Gio M., my long-lost brother

After figuring out that I buckled down to work right after getting home from dinner with Bob S., Pauline M. and Brian M., Gio IM-ed me to tease me about it. Apparently, he also just wrote a blog entry referencing me. (I took the liberty of including the stupid/hilarious bits of that part of our conversation. Haha.)

(00:17:58) Gio Mauleon: onga eh. miss you powhz

(00:18:03) Pauline Gairanod: asussssss

(00:18:07) Pauline Gairanod: i miss you too!

(00:18:10) Pauline Gairanod: kahit ganyan ka,

(00:18:18) Pauline Gairanod: nakakamiss ka din *rolls eyes*

(00:18:19) Gio Mauleon: gumawa na nga ako ng blog entry na kasama ka indirectly eh

(00:18:22) Gio Mauleon: =))

(00:18:25) Pauline Gairanod: AWWWWW

(00:18:28) Pauline Gairanid: link moi! anong ginagawa mo?

(00:18:42) Gio Mauleon: katatapos ko lang mag kenpo

(00:18:47) Gio Mauleon: HAHA

(00:18:56) Gio Mauleon: yes, i have weird exercises

(00:19:12) Gio Mauleon: http://gi000.livejournal.com/

(00:21:09) Pauline Gairanod: what's kenpo?? :|

(00:21:17) Pauline Gairanod: last night's was weird too

(00:21:23) Pauline Gairanod: now it's kenpo?? it sounds like dimsum!

This was his journal entry:

Totems

A dream within a dream. Sometimes it’s hard to keep track of what's reality and what's fiction. In the movie Inception, the concept of having a totem was introduced - something close to you that you hold on to in order to keep you in check with what’s real and what isn’t. It’s interesting how the movie played on the notion that these little trinkets could keep you grounded. These things could be as simple as a top, a chess piece or a wedding ring. Basically anything that has particular significance in that person's life.

They say that people present themselves in layers, sometimes even giving the illusion of change when revealing another layer of themselves. (Don’t get me wrong, I believe that people can change, but they don’t do so drastically.) It’s problematic when the numerous layers that people keep and show to different audiences get mixed up. A person could get lost within those layers and totally lose his identity. That’s where the idea of a totem comes in. In my case, I have around 5 totems. A few selected people that I’ve come to know over my years of existence - people who remain objective and unbiased no matter how pressing the situation gets. People who I can go back to from time to time in order to regain my grip on who I am and who I'm not.

So to my totems, old and new, thanks for keeping me grounded bitches! (You know who you are. Well, I think you should. Haha!)

------

So, of course, I had to ask him which bit of the entry I was being indirectly referenced in. Am I one of those who'd always present themselves in layers? Am I one of his "totems"?

(00:28:07) Pauline Gairanod: asan ako dun???

bakit may indirect reference ako sa entry?

:))

(00:28:24) Gio Mauleon: ikaw si totem

(00:28:34) Gio Mauleon: yesss yun o

(00:28:34) Gio Mauleon: totem kita

(00:28:38) Pauline Gairanod: AWWWWWWW

(00:28:43) Pauline Gairanod: I LOVE YOU, GIO MAULEON!

(00:28:47) Pauline Gairanod: GAGO KANG AWESOME KA

(00:28:50) Pauline Gairanod: that made my day :)

(00:28:55) Pauline Gairanod: seryoso.

(00:29:00) Gio Mauleon: hahahahaha

(00:29:03) Pauline Gairanod: you're my long-lost brother :))

(00:29:15) Gio Mauleon: i love you too, G. -->It was actually a heart there instead of love but blogspot refuses to let me use the lesser-than sign+3 combo because it screws up the HTML code

(00:29:15) Gio Mauleon: :))

(00:29:16) Pauline Gairanod: awwww

(00:29:19) Gio Mauleon: and noprob

(00:29:22) Pauline Gairanod: HOY TAMA NA

(00:29:27) Pauline Gairanod: ANG MUSHY NA NATIN

(00:29:29) Pauline Gairanod: HAHAHAHAHAHA

(00:29:32) Gio Mauleon: you need some bitchin of cheering up kasi

To my long-lost brother, Gio, who keeps me calm and light-hearted even when my brain's short-circuiting, who knows how to cheer me up without making me lose focus, who is quite honestly one of the wittiest conversationalists I've ever met and who I'm sure I will still be having random midnight Melona sessions with even when I'm 45 and the godmother of his son, Darth (Darth Mau-leon. Get it? :)) ), I frickin' love you. And you can do all your gay yoga/ken po moves all you want and I'll still be right here.

I will kick ass this weekend/next week because of you!

Rested

I spent the previous Sunday with Brian M. and his family at Hacienda Linda, their lovely get-away farm compound, to celebrate his 22nd birthday. I spent most of the day with his younger cousins watching Kung Fu Panda, recounting his antics in school in exchange for stories about his more scandalous exploits and discussing random things with Andrea, who has the (mis)fortune of being the only girl among the cousins in that age group (My playmates and good friends as well as the cousins I spent time with, growing up, were mostly guys, so I could relate pretty well). Spending time with Brian's family made me miss mine so I sneaked in a call to Pice, my little sister, after lunch.

It was the most relaxing day I've had in a while, given all the work I've had to deal with (I have my Eco minor to thank for that. :| ), so I was happy Brian convinced me to go. I owed him a favor because he drove me to Greenbelt and back one crazy night when I was supposed to catch Inception with him but something came up with a friend so I had to run right back to Katipunan--so he figured I could make up for it by coming with him to his birthday lunch. I think he might have decided to save me from myself when he saw how agitated I was coming in to class everyday loaded with half a dozen books and a planner close to bursting the last two weeks. Haha!

Back home (and whenever the brood's here), I've always preferred just hanging out with my family and a couple of my parents' close friends and their kids, bonding over good food, movies and a bottle of wine or two for dinner over partying. I enjoy taking care of the young ones and amusing them with my stories and, when they're off playing new games or doing things no self-respecting teenager should take part of, I like joining in the adults' conversations, learning about their experiences and what they think of my generation. So my day with Brian and his family was refreshing and comforting, given that I haven't had time to see my family (save Daddy) since the first semester began.

Brian's mom is one of the coolest I've ever met. She's gorgeous and poised, but she's also quirky, witty and confident. I guess growing up spoiled by four (or five?) boys can make anyone a fun go-getter. She has great taste in music, judging by what she was asking Brian to play in the car, and she made me feel at ease within the first five minutes of meeting her. His grandmother was just as lovely, reminding me to feel at home every so often. Brian's uncles are an interesting mix. His Uncle Joel made it a point to introduce me to everyone, joined our table for lunch and had me cracking up every five minutes. Brian's cousins, Eric, Victor, Andrea and Nicole, were a delight and made me miss my siblings and cousins terribly. They aren't your typical kids--they're mature, quick-witted and their interests are...hilarious. :)) It was like being with my siblings and the Niners (the group of kids who'd always come over for playdates in the Zambo house while the adults are at parties), but with more disturbing YouTube videos!

I told Brian the afternoon made me see him in a different light and that I'm happy that I did. The group's always seen Brian as the quintessential party boy, the one who can make everyone crack up just by going, "Hey, G!" Seeing him being doted on by his grandmother and doting on his mother and cousins made Bri just a bit more...human to me. I've always been the most comfortable with Brian in the group but, even then, I was always wary. Seeing him drop the party boy nonchalance reminded me of how my brother is when he's around the family. Brian is now officially one of my "homeboys"! Haha!

I'm really glad my friends think I'm someone they'd feel fully comfortable introducing their families to. I like thinking it's a testament to how much they trust me--and the fact that, so far, I've gotten along with all the families of my friends that I've been introduced to makes me happy.

My love and thanks to Brian and the Manalac family!

The Geeks and The Jock

I spent Saturday afternoon with Miguel T. and was surprised when he volunteered to drive me to and join us at Victor B. and Jesus F.'s victory party in Amici - Tomas Morato because I wasn't sure Miguel would find it comfortable being around so many debaters, given how we always end up talking about tournaments and adjudication and motions....and, well, basically, things non-debaters would find hard to understand. Surprisingly, the jock fit in well with the geeks. Haha! He talked to Vic and Jesus about his work-out, the World Cup and UAAP football though. Too much testosterone for me, so I lured Vic into a conversation about LIV outfits and how Intramuros IV went. They tried to cajole us into knocking back a few drinks after, but Miguel had a Sunday morning game scheduled and I was keen on getting homework out of the way so we begged off and headed back to Katipunan after catching up with everyone else. Turns out we didn't get to Katipunan early either because the traffic was really heavy. We just kept switching radio stations in the car and laughing about the songs that came on. Fun night. I want to have dinner with Vic sometime soon again though, but just the two of us. I need to hear his hilarious (uncensored) IIV stories!

The decent group shot!

Me with Carlos and Miguel (I look...sleepy in this picture.)

The weird group pic!

Dani has her kissy face on and I look like I'm smirking.

Me with Miguel and Victor

Somewhere Only We Know

And if you have a minute

Why don't we go

Talk about it somewhere only we know

This could be the end of everything

So why don't we go somewhere only we know

Oh, sympathy, where have you gone

I'm getting old and I need something to rely on

So tell me when you're gonna let me in

I'm getting tired

And I need somewhere to begin

I'm shallow.

Bits of random YM conversations in the last two days with Gio that made me realize how incredibly shallow I can be:

Gio Mauleon (8/1/2010 2:57:32 PM): hahahaha well at least madali ka pasayahin

Gio Mauleon (8/1/2010 2:57:53 PM): para kang goldfish. just feed it and masaya na uli siya

Gio Mauleon (8/1/2010 2:57:54 PM): =))

Pauline Gairanod (8/1/2010 2:58:03 PM): ...

---

(On Plants V Zombies)

Gio Mauleon (7/30/2010 1:58:04 AM): hahahaha! i have a better formation than that sa survival endless

Gio Mauleon (7/30/2010 1:58:10 AM): 6 rocket corns

Gio Mauleon (7/30/2010 1:58:11 AM): ahhaahaha

Pauline Gairanod (7/30/2010 1:58:29 AM): dude, adik ka

Gio Mauleon (7/30/2010 1:58:35 AM): your walls are too far

Pauline Gairanod (7/30/2010 1:58:46 AM): kami naaliw lang kami sa cattails

Gio Mauleon (7/30/2010 1:59:01 AM): iba eh

Gio Mauleon (7/30/2010 1:59:01 AM): lahat tinitira eh

Pauline Gairanod (7/30/2010 1:59:08 AM): ...okay

Pauline Gairanod (7/30/2010 1:59:12 AM): our main reason was it's cute

Pauline Gairanod (7/30/2010 1:59:15 AM): but that works too!

Gio Mauleon (7/30/2010 1:59:38 AM): sometimes pau, you are a girl

Gio Mauleon (7/30/2010 1:59:40 AM): hahahaha

----

I can't help it! :| I'm really shallow and gullible!