Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Back For The Moment With 100 Things

Okay, so I just got back from Brazil and Argentina, ( work-related sadly, hay... ) been very busy these past couple months now, doing a lot of travelling to the outer branches, and will leave again this Friday, to China for the annual Canton Fair in Guangzhou.

Yep, no rest for the weary. And I'm still not getting any thinner despite with all the travelling! Arrrrgh...

So, I was just surfing the blogsites in airports while waiting for my boarding call when I read about Kim's and Romy's 100 things, which they got from Aperire's Coffee Cups. Excellent idea, so I get to think and mull something while in transit. So here's my 100 things.

1. I love pizza. Nothing stops me dead in the tracks than smelling a good combination of pepperoni, bell peppers and cheese.
2. I started reading when I was 6 years old. First book: Hardy Boys. Then again, anybody who reads starts at Hardy Boys ( or Nancy Drew for the girls ).
3. I am accident prone, which I shrug off because of my size.
4. I have four hamsters: Fishball, ChocNut, Sushi and Creampuff.
5. Five is my number.
6. To date, I have 6 scars: the left elbow, both knees, right arm, across my nose and my appendicitis operation.
7. I played bass guitar when I was in college and high school. Now, my callauses are gone.
8. I wish to be published someday.
9. I have many nicknames. My first and the most used is AM. Don't ask.
10. I got operated for appendicitis at the age of 10.

11.
I have big extended family, at a hefty 30 uncles and aunts and a growing number of cousins.
12. I'm the first grandchild in both sides of the family. And that is not a good thing actually.
13. I used to play baseball. Was a shortstop. Then I stopped when I got hit in the nuts ... twice.
14. I did pretty well in the field athletics department though, shotput and discus throw.
15. My full name is Arsenio Rafael IV y Aguirre. And yes people still make the mistake when they think Rafael is my first name. But its ok :-)
16. I got the nickname Raf when I was in a tournament ( which one, I forgot ) . The name stuck when the judge started using it.
17. I collect sourcebooks I will never get to play with...*sigh*
18. My passion will always be books, games and music.
19. I introduced Magic The Gathering in our school.
20. I fear roaches. Don't ask, childhood traumatic event. Don't be surprised when I scream like a sissy when encountering one.

21.
When it comes to bass playing, Nathan East and Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers would be my icons.
22. I had my bass guitar stolen by my ex girlfriend. May she itch everyday for the rest of her life.
23. I once woke up to find myself thinking about Schroedinger's Cat.
24. I fell in love with the fantasy genre when I first read a Greyhawk book ( forgot the title, but was about the story of Gord the Gutless ).
25. I have a best friend since kindergarten days.
26. Ever since time began, my haircut rotated on only three styles: Flat Top, Crew Cut and Semi Kalbo ( except for that time in Manila where I didn't get one for 5 months )
27. I'd probably go mad if not for the Hobby.
28. I'm cynical, yet deep inside I'm actually a hopeless romantic.
29. I once cried like a baby when I was is Grade 5 ( ok, technically still a small kid ) because someone stole my bookmark. It was a great bookmark, and had Batman and Superman on it. I miss that bookmark...)


31. I believe in the philosophies of Calvin And Hobbes.
32.
I think Firefly is one of the most underated TV series ever. Get the DVD!
33. I believe in the vision of Hayao Miyazaki's films.
34. Filipino telenovelas are ... involuted to say the least.
35. I miss Batibot.
36. I snore pretty loudly when I'm tired...which is most of the time.
37. I have a pretty resistant body, except for stabs and cuts. In DnD world, that would be "resistant to bludgeoning weapons, but double damage on piercing and slashing". Yes, that would be the geek in me.
38. I get sick only once a year, but comes in package i.e. fever with bellyaches, fever with boils etc. Gross? Yup.
39. I used to play varsity basketball.
40. I have so many books that they're stacked lopsidedly in the floor, since I don't any more space in the shelves.

41.
Terry Prachett's Discworld series keep me sane.
42. Frasier I like.
43. One of the books that change my life was Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein. Read and believe in the book, not the movie!
44. I fell in love with science fiction after reading the Foundation novels by Isaac Asimov.
45. I have so many literary heroes, and I could choose anyone from Durnik to Jimmy the Hand to Johnny Rico, from Batman to Hellboy to Sam and Twitch, but consistently, I still look up to Sherlock Holmes.
46. I enjoy a good hard boiled detective story.
47. Sunrise is my thing.
48. I'm trying my hand at photography right now.
49. I believe that people should never forget what happened in the past, learn from it and use it as a guideline for the future.
50. People say I'm approachable, that I can get along with anybody. True, but that doesn't stop me from forming an opinion about you. Just that I can accept who you are, even if you're nuts and deranged.

51.
One of my nicknames is Mooshi. Don't ask.
52. The first song I sang in front of an audience was "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls to a girl in the crowd who never knew I existed.
53. I never ate breakfast ever since I was in elementary. I make up for it during lunch time.
54. I hate heights. I do things to erase the fear like Shooting Star and all but it only makes it stronger...arrrgh...
55. Cheesecake is a good dessert to end a good meal.
56. I have tried roasted scorpion, and it tasted like chicharon.
57. I have been to China for six months, and it was one heck of an adventure.
58. I'm probably the only one here in the whole Visayas and Mindanao who plays Warhammer, Dungeons and Dragons and Warmachine. *sigh*
59. If I wasn't in my family business today, I'd probably be a teacher or a missionary.
60. I am a wee hour person. I wake up in the dead of the morning just for kicks. Kinda like a reverse insomniac.

61.
I support local bands like Up Dharma Down and Urbandub, and especially indie bands.
62. If there ever was a Coldplay or Dave Matthews Band concert scheduled in Manila, I'd buy front row seats.
63. If I have twins, they're names would be Inigo and Inaki. Isagani for triplets.
64. My room is a total state of chaos. Too many stuff, too little space.
65. I collect DvD's which I don't time to watch. Sucks.
66. I am a fan of Akira Kurasawa.
67. If I have the time, I'd watch indie art films.
68. I can cook a mean batch of spagetti, using a time honored family recipe.
69. I can eat a 18" pizza in one sitting.
70. Weirdly, coffee makes me sleepy instead of the other way around.

71.
No matter how many bottles, I can never get drunk, and that is both a good and a bad thing. Family gene working in the system.
72. Saying that, I'm the only one left in my barkada who hasn't ran around buck naked and drunk. And I'm still not sure if that is a good or bad thing.
73. I go to a spa every week, just to shake off all the stress and worries. Unbelievably, its pretty cheap here in the province.
74. During lunchtime I take a ride outside just recharge my energy and not think about anything for an hour.
75. There are times when I think I'm not appreciated, especially in the office. Which makes me more or less grumpy.
76. I miss jamming with my bandmates.
77. I remember our worst gig was in Lucena when everything just went wrong ( the volume was wrong, the pitch was wrong, the intruments can be barely be heard etc etc etc. ) and we drowned our sorrows in McDonalds.
78. I sometimes exaggerate too much.
79. I am a self confessed extrovert.
80. I was born in 1980, at the star of the Goat and the sign of the Sheep. Baaaaaaaaah!

81.
Sometimes, I wish for peace and prosperity. Then again, that probably won't happen.
82. I'm a pack rat. I can't seem to throw stuff away. Receipts, airline baggage claims, random scraps of paper...
83. My personality test shows that I'm unconventional and perceptive, and would make a great storyteller and entrepreneur. Hmmm...
84. Come year 2008, if I can scrounge enough cash, I'd open a Hobby Store here just for the heck of it.
85. When I'm really tired, I could sleep for more than 12 hours straight.
86. I read Shaw Island, Dork Tower and Penny Arcade.
87. I once woke up because of dream I had that I was the last person on the earth and making sure it wasn't true.
88. I once crashed my bicycle when I was a kid, skidmarks showing in the left side of my body. Even though it is gone, I can still feel some of the little stones embedded. Thank God I'm fat.
89. Sadly, many beautiful girls take to me and trust me because of the "Kuya Factor." Fuck Kuya Factor.
90. I have no patience for elitist bastards. I'd take a battering ram up their ass.

91.
Humility is a virtue I can scarce afford. At worst, I'd be a windbag.
92. Patience is a virtue I have in abundance. At best, I could listen for hours at your problems.
93. I am a sucker for intelligent and interesting conversations.
94. I believe in the philosophy "Change is good". Or better yet "Adapt or die".
95. Looking back, these experiences made me what I am. It's true that wisdom comes with a price.
96. I'm a big family type person. If it were me, I'd have ten kids and lotsa grandchildren.
97. I'd most likely name my son Arsenio V.
98. When I die, I'd like to people to have one huge drunken party and celebrate not that I'm dead, but that I have enjoyed life to the fullest. That I would definitely wish for.
99. Three songs I'd play for my funeral would be "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd, "I'm Still Here" by John Reznik and Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture as my casket is lowered.

100.
When I'm dead, I wish my epitaph to reflect what I've done and what I was. Only five words would be inscribed..."Father. Entreprenuer. Writer. Gamer. Musician."

State of Mind: Fast Paced Blurriness
Now Listening To: Drops of Jupiter by Train
Now Reading: The Science of Discworld by Terry Prachett
Looking for(ward): To a friend's wedding in Davao next week.