what i do on sundays

i usually stay in on sundays. i wake up late and most of the time i have a nasty hangover. 🙂

so i have relegated this day to be my detox day, my official rest day. and i do just that: rest and veg out. i rarely go out on sundays, except maybe when friends pester me to have dinner or coffee. i have promised myself never to have alcohol on a sunday, and so far i’ve been good on my word. 🙂

so being the lazy slob that i am, i just sit in front of my laptop and surf the net til my eyes hurt. this is also the day i download stuff. yes, i am one of those people who get a lot of things for nothing. hey, others are willing to share ’em, why not grab the opportunity, right? and yes, i am a cheapskate when it comes to music. myself and millions of other cheapskates spell the end of the recording industry as we know it.

but i’m not bothered, one artist gets doomed into oblivion, several others come out. that is why i am not a fan of anyone in particular. but i am a fan of music. i love music. if there was a soundtrack to my life it would span several albums. and i think most people are like me: we associate songs with certain parts of lives. like happy moments, being dumped, or being angry at the world. we all have our anthems.

and that’s what i do on sundays: listen to a lot of songs. and since i am a fan of all music, my choice of songs are very eclectic. i do not like one particular genre more than another, it all depends on my mood.

growing up, when my folks turn on the radio on sundays, they always listen to the old songs. of course they call it classics, but to my ears, they sounded like funeral dirges, or songs that would lead you straight to bed- to sleep. and looking back, i guess i’m a lot like my parents. i now listen to ‘old’ songs on sundays. by ‘old’ i meant songs that i grew up listening to.

the 90’s was an awesome decade for music (in my opinion). from pop to rock to everything in between, the 90’s had so many songs that i liked. i listened to pop acts from europe (and yes, i listened to the spice girls). listening to these girls now brings back geeky memories of high school (cringe).

and those boybands from europe and america. my personal favorite was take that. i’m always reminded of gloomy rainy days when i listen to them. they’re probably the gayest straight band ever. they’re music was, for me, the most mature of all the boy bands. my favorite from their songs is everything changes, an upbeat early 90’s pop song.

of course, my 90’s weren’t all about pop. i also listened to a lot of rock bands. i remember my cousin liking australia’s silverchair and and britain’s oasis. we loved oasis. people have compared them to the beatles but oasis never really reached the fab five’s popularity. in any case, you can click here to listen to my favorite song from them (stand by me). there are other rock bands i listened to of course. i also listened to the wallflowers, third eye blind, rem and of course my all time favorite, matchbox twenty. rob thomas was my guy. for me, he was a hunk and i still think of him that way. 😉

the 90’s was also all about r&b. mariah, brandy, monica and other r&b divas were big back then. so were the rappers: puff daddy and mace, will smith (the rapper who doesn’t swear), 2 pac among others. i was in high school when ‘i’ll be missing you’ came out. my good friend alexis tiuseco (the film critic who was murdered recently) introduced me to that music. and so everytime i hear this song, i would always think about him.

listening to music i grew up with makes me think about how broad the music industry really is. and also, it makes me feel old, but in a good way. because if people would check my 90’s music playlist, they would say that i got taste. 🙂

and i wasn’t just listening to foreign artists. the 90’s was also a good decade for pinoy music. we saw the rise of great pinoy rock bands like wolfgang (basti artadi is a crush), rizal underground, the teeth, parokya ni edgar and of course, the great, and i mean great band, the eraserheads. overdrive still is a part of my summer playlist. this band defined a generation. and most people my age would know who they are. and it was because of them i understood the word classic.

speaking of pinoy artists, francis magalona comes to mind. he was big in the 90’s and his song ‘mga kababayan’ is very memorable to me. because i was listening to the song when the 1992 quake happened. i would never forget that song. and if you want to listen to it again, click here. then there was also andrew e and other pinoy rappers who followed suit.

on lazy sundays, i am a youtube troll. i try searching for songs from my childhood. i really don’t know why i listen to these seemingly old songs. i guess you could say i’m a sentimental person. i want to go back to a time where i didn’t have to think about work, taxes, the election, poverty, people from work, and all other things that make growing up boring.

i listen to these artists and their songs because i feel like a kid again. and most of the time, if i find a song i really missed, i would share it on my other addiction: crackbook, er, facebook.

i’m like my folks in a way. they have their radios, i have my laptop and youtube. they listen to their classics, i have mine. and speaking of classics, i just realized that the songs i like listening to on sundays are still shown on mtv, mtv classics that is. 🙂

i must be getting old i guess.

and to all the old farts out there, here’s a song that you have probably danced to gwowing up sans cable. 🙂 this one’s a classic from a japanese band called pizzicato five: sweet soul revue. happy sunday!

i heart jay brannan

my friend shared this song on my wall in facebook. she called me up in the middle of my shift to tell me that she’s got the perfect song for me.

two things i found odd about the whole call: one, she doesn’t call me that often (but we are best friends); and two, the song as called ‘i want to be a housewife’ by an artist i haven’t heard of.

i was curious of course. i didn’t get the chance to hear/see it right away since i was still at work and work stuff got in the way. 🙂 and like many offices, facebook is blocked (proxy servers don’t work, unfortunately).

when i got home, i logged in right away to find one of the most beautiful yet saddest songs ever.

and i so love the ending:

“i want to be a housewife/ what’s so wrong with that?/ can’t wait to have him in my life/ cause we haven’t met…”

depressing, isn’t it?  for the full lyrics, click here.

it’s a sad, beautiful gay song. and i think i’m in love. 🙂

talk, talk, talk

you talk, i listen

you whine, i agree

you dish out anger, i stay

now it’s my turn to go away

stop talking, because i ain’t listening

i don’t want to hear about your day

and i don’t want to be privy to your thoughts

i’m done lending you my ear, i don’t care what you have to say

stop talking, nobody’s here

and i got issues too

why don’t you bother someone else

i’ve no time for you

all you do is talk and sound smart

well i’m sorry, i got not time for that

i don’t want to think, and i don’t want to hear

and you can’t make me listen, no matter what

let’s end this charade, because i’m done

i ain’t listening, i’m already gone.

summer dreamin’

there’s nothing else on my mind right now but the beach.

i want to feel the sand on my toes, hear the waves gently lapping on the seashore, clear blue skies, the sun high up and the heat, that glorious heat that tickles my skin.

around this time of year, people plan their summer getaway. and i’m no different. two weeks from now, i’d be tanning myself, sipping cocktails on one of the country’s picture perfect beaches.

one of the things i hate being a grownup is that life always gets in the way of the good things. the last time i’ve been to the beach was two years ago. two years. for a beach bum like myself, that sounds like a death sentence. spending summer under the glare of the sun in a concrete jungle is never ideal. days seem to go on forever and the heat is most unwelcome.

that’s why i can’t wait to go to the beach. i don’t care how much it takes, but i just have to be on the beach. as far away from the city as possible. and i want to be on the beach with the people i feel most comfortable with. these past few days, i flooded my facebook wall with status updates about the beach, and i am just counting the days til i see myself getting drunk and having the time of my life in cebu.

i don’t usually plan these stuff, but the planning this time was a lot of fun. looking for the best rates, the perfect beach view and things to do is very exciting. 🙂

when i was a kid, i always looked forward to summer . my family would go on these road trips and spend long weekends on the beach. though all we did was just eat, dip in the sea once in a while and lounge idly on the shore, for me, it was heaven.

if i had it my way, i’d be a beach bum and stay on the beach forever. maybe i’ll do just that.

but for now, i’ll just go to the beach, put my sunglasses on, bring my trusty flip flops, and chill.

summer is indeed here.

can’t shake this feeling

i think i write better love poems when i’m not in love. 🙂

i also write good stuff when i’m mad, frustrated, hurt or disappointed at someone or something. i guess in my moments of weakness, i find inspiration.

i’m not a great writer, not even close to good, but i write because i feel that i have something to share. or it’s just that i’m bored and i have way too much time on my hands. 🙂

in any case, writing comes second nature to me, like breathing. like loving.

this song has been playing on my head since the first part of my shift. i have no idea why, but i can’t shake it off. it’s a bit old, not 90’s old, but i doubt this song would land in anyone’s ‘new song playlist.’ nevertheless, i like the hope this song brings. when i first heard it, i thought that it was a song of desperation, but then again, i turned around and realized that it is a very optimistic song.

and so, before i go to sleep and wake up to the same old boring routine, i’m going to share this one with you guys. and how i wish i can sing as good as john mayer. 🙂