On Your Birthday

     Happy Birthday. Spending more years with you and celebrating special occasions like these now hold more meaning than ever. You are a beautiful gift to the people around you especially to me. Let's spend the whole day together!

#30DayWritingChallenge: Your Worst Brithday

photo courtesy of www.pinterest.com

     I rarely celebrate birthdays. I find it tedious and I don't want to have a bad memory about my birthday. But, life will always find a way to make sure every one us will have one.

      A couple of years ago after I left my first job, I decided to start freelancing and work from home. The first year of that venture was brutal, as I did not have a clue of of what working from home would entail. I got rejection after rejection. To soothe my crushed ego, I went into chat rooms. A week before my birthday I met a guy, who had a very sardonic wit and according was always horny. That day, we decided to meet in person. I went over to his place and we talked about books and movies and tv shows. With all these topics being thrown around we still managed to hook. The sex was adequate and I went home the following the day. We continued to text that day when he dropped a bomb on me. He said we shouldn't be seeing each other anymore. Thinking that it was another rejection, I quickly accepted it and said goodbye to him.
 
     On the day of my birthday, he sent me a text message greeting me on my special day. He asked if we could meet and I said yes. Suffice to say we ended up in bed again, but this time we got to talk a bit more about our status. He said that he was about to leave the country and does not know what will happen to us. I told him that whatever happen will happen and all the other things people in rom-coms would say to each other.

     Several weeks had passed and I went into the chat rooms again. Lo and behold, there he was. I confronted him about the whole thing and he told me what I presumed at that time to be the truth. He wasn't leaving the country. The reason why he couldn't see me anymore was that he had a boyfriend. They've hit a rough patch and decided to work things out separately when I entered the picture. During my birthday week they've managed to patch things up and become a couple once again. He told me to not hope that he will be mine.

      I was devastated. But not for the reasons he told me. I could have spent my birthday with my family, or even by myself, but I chose to celebrate it with him. That was a big kick in my face.

        To this day, I never knew what happened to him. Might as well. 

       

       

#30DayWritingChallenge: A Neighbor

photo courtesy of www.clipartsheep.com

       Our neighbor is an elderly couple with four children. In almost fifteen years that I've lived beside them, I have seen their children finish school, move out of their house and build their own families. The husband is a college professor in a nearby university while his wife is stays at home. My family was always cordial with them. They would always give us something whenever they would return from their province. The male parental unit has even fixed their some of the appliances when it broke down.

   
    Recently, they got tangled in a row with another neighbor. It came as a shock to us how undignified and low they treated the neighbor. Sure, the other neighbor does not have a diploma and is known in our area as someone who would always find themselves in a argument but I don't think that verbally degrading the other neighbor and devaluing their existence is the way to go.

     
       When their youngest child returned to live with them along with her husband and son, it gave me a glimpse to what goes on inside that house. They would always argue. Even shout at each other. It even came to the point where the elderly man would threaten to kick the daughter and her family out of the house. 

       
        It seems that their facade as an ideal family is starting to break down. 

#30DayWritingChallenge: A Kiss

photo courtesy of www.sodahead.com

     A kiss is just a kiss is just kiss.

     This is what I would tell myself when I used to make out with different guys. There were times where I could feel what they were feeling at that moment aside from being horny. Other times, I would be clueless as to what they want while kissing.

     There is something about kissing that sends me into different emotions. When I was still single, I would spent a lot of time kissing a guy compared to doing the deed. To me, it felt more intimate, personal. That doesn't work when you're on a one night stand.

     One time I kissed a girl. Not because I wanted to see if I was straight or not, but rather see if there was a difference. There wasn't any difference, but at the same time I didn't feel anything. I wasn't revolted at the what I did. It was more like I know for a fact that I'll never ever get the same satisfaction in kissing girls.

     And no, I'm not ashamed to kiss my man in public. 

#30DayWritingChallenge: An Inanimate Object That's Important To You

     I'm not fond of receiving gifts. Especially from boyfriends.

     But when Allan gave me a watch, it made me appreciate even more. 

     In his defense, he also bought one for himself.

     The watch was one of the first things that meant something to me. It showed that Allan values our time together and he was thinking of me all the time. This may sound like something from a romcom film but this watch was one the reasons why I love him, aside from his other lovely qualities. 

     Whenever we would go out, we ask each other if we're going to wear our couple's watch. We hate couple shirts but love the idea of having something that signifies your being a couple. And this was the best idea. 

#30DayWritingChallenge: A Strange Phone Call

photo courtesy of www.imgur.com

     Allan and I are not in the habit of calling each other. 

     We also are not in the habit of sending text messages to each other asking where the other one is. It was enough for us that we get customary text message informing the person where he is.

     So it's always a strange thing whenever he calls.

    You see, he only calls when there's an emergency or if there's something going on at work. On that particular day, both things were happening. He had some emergency at work right at the same time that their I.T. department decided to use his login as a testing point for migration. Without prior notice. He was obviously upset about the whole situation, and kept myself from interrupting him and let him have the moment to vent out. We ended our phone call as if nothing happened.

     When I got home, we had nothing to talk about.      

#30DayWritingChallenge: Your Father or Mother

     Instead of writing about one of the parental units, I decided to write about both of them.

   

   Female parental unit came from a well-off and mildly influential family. Her earliest memories were of the break down of the her parents' marriage. She and her sister were shipped off to my grandfather's side to live a comfortable life. Unfortunately, it was anything but. Sure, they were well-fed and they had clothes on their back but neither of them felt what it's like to have parental affection. Luckily, their grandparents adored them. Especially female parental unit. 

   

     She was the good girl out of the grand children. The one who would always do the right thing, not for brownie points but because of conviction. She inherited her grandfather's diplomacy and fairness. Sometimes too much of it. Growing up, she didn't know what she wanted in life. She seemed to be contented with what everyone expected her to do. After getting her diploma she stared working and decided to have children. Minus the husband.

   

     Along came male parental unit.

    He was the second of nine children. He came from a poor family. He was never the favorite, but he never resented this. He took on the bulk of the work on the rice field because the eldest brother was sickly. He was used to not getting things he wanted, but that didn't stop him for trying. He was always on the side of good and up till now he'll be the first one to walk away from a fight even if he can break the guy's neck in three places.

   

    One would think that this pairing will not last. With female parental unit's spoiled little rich girl behavior and her penchant to just go along with what life gives her. And then we have male parental unit, with his simple outlook and good boy persona, it sure was a break up waiting to happen.

   

    And yet here they are. Still standing. Both have evolved. Both have become better versions of themselves. They have been through so much hardships, it sometimes baffles me that they still chose to stick it out. 

   

     I wish my own relationship could last that long. 

#30DayWritingChallenge: Your First Heart Break

photo courtesy of www.fanpop.com

   I've only had a couple of boyfriends but it's a bit funny now to look back that I got my first heartbreak from a guy who is not my boyfriend.

     Several years ago, there's this gay forum site where I log in. There are different sections for health, pop culture, literature, etc. I mostly went to the trivia and word game sites to just play and not really hook up. There was this one guy who I constantly played with on one of the word games. Things escalated and he asked me to meet him. We met around my area and walked around and just basically talked. Before leaving he kissed me and asked if we could see each other again 

     We met each other again. We ate and decided to go his place. Over the course of several months he showed me what an adult relationship is. The catch was, we were never an item. He told me that he slept with a couple of guys while dating and told me that he'll try to be exclusive with me. But that was quickly forgotten.

     During my time with the guy, I got to go to different places, meet different people, read different books. Everything was perfect except for our status. 

     On the day that we 'broke up' I cried all the way from Makati to Manila. I was so shattered that I couldn't see myself as person. My whole existence was wiped out. 

      I resented the whole thing but at the same time I patterned my next relationships with I had with the guy. I became matured and treated all my past boyfriends as partners. Equals. 

      As much as it pains me to recount the whole thing, if it weren't for the guy, I don't think I'd be a better partner for my boyfriend.

       Plus we're friends. That's one less person on my kill list. Kidding of course. 

#30DayWritingChallenge: The Story Behind Your Profile Picture

   This photo was taken when Allan and went to Viking's to celebrate my birthday. I'm not a fan of celebrating my birthday. I felt out of place in the mini-parties that female parental unit organized for me back in grade school. 

     Allan decided not to surprise me because

1. He knew my aversion to celebrating my birthday.
2. I found out about his little plan and spoiled it.
3. He knew he could get to go with telling me in advance 
4. Food. Food. Food.

    A day before our Viking's adventure, I came down with a flu. Upon arriving at our place, I decided to take a cold shower since my fever was running high. Both of us were determined to have our fill even if I was not 100% energy wise.

     

    When we got there the first thing that we did was to pile food on our plates. It was after sitting down and talking about something that Allan remembered to take my birthday picture.

The #30DayWritingChallenge

photo courtesy of www.genius.com

   I found this challenge from a friend and since I have not been regularly posting like I intended, I might as well challenge myself. I have to admit that for someone who also writes for a living, I sure suck at maintaining my own avenue for creative outlet. I could make a list of why I can't post regularly but that's just putting the spotlight on my issue. 

   Enough about that, let's start writing!