The aftermath of a one-week break from blogging…
Yeah, yeah… dropped off the face of the blogosphere yet again. But this time it’s not for the old reasons I had (i.e. running out of ideas, becoming too busy, obsessed with a new game/video/hobby/girl, etc). This time, it was intentional…
So what was the reason? I just had to take a break… what, too vague for ya? It’s just that – a one-week break.
Anyway, what happened so far since I stopped posting blog entries? Nothing much… just work, music, social gatherings and the occasional video game or DVD. What I really want to put on this particular blog entry is what to expect for the remainder of this year… so that you can call me out when I appear to be slipping on those particular “things” I need done. Not that you would mind much, anyway. I mean, who really reads these things anyway? (Well, except for those who actually like the daily Tagalog words I put up here.) But if you are one of those people who like what I write, I invite you to read some more. To steal a popular phrase from Stephen King, I encourage you, Constant Reader, to keep reading and see what bogeymen are running around in this disturbing liquid container I call a brain…
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New Year’s Eve in New York
I’m gonna be spending the last few days of 2009 (and the first couple of days of 2010) in the Big Apple. It’s my first time going there. Ever. I’ve been in the United States for almost 13 years non-stop, and I haven’t even been anywhere east of Michigan (which is really kinda silly since the state that is directly east of Michigan IS New York). So yeah, my first time in the Big Apple, and my first time being outside California on New Year’s Eve.
So what’s the occasion, you might ask? I mean, aside from it being New Year’s Eve? Well, I’ll be visiting my youngest brother, Rodell, and reuniting with my other brother, Rommel, who will be travelling south from Montreal, Canada with his daughter. The last time us three brothers have been together (much less celebrate a holiday together) was in 2002. So it’ll be a real treat for us to be celebrating the holidays again. And of course, my mother would be ecstatic about it.
Aside from that, the other reason is to watch and listen to my brother sing opera. Sure, sure, those who know me are probably asking “hey, haven’t you watched your brother perform opera enough times already?” Well actually, you’re right. There’s only enough you can stand listening to arias in German, Russian, French and of course, Italian – especially when you had to listen to them for years coming from the room beside yours. But this one is a bit different – my brother just debuted at the famed Metropolitan Opera House in New York. Yep, that’s right, he’s only the second Filipino to be performing there (after Evelyn Mandac, who did it way back in 1975, which was ironically his birth year), and the first male Filipino opera singer to actually perform there. Ever.
(Why this isn’t up there with Manny Pacquiao and Arnel Pineda is beyond me… damn pop culture…)
Anyway, we’ll be watching him perform in the opera Les Contes D’Hoffman, and it’ll surely be a treat. If you are an avid opera lover, and you’re in the east coast, and you are anywhere near the tri-state area, check out the performances at the Met – and make sure to look up Rodell Aure Rosel. You can check his website if you’re interested in knowing more about my overly talented little brother…
Maybe I’ll see you there this New Year 
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The End of P90X… for now?
This week will be the homestretch of my 90-day workout routine, popularly called P90X. Ever since I lost almost 40 pounds in a span of seven weeks last July, I have been trying to add more definition to the “lanky” frame I ended up with… For those who don’t trust infomercials, or are wary of workout ads that promise the world but deliver otherwise, I can safely say that this one works as advertised. I’ll be making a separate blog entry for that one as soon as I’m done… obviously, I’ll include pictures… and some commentary… maybe a short song as well… or if I’m drunk, I can also put a clip of Richard Simmons singing “Relax”…
On second thought, let’s not…
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Site Renovation Galore
My technical support site, Open Tech Support, once one of the major hubs in technological cyberspace and garnering a top 7,000 site ranking with Alexa a few years ago, is now just a shadow of its former self. Currently ranked 189,000 (and still falling), it is in MAJOR need of CPR. Hence I am now making it go back to its roots…
OTS was started as an independent tech support site for games made by Blizzard Entertainment (y’know, Diablo, WarCraft, StarCraft, etc) in 2000. Yeah, that was nine years ago! It has eventually progressed into a general support site concentrating on broader categories than just gaming.
But now that I have had a chance to reevaluate the site, I have decided to make it go back to its roots. Blizzard Entertainment still makes great games (really an understatement if you consider the fact that World of WarCraft is still the biggest MMORPG in the world, and StarCraft II and Diablo III are the most anticipated titles for next year), and the only way for OTS to really get back on its feet is to re-explore its roots. Right now I am on the last stages of content updates and planning, and hopefully I can update the site’s “philosophy” before Thanksgiving and give the site a much-needed jumpstart…
(And I hope you don’t see me crossing my fingers on the verge of cramping)
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Lovelife?
Errrr… yeah, like I’m gonna talk about that here, hahaha! Let’s just say that the future looks very bright, but whether it’s the light at the end of the tunnel or a freight train heading my way remains to be seen 
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Odds and Ends
Since I’m gonna be on holiday hiatus for the latter part of December, I’ll be queuing up some Tagalog words in advance, so that they’ll show up every day while I’m gone, without me actually having to go to a computer to write them (Wordpress iPhone app, notwithstanding). That way, you won’t miss a Tagalog word fix while I’m freezing my ass off in sub-zero New York…
And I’ll be once again doing the P90X routine from January to March, dubbed “Phase two” … now that I am kinda lean, I’ll try to go for size, but not too much… oh, and I’ll also try to stop smoking again…
(Yeah, you heard right… I’m gonna stop smoking once again… how long that lasts is still up in the air, but hey, you better start somewhere, right? Even though it’s like, what, the hundredth time I tried to stop? As they say, the hundredth time’s the charm… uh… yeah…)
Wow, a recap post for the week became a pre-end-year forecast… Well, anything that can make me get back in the groove right? And if you’re still reading up to this point, I’m sure I made it interesting enough for ya.
So, as always, stay tuned, and keep reading… Constant Reader 
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