naturally hate people just because we grew apart...distorting my memory, giving seed to doubt. I want to remember that I was the monster...and not her.

Not that it really matters anyhow.
....

"There is more to life than increasing its speed."
-Mohandas Gandhi


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