Seize the Night!!!

People who know me would often say that I’m a very confrontational person; always looking for reasons to get into an argument, throwing tactless comments into the air, etc. But these days, I’m devolving into something different; something much worse. Instead of looking for verbal battles, I’ve been looking for fights. Real ones.

I guess this is another demon a have to face in my backtracking expedition. I dealt with this particular aggressive demon two-and-a-half years ago but I never really had a problem containing it because I was in a "Fight Club". I was somewhat able to unleash some of my pent-up rage and open up a can of whoop-ass. Even though I didn’t really win that much since I was one of the weaker fighters (if not the weakest), it did it’s job in training me and containing my unexplained desire to pummel someone.

As mentioned, I am facing this demon again. Only problem is: I’M NOT IN A FIGHT CLUB ANYMORE!!! So what am I to do? I can’t just go around challenging anyone I see on the street. That can only lead to two things: 1) I get my ass whooped; 2) I kick someone’s head in, get captured by the police for disturbing the peace and get my ass whooped. Former or latter, it doesn’t matter. I lose.

I decided to do some retail therapy. I bought the Batman Begins DVD and the Marvel Knights: Elektra Trade Paperback; two items that I oh-so-coveted over the weeks. Upon watching the Special Features disc of the Batman Begins, my attention was immediately captured by the featurette about the martial art they used for the movie, the KeySi Fighting Method.

The KeySi Fighting Method is a very tight close-quarters martial art. Unlike other martial arts which look beautiful only when choreographed and lethal only when executed crudely, KeySi is as lethal as it is beautiful. It is a mixture of many types of martial arts and is still evolving. The primary stance of KeySi is the "Thinking Man" stance which is very defensive, but it uses the stance’s awkward position to it’s full offensive advantage by getting in really close and using a lot of elbow and fist strikes. To support this technique, the footwork involved in the art always aims to dodge an opponent’s strikes and/or get as close as possible (and I mean in-your-face close). It also has some nifty grappling techniques that often lead to a neck-break, choke, or headlock. Basically, it’s built to end a fight quickly with very serious injuries to your victim… errr… opponent.

Ever since then, I’ve been researching everything I can about KeySi. I’ve also been trying to train myself (as much as I could train watching and imitating the movements in the featurette) to learn it. So I ended up buying boxing gloves, a punching bag, and a new pair of nunchuckus (Okay, the nunchucks are not really part of the KeySi Fighting Method. I just use it for dexterity training). The training is also a good way for me to release tension brought about my sudden attacks of ruthless aggression. The timing for my interest to learn something has never been so perfect.

Aside from KeySi training, I’ve also tried to express my aggression through the clothes I wear. Everyone who has seen me can attest that I always wear black. I wanted to take it to the next level by using the hue as an expression of rage and intimidation by combining it with shades of red and other gothic elements. The perfect opportunity for me to try this out came in the form of an event: the grand launch of Shades of Gray: Split-Second Eternities, DLS-CSB’s Literary Folio.

The event had a corporate-punk theme. So I came in a black collared shirt, black pants, and black Chuck Taylor’s. I enhanced it by sporting a dark violet duotone neck-tie, mismatched earrings (one hoop and one dangling), mismatched finger-gloves (black on the left, black and red on the right), and 3 wrist-watches on my left arm (pink and circular, blue and squarish, red and triangular). I was happy with the way I looked, especially with the wrist-watches+finger-glove combo which looked like a make-shift gauntlet. I was even happier when I was awarded 2nd-best dressed person in the event–I lost by (a) hair, literally. Dianne, the 1st placer, had really wild hair that I can’t compete with. I got a really cool charm bracelet for it as a prize. It looked really cool. Me likey.

Aggression Deterrents. Yes, I do need anger management.

Shiny New Nunchuckus. The newest addition to my armory: Equilibrium. I shall paint it soon.

Charmed. The bracelet that I won from the Shades of Gray Launch. I likes it very mucho.

I’ve been out of commission for an entire week because of a stupid boil that grew on my armpit. I know, it’s disgusting and it’s too much info but who would’ve though that something as mundane as a boil could put a halt to my activities.

I went to the doctor to get it checked and he told me that my ailment is a kind of boil that is known as some three-word medical name that probably only exists in the secret world of doctors. It’s basicaly the most painful kind of boil. I couldn’t put my arm down for an entire week.

He gave me some medicine that hastened it’s "ripening" and boy he wasn’t kidding when he said that it would hasten. After a few days of taking the medicine, the boil suddenly inflamed like crazy and popped. I won’t go into detail what happened after that anymore; what’s important is that I’m better now and I can finally go out without looking like an idiot with his right hand in the air.

I missed out on a lot of stuff because of my stupid condition. I wasn’t able to bike, nor twirl nunchukus or any other weapon. And since my brother recently bought a new TV and Playstation 2, I was doing nothing more that exercise my fingers on the Dual Shocks. I also wasn’t able to go to my friend’s Ultimate Frisbee game. I really wanted to watch that and probably join, too, so I could at least get some exercise.

Speaking of exercise, my dad seems to think that I desperately need it so he suddenly bought me a Nerf Football. It’s really nice and soft. I can’t seem to let it go. It’s always by my side, getting tossed around or just being held by me. Oh well, I guess I just miss my running back days.

Recently, I also went to UP-Diliman and Ateneo de Manila to inquire about second-degree programs. I’m planning to study again, this time under journalism-related program. In UP, I was able to get an application form but they’re only accepting applicants during April. So I’ll have to get a job for now and wait for April.

Ateneo was weird though. When I inquired, they said that they don’t accept graduates from other schools who want a second-degree and only accept applicants for MBAs and Doctorates. Not that I’m biased because I’m Benildean, but isn’t that quite discriminating? I mean, come on. Just because I graduated from another school I automatically don’t deserve a shot at getting in a regular Ateneo degree-program. Not that I’m angry at them, but I’m now starting to see why most of my friends don’t like Ateneo (and some of them are Ateneans).

In every sailing trip there will always be storms that you have to pass by. These storms could often cause a ship to sink, especially if they strike at the same time. Fortunately, I faced them when I’m still not that far from port.

Just this week I wasn’t able to sleep properly because I heard from my colleagues that Sir Randy was leaving. I asked about who said it and they said that it came straight from him. At first, I was just silent; thinking about why he would leave. Out of I-don’t-know what, I took my laptop and played the video of Do As Infinity’s Tao.

When I saw the video it reminded me of the disbanding of Do As Infinity, which happened last September 30, 2005. The video showed Tomiko and Ryo riding in different vehicles going their separate ways. It also kind of made the entire Randy-is-leaving news sink in a bit more. I suddenly found myself crying in the SPO. Good thing Nick was there to cover me and no one saw me burst into tears.

I know that it seems weird that I cried because someone is leaving. I’m really no stranger to that scenario and I’ve dealt with it somewhat-gracefully in the past but this was just different. Sir Randy was like a mentor, a father and a friend to me. Although I don’t really show it that much because I often make fun of him, I have so much respect for him. He is the one who gave me the final push to become a writer. He believed in my abilities and he always said that I have what it takes to become a journalist. I’ve learned a lot from him and he helped me improve in my craft. He was such an inspiration to me that the mere fact that I know that he was going to read something that I wrote made me try my best to write better.

So I struggled on for 3 sleepless days. Only to find out that what I’ve been weeping over was just a joke… Yes… you read it right… it was all a joke. Sir Randy confirmed it himself. He was just joking when he told the people in the SPO. They all took him seriously, though. It was just a joke… A really bad joke.

Oh well… I can’t really incarcerate him for that now, can I? I fell for it hook, line and sinker. So I guess I’ll just let the issue go. At least he’s not leaving anymore. That’s good news to me. Now I can try to raise my anchors so I could get back to my journey.

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The commencement exercises for my graduation happened just this Saturday. Of course, it was as boring as hell. But I was shocked when I heard Br. Armin Luistro, the President of the De La Salle System, call me by my nickname and pen-name, ‘BJ’, when he shook my hand as I got my "diploma" even though my real name was annouced. I guess he’s been reading my column then. It’s really nice to know that some people at the top actually are interested in what I have to say.

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I wasn’t really able to raise anchor yet. I don’t know. I guess I just got drenched too much by the rain that my new-found appreciation for it erred once again. It’s not that I hate it. I just don’t feel as enthusiastic about it anymore. I always seem to feel depressed whenever it does rain. So depressed that I actually bought a DVD of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, planned to buy new shoes (since my old prestos got destroyed by the rain), and fixed my room.

It’s kind of funny though. My room looks like an office now (pics shown below).

You know that it’s bad once I start fixing my room. At least I learned to appreciate the rain even for just a while.

My exploits yesterday could easily count as a book in Lemony Snickett’s Series of Unfortunate Events. Why? Well… maybe it’s because I did get into a series of unfortunate events.

The day started out just like normal. I planned to just go to school, attend a workshop, leave at 4 pm and pick up my grandma from Bulacan.

I just took the car and zoomed all the way to school to get to the Opinion Writing Workshop by Manuel Quezon III. Well… I was late because of the traffic so I zoomed out of the parking lot the moment I parked. As I was crossing the street, I crossed the path of a pedicab. And by some strange reason, as if I was jinxed or something, the pedicab’s side tire blew out. I ignored it not knowing that it was a sign of mishaps yet to come.

I was able to catch some of the Workshop’s relevant points and later went to the SPO. I noticed that my cellphone was not with me, so I assumed that I left it in the car and I started to reach for my keys, which we’re hanging by my belt.

What happened next made my world crumble to dust. I soon found out that my car keys were gone! All I found hanging on my belt was the hook of the keychain. The damn keychain fell apart dropping my keys to the great bottomless pit of lost things.

I went straight to my car (to see if it’s still there) and scanned the ground that I walked on for any sign of the keys. Obviously, there was no sign of the keys and my car (with my phone in it) was still safe in the parking lot. I again went back to campus and reported the missing item to Lost and Found. After that, I called up my dad to ask him if he had the spare key with him.

Good news is that he does have the spare; bad news is that he can’t bring it to me because he has work and I am an hour-drive away. I had no choice but to go to commute to his vicinity, grab the key and commute back to school.

It would’ve been an easy task if it wasn’t 4PM already! The LRT and the MRT are packed with sweaty armpits, making my trip as miserable as hell. It’s a good thing that is was better on the way back.

En route to the parking lot I ran into Nick and told him about my hell of a day. So he decided to acompany me while I rested in the SPO. After resting, I finally left School and went straight to Bulacan to pick up my grandma. The drive there took me 3 hours because I had no choice but to brave rush hour traffic.

Well… amidst all that, there are still somethings to be thankful for: 1) I left my cellphone in the car - if not for that I wouldn’t have known that my keys were missing; 2) My car wasn’t stolen - thank God nobody found the keys and took my car; 3) I had a great workout - I must’ve lost 5 pounds that day. Me thinking positive is weird but it is true, the day was not all that bad. It may have been a series of unfortunate events but it was still one great adventure.