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40 GOALS FOR 2006

First off, Happy 2006 People!

In this my first post of the new year, I've decided to try something new by putting down a list of goals on digital paper, which I will go back and check up on one year from now to see just how many of them I was able to accomplish for myself. I don't usually do these types of things because, chronic procrastinator that I am, it would mean I would be committing myself to said goal. No goals put down means no goals I have to complete, yadda yadda yadda.

Well, no more! Here then are a list of 40 goals I want to accomplish in 2006. Some of them, like completing songs for my album, will require a lot of work and effort on my part, while some of them, like a boyfriend, will be totally out of my hands, whatever I do. One year from now I will go back to this entry and see what I've been able to accomplish.

1) Finish 12-15 good songs for an album/ep, assemble band and start gigging again

This goes on the top of my list. I've been in hibernation mode since July when I quit my former band, and the time for laying low and feeling sorry for myself is over. I've had hooks and snippets of lyrics lying in my head, some of them for nearly a year, and I've been "waiting" for the right time to finish them. Well, I'm done waiting, and that time is now. Once I finish the songs, I'll have to hunt down a select group of musicians who can a) give me the sound I'm looking for and b) be people I can work with both as friends and as bandmates. My ex-band experience has taught me that the latter is WAY more important than the former. Once I get the songs and the band in place, it's time to start gigging again, baby.

2) Make Sebastian's Ice Cream a true business this year; make it THE brand for premium ice cream

From the top creative goal to the top business goal. Our batch freezer arrived late in 2005, at roughly the price of a small car. So me and my business partners have to get off our collective asses and get to the considerable work of branding, promoting, and getting the stuff into supermarkets and ultimately, our own scooping station. On my part, I have to continue mastering the nuances of the new machine, and come up with more flavors (see #17)

3) Get a decent boyfriend who I'm crazy about who feels the same way about me

....and from top creative goal to "Nananaginip Ka!!". When I say 'boyfriend' I'm talking long-term commitment partner; not someone I watch movies with on the outside and do bedroom Olympics on in the inside. Thankfully enough, I've been able to do more than my fair share of that this year (woohoo!) but all this wonderful nookie has only made it quite clear what I REALLY want. The nookie is terrific and I'm very grateful for it, but my ultimate goal is to have it with ONE person. If I had to make a bet about what goal I most likely WON'T be able to cross off in 2006, it'll be this one. I however, would LOVE to be proven wrong. Please?

4) ..... And In the meantime, continue to have a beautifully active love life

What, you thought I was going to give UP the nookie? 2005 was the year where I finally and TRULY appreciated the joys of being SINGLE!! Getting to sample all that life has to offer (while being careful, both health-wise and emotionally), indulging in all the colors and flavors which I had long denied myself when I was first in a monogamous relationship, then in mourning from the end of the aforementioned. There were FUN periods in 2005 where I went out with 3 different people in the span of a week (Players will scoff at this figure, I'm sure, but for me, this was huuuuuge). I've been able to go out with all sorts of different people, some nice, some jerkish, and some have even become some really good friends (hi Panda Chub!). This is the sort of thing I wont be able to do when I find Mr. Right, and the day It finally dawned on me that the single phase of my life isn't some sentence I need to wait out, but a period of color, variety and possibility, something WONDERFUL to enjoy, well... that's probably one of the best things about 2005.

5) Get in freaking shape

Whether it be by losing 40 pounds via a low carb diet, or bulking up by hitting the weights, I'm done feeling so weighed down and loagey all the time. I like being cuddly, and I'll never be super thin, but I could definitely stand to lose some-- nay, a LOT of this flab hanging off me. I've done it before, and this year I'll do it again. So I can....

6) .....Fit again into the leatherette pants I bought in Hong Kong

I bought them back in Mong Kok 2 years ago. They fit me fine then, so imagine my dismay when I couldn't even get them to my thighs this year. The biggest shame is that I never did get a chance to wear them to a proper gig. So, I have yet another reason to start playing music again: so I have an venue to wear those fabulous pants in.

7) Write more in both my blogs

This year was really tough on my poor blogs as I spent a lot of time wanting to keep my thoughts to myself, for obvious reasons for anyone who knows how rough this year has been for me. My much vaunted food blog has but one entry, despite my having a backlog of photos and food entries just waiting to be written. I want to get back to something vaguely resembling a normal schedule for both IMODO.COM and Life-is-a-buffet; something like every other day for the former and at least once a week for the latter.

8) Read more

As wordy and articulate as I am, I don't read BOOKS nearly enough. With comic books increasingly becoming a rich person-only pastime, I am thankful for both the proliferation of trade paperbacks and for FULLY BOOKED's wonderful inventory. But actual books I am woefully under-read. I want to change that this year by reading more books, which leads me to...

9) Finish the Books I already have

I have several books I've bought, meaning to read them "when I have time" that stack has slowly grown to an alarming size, all over the table next to my bed, all unread. Among them: Bill Clinton’s autobiography, Anne Sebold's The Lovely Bones, A book of poetry by Rumi, Sun Tzu's The Art of War, and Stephen King's The Dark Tower (I want to see what the fuss is about)

10) Finish the DVDs I already have

Like the books, I have several DVDs, both singles and sets that I meant to watch when I found the time. I have a boatload of concert DVDs that I need to watch, plus sets of TV series like Veronica Mars. Hell, my complete series set of Buffy the Vampire Slayer STILL sits unopened on my shelf.

11) Continue To improve my Tagalog skills

It's disgusting that as good as I am in English, I'm pretty pathetic in Tagalog, with no excuse of growing up in Cebu or a foreign country to fall back on. And how can I even call myself a competent songwriter if I can't write in my native tongue and reach the majority of the people? I have tagalog dictionaries and a book of poetry that I should crack open and immerse myself in this year.

12) Listen to more music

Same as with books, I stick way too much in my comfort zone. If I was half as adventurous in music and reading as I am with food (where, the more unfamiliar it is, the more I want to eat it), I would probably be a freaking encyclopedia by now. Plus, listening to more stuff can only help my own songwriting, as this was the year I discovered Damien Rice, whose The Blower's Daughter gave me chills and inspiration I haven't felt since I first hear the Indigo Girls' Joking. Other notable discoveries for me this year were Raul Midon and Paramita.

13) Travel this year to somewhere I've never been to

Whether it's out of the country like Japan or somewhere in the Philippines like Bohol, I want to experience the thrill of going somewhere I've never been this year.

14) Continue on the road to forgiveness for the ones that hurt me

People have the misconception that forgiveness is for the trespasser. In actuality, finding the strength to forgive the one that wronged you is something you do for YOUR benefit; that you decide that you are no longer going to let what they did to you continue to affect you. I'm not completely there yet, and this year I have some new people that I need to forgive, but I'll get there.

15) Learn how to make Paella

I think Paella is one of the best ever dishes in that it's so versatile, wonderfully complicated, and of course uses my most favorites food in the whole world, RICE!!!! I bought a great Paella recipe book at Fully Booked, and I want to make the mastery of this dish one of my culinary goals for 2006. And of course since we're talking about rice, that is a nice segue to my next goal...

16) Eat less rice

Although Atkins has since been discredited, the most weight I've lost has been when I cut down on the wonderful stuff. As long as I don't retreat into the loopholes of low carb (eating bacon 3x a day, etc) It should be fine.

17) Come up with at least 3 new flavors of ice cream

I'm talking innovative flavors that can be the tent pole of Sebastian's Ice Cream. My most successful flavor this year, Mango Sans Rival, just came to me instantly (cashew-buttercream ice cream with chopped cashews, wafer pieces and a real mango swirl) in a lightning bolt of inspiration that you only read about from other creators (J.K. Rowling has said that her image of Harry Potter popped in her head, fully formed, as she spent her days writing in a coffee house in Britain). Nearly everyone who has tried it has loved it, and it has outdone flavors that I spent weeks conceptualizing and designing. My goal this year is to come up with at least 3 flavors that are as successful as this one.

18) Break certain patterns with regard of the type of men I end up attracting/being attracted to

Erhm, nuff said.

19) What the hell: Finally getting ****** and ******* into bed

Why do you think I want to get in shape this year? And if by chance you're reading this and you have reason to suspect I'm referring to you, let me assure you: I'm not.

20) Learn how to bake a Pie

My third culinary goal. I've always preferred the rich goodness of a pie over the airiness of a cake, always have. Learning how to make a light, flaky crust is the key, but once I master that, a whole variety of possibilities is open to me. Like Paella, once I master the basics, the options are endless: Pecan Pie, Banana Cream, Apple, a good blueberry pie, served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Mmmmmmmm....

21) Get my own dog

Apart from my aborted experience with a Chow Chow (a.k.a. "devil dog") I haven't had a true dog of my own since I was a teenager. Losing the dog to old age was a painful experience, which I guess is the reason I've been so reluctant to commit to a new one. But I think I'm finally ready now. Besides, they say that being able to take care of a dog is a good test to see if you're able to take care of raising a kid, so this will be a growing experience for me. I have my eye on a certain breed, and will keep this blog updated on the dog front if and when I go through with it and take the canine plunge.

22) Get an autograph and/or picture of WWE wrestlers in February

My friends and I have tickets to see the WWE RAW show on Feb 24 in Araneta Coliseum (whooooooooooohooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!) and plans are being made to either stake out the hotel and or the rear entrance of the coliseum in the hopes of getting some up and personal time with the wrestlers, hopefully a photo op. The last time the wrestlers were here was nearly ten years ago, so I'm really looking forward to being in stalker-mode for John Cena, Triple H, Ric Flair and MICK FOLEY! Fo-Ley! Fo-Ley! Fo-Ley!!

23) Forge better relationships with my family

It's a sad thing that I'm closer with my friends with my own family, so I want to reconnecting with my siblings and mom this year. My aunt, who lives next door and who I grew up with basically, passed away suddenly just yesterday on December 31, and it has really reminded me how important family is.

24) Make more money

Just a little bit more to buy more stuff that I might need or want. Don't worry, I’ll still be the semi-bum sorbetero/wannabe musikero you all know and love(?) A few more rakets here and there and getting my businesses back into fighting shape.

25) Spend less time on the computer

Sitting in front of the computer surfing the net probably counts as my one big vice, more so than watching TV. I spend WAY too much time here, and I need to get out more.

26) Get into more classical music and stuff like Yo Yo ma

For my own personal project which.... well, that would be telling. You all will see, er, HEAR soon enough.

27) Eat healthier, get better eating habits

Along with eating less rice, I want to start eating more fruit, lighter foods, get into making salads. To focus the energy I pour into learning ice cream into how to make healthier foods.

28) Take voice lessons again

Back in my ex-band I took up voice lessons to improve myself (ironically, the reasons for my ultimately quitting had nothing at all to with music) and I learned a LOT, about how to take care of my own voice and how to improve. I want to get back into that, not for anyone else, but for ME.

29) deepen the bonds with my existing friends, and make new ones

I made a lot of new interesting friends this year, as well as reconnected with some old ones. In 2006, I will continue to nurture the friendships I've made this year, deepen the ones with the friends I already have, and make new ones. No man is an island, and Our Connections to each other are the only things that make life bearable.

30) Finish furnishing my room

ever since my room was repainted, I've left one corner unfinished. It's high time I finally finish laying out my room, and that includes....

31) framing and mounting all the clippings I've collected

Actually, this is one of the rare times when being a procrastinator worked FOR my benefit. Because if I was fastidious in framing and mounting all of my clippings, I would have wasted a bit of cash on the articles featuring my former band. As It is, I get to focus on the clippings that feature my ice cream.

32) Get mentioned in some more articles this year

....and hopefully, ones that feature my NEW band.

33) Learn how to use my phone and PDA

Anyone who knows me knows how technologically challenged I am. I'm just lazy when it comes to reading the manual on my gadgets and I've never really been one to fidget with all sorts of features. for my birthday last may, I got a Personal Digital Assistant that I STILL haven't gotten around to using; the closest I came was loading up the software in my PC, after which I promptly left it in my closet again.

34) Improve my guitar playing skills

I've always been a kaskasero when it came to playing guitar; this year I will improve my guitar playing in terms of learning new chords, new fingerpicking and strumming techniques, and hell, just PRACTICING more.

35) Revitalize Hotstix, bring it back to its former glory and put up new food items

The traffic scheme has been very detrimental to business in Hotstix early this year, plus I will freely admit I put attention to my primary business on the back burner while I went and played musician. It's time for me to bring my baby back to life, by both coming up with new products and perhaps looking into moving locations or opening a new branch.

36) Master incorporating fruits into ice cream

When I got into the intricacies of making ice cream, I discovered that fruit is actually one of the most difficult ingredients to incorporate because of its' high water content. Simply put: Water -> ice -> enemy of ice cream. 2005 was my first foray into fruits, after primarily staying with chocolates and candy. Playing with fruit in innovative ways (swirls instead of fruit bases) has already yielded me my most successful new flavor. I'm experimenting now with strawberries and raspberries, and in 2006 I want to be as adept with fruit as I am with chocolate.

37) Get into a food magazine for the ice cream

Getting a mention in FOOD magazine and Entrepreneur Magazine for Sebastian's ice cream is now one of my long-term goals, along with playing the NU Rock Awards. Let's see how far I can get towards that goal this year.

38) Try boxing

Normal cardio like running bores me to tears. Mixing the potential for violence may be a way for me to get interested in sweating more. As a by-product, the next time someone demands that I go back into the closet for their benefit, I can punch their teeth down their throat.

39) Try to broaden my mind by paying attention to critic's lists and their recommendations

Like most people, I don't have enough time to check out every single thing in the ether (that goes for books, music and film) so this is where Critics actually have their best function. It's not that I will blindly buy whatever they say, but if they write that something is really good, I will make the time to check it out and feed my head. First on the list, that book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.

40) Do crunches every morning

I don't even have to get out of BED for this one. If I can't get this done, I have no business writing this list.

As I was typing this entry, I noticed I was subconsciously putting a lot of "try" and "hopefully" into my words, which I had to go back and change to "WILL". It was interesting, and precisely why I need to put down a list like this. That way, a year from now, I go back and check on this and I see that I've accomplished less than half of the realistic goals (not including the boyfriend ones), I will have no one to blame but myself.

Hayun. Like I said, some of these goals will need LOTS of hard work and persistence to pay off, some will need but for me to get off my ass, and some of them will be totally out of my hands and will rely on God/fate/karma/whatever. (Personally, I am sooooooooooooo hoping for #19, tee hee!)

Now if you excuse me, I have some crunches I need to do.

LESSONS FROM DATING (PART 2)

Here's the latest things I can add from my most recent date:

1) No matter how much I wish it could be otherwise, a beautiful face and a beautiful body can unfortunately NOT make up for a lack of wavelength. It WASN'T about intelligence; as the guy was quite sharp and inquisitive. It's sad really, because it makes me wonder how he might have turned out had he have had more opportunities to go to better schools.

It was just.... different wavelengths. And over time it would have become a burden to talk with him. This is pretty much the antimatter version of my Jekyll-Hyde experience, being that we failed to connect intellectually but it was really, really good intimacy-wice.

REALLY good.

So much so that it made me wish and consider and hope that maybe I COULD overlook the wavelength thing.

Dang.

2) (yes, there is a #2) The above notwithstanding, if any of you reading this get a chance to date a reflexologist or someone who has training with massage, by all means, DO SO. A date who can give you a free full body massage at the end of an evening is truly a rare pleasure that everyone should get to experience at least once in their life.

Plus, if you take into account his innate knowledge of the human body and watch him apply it to lovemaking? YOWZA.

Did I mention it was really good? Sigh.

TAG!!

In no particular order, From Diwa's blog:

TEN THINGS THAT BRING ME JOY

1) Having a good skin day.
2) Logging onto the internet and all of my favorite sites have all new material for me to read.
3) Spending time with good friends, no matter what the activity.
4) Great sex and cuddling afterwards.
5) Having a great breakfast; consisting of garlic rice, eggs (fried or scrambled) and any number of breakfast viands (spam, ham, bacon, sausage, tuyo, tuna, etc).
6) Putting on an outfit and looking good in the mirror.
7) Writing a good song and singing it.
8) The latest episode of any of my favorite TV shows.
9) Laughing.
10) Reflecting on a cherished memory.

I tag the bellas Therese, San, Maui and Nic!

HMMMMMMMM...

Eminem, a participant in a very public and very ugly divorce with his Ex wife Kim, who has written multiple unflattering songs about her, including one fantasizing about her murder, is getting back together with her. Just goes to show that you can never say never, I guess.

Assuming you WANT to get back with your ex. Heaven forbid. *shudder*

FOR YOU HETERO CINEPHILES

Msnbc.com's Dave White has very thoughtfully come up with a guide for all you straight guys out there who are curious about seeing Brokeback Mountain but are afraid of coming across as gay. Here's a snippet:

The good news — there’s less than one minute of making out
It’s about 130 minutes long and 129 of them are about Men Not Having Sex. So yes, maybe it will be the longest almost-60 seconds of your life, but there it is. Less than one minute. In fact, it’s 129 minutes of really intense longing and sadness and unabashedly weepy, doomed love story. In a very real way that’s a lot more porny than any of the man-on-man canoodling that made it past the editing room. But if you’re going to be a big sissy about it then you can go get her that Diet Coke and jumbo popcorn during the first major sex scene. And no plugging your ears and singing “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” either. All singing is inherently gay, is why.

Plus you’ll be in a movie theater and some big bruiser gay guy might kick your butt. Then you’ll feel even more emasculated.


Hehe. Check out the rest here, and watch the freaking movie when you get a chance.