Accepting being old

I've got one more month until I turn 35 years old. But it seems that my age now has gotten the best of me. My youthfulness has been gone a few years back. I still managed to keep looking young. But not this time around. I'm starting to appear what I really should be. I look at the mirror very closely and I see a few lines to the corners of my eye, yet I still don't have lines on my forehead. I do have a few black spots, especially near my eyelids, that is appearing on my face and its a sight I really don't like. And yes, when it comes to the most visible sign of aging, it DEFINITELY shows with either the thinning/receding hairline OR how about this one: flecks of white hair. That's what I have right now and I'm about to look like the filipino version of Brett Favre if I plan on growing out the stubbles on my goatee and beard. I hope that I'll become more wiser beyond my years before my looks will pretty much be evident with my age .... I can say, I'm gonna be a good looking old man, for sure! I accept being old. It's finally time to embrace aging with open arms.

The best parts to a person's average day

Hmm, ever wondered what the best parts to a person's average day are? Based on my many 'feel-good' observations in people through various activities happening on certain days of the week, here's what I came up with:

- A restroom break (ahhhhh, relief!)
- A 15 min work and/or lunch break looking at something in particular while outdoors
- A 15 min work and/or lunch breaksocializing with other co-workers who are on the same break time like you are
- A 15 min work and/or lunch break by yourself/ or at home - talking or texting on your cell phone to someone you love and hold dearest to your heart. If you wanna get techy enough, add websurfing on the Blackberry or iPhones..(lol)
- For the smokers, the smoke break during the first/last part of lunch break or 15 min. work break. Smokers get to also socialize with others holding the cig or non-smokers who want to socialize with them
- A 30 minute lunch eating quietly by yourself
- Spending a couple of minutes listening to your iPod or MP3 player before heading to work or during breaktime
- Clocking out of work (ahhhhh, work is finally over!) Even better if it's a Friday - just about everyone always looks forward to the weekend
- Communing with God, in prayer
- Reading a book of your choice
- Jogging in the morning as the first goal to start the day. Jogging in the early evening as one of the last goals to end the day
- Walk exercises around the complex with fellow co-workers during 30 min/15 min breaks.
- Driving on the road to your destination and pumping up the stereo's volume in your car. Even more better if you have XM Satellite Radio, Sirius, or your iPod/Mp3 player hooked up. While you master the road, you can master your music choices :)
- Reading a worthy e-mail message, especially from co-workers or a family/friend
- Reading the Bible for inspiration
- Going clubbing (Thursday, Fridays, weekends)
- Going shopping to buy fashion, technology, etc. (weekends)
- Gathering up with friends/family members on outings (evenings, weekends)
- Singing praise songs in church (weekends)
- Leaving periodic updates on Twitter
- Signing onto Facebook, pimpin' out your profile, and chatting with friends/family
- Taking digital snapshots of yourself or others with you, even objects wherever you go
- Going to the beach to get yourself some splash & sun (weekends)
- Watching the sun go down while you sit on a bench
- Watching sports on TV (especially for the guys during the evenings, weekends)
- Storytelling and reminiscing to someone about the good ol' days (i.e. the 80s era)
- Instant messaging while at work or at home
- Watching the latest movies in the theater, live sporting events, live concerts (in the evenings, weekends)
- Munching on food/snacks while watching Blu-Ray DVD movies and live sporting events on the greatest high quality reception on your Plasma/LCD/LED flat-screen TV & Hi-Fi stereo surround quality sound (evenings, weekends)
- Blogging a topic (like what I'm doing right now)
- Having positive thoughts that you'll win before paying for a lottery ticket
- Walking/Rollerblading/Skateboarding/Bicycling at the public rec parks (late afternoons, weekends)
- Trying something new in life (i.e. hot-air balloon rides, skydiving, roller coaster rides, water jet skiing, rock climbing, snorkeling, etc.) (vacation time, weekends)
- Going to a well-known theme park (i.e. Seaworld, DisneyWorld, Universal Studios, Six Flags, Busch Gardens, Kings Dominion, etc.) (vacation time, weekends)
- Going on a getaway cruise or a flight to somewhere far away (vacation time, weekends)
- Going out with your significant other to anywhere both of you choose
- Birdwatching using binoculars to identify the bird
- Working out in the gym consistently to improve your body work
- Going out to eat and join the social norm/or even surf the internet at Starbucks or Panera Bread




Maybe you can add some to the list if I'm missing something. But wow, that is a huge sample of everything I can think of!

I'm not the same guy in Virginia that everyone remembers...

Gone are the days I mingled interactively in-person to the community. I was everywhere left and right making visits to see friends. Now, I'm doing all of this virtually and controlling the flow of my conversations mostly with a group of close friends & former coworkers from both the Orlando and Virginia Beach/Norfolk area via Facebook and MySpace... Gone are the days I used to film a whole lot of home video movies with my Hi-8 mm camcorder in which I was trying to capture different community-related events that also featured my friends there. Afterwards, I would unleash the video footages on my official website OR I would make a small DVD for my friends. Now, I film footages of my family members/ friends during small gatherings and/or small vacations using the FLIP digital camcorder. Once that is complete, I upload most of them to YouTube for all the world to see. Rather than to put too much emphasis on production and video conversion (me and my technical terms...lol), I thought its best to just stream all-out on the internet instead. So yeah, what was once so big with hype has turned into a personal, miniscule film project these days. I still deliver, however, as people get the chance to be introduced to my world through these small video footages from my FLIP...Gone are the days I used to involve myself heavily with the Filipino-American community of Hampton Roads. That was a chapter of my life in which I learned so much about being a 'filipino' but nowadays, I don't plan on going back to volunteering with them anytime soon. I would rather carry on putting as much time to develop and craft my personal/professional goals. I also want to get ready to start a family one day. The Fil-Am community here will certainly thrive in bigger things for sure and it can move on without my involvement. To this very day since my comeback to VA, I have not attended a single Fil-am event. The only thing closest to that would be attending church ... Gone are the days I have foresaken my brother. I am now one with him, as brothers, as the best of friends. I will now put family-first among everybody that comes in the way in my life. Now, he's among the most important ... Gone are my ways of how I used to live my life before I moved to Orlando. Now, I've come back 'a new man' and realizing that there are more challenges ahead in the times to come ... Gone are my ways in the public eye being noticed here and there. Now, I opt for privacy and staying away from the limelight for the most part, but being close and present to the ones that I love ... Gone are the last 2 ex-girlfriends that have caused me burden the last few years making me so depressed. I had no motivation. I felt like it was the end. I was not happy. Now, I'm filled with a lot of love everywhere including a wonderful Christian group I've come to know in Central Florida, having a wonderful girlfriend that states away, and coming back to a family that is happy to have their loved one home. And gone are the days I've neglected my health being so fat and chunky. I'm actively exercising these days and loving it maintaining my lean shape that I've had in Orlando.......I'm not the same guy in Virginia that everyone remembers.

Them dreams again....but it's not EPIC.

Yeah, I'm here again posting yet another entry during my time at home on a very cloudy day. The situation remains pretty much the same with no recent events that's worthy to mention about. I've been waiting for something to happen, but to no avail so far. However, this may trigger why I have so many dreams going on. There were the big EPIC dreams I've mentioned before. But this one's a bit on the smaller scale since they only last like 30 minutes.

The first one almost seemed like I was in a scene from the movie, "Snakes On The Plane" starring Sam Jackson. Only thing was: I wasn't in a jet plane, but my girlfriend's room where she bunks in. She was calling me on the cell phone for me to look for an important document in her memo book. Turns out that the book was gone - and where she told me to look on the ground beside her bed, there was something quite unexpected: a big giant snake. I can tell he swallowed the book because of the small ripped shreds of pages beside him. And one of the pet cats there was roaming around randomly, too. She was taken by surprise being put into the serpent's mouth. I was agaped in shock. The cat still tried to fight on trying desperately to escape but stopped in a few minutes. Then out of nowhere stood the Machete knife that has been in possession of my brothers. It stood there shining and I had to be brave facing the snake myself. As it moved left and right, I went the opposite direction and later chopped half of its body off from behind. Blood was gushing and the cat barely came out. It looked like it was suffocated and dying. So I rushed to the vet and the prognosis of the feline was okay - good enough to live. And that was the end of that.

Second was about hanging with Orlando Magic superstar Dwight Howard. For some reasons, he and his 'homeboys' (the ones with him on the pics and internet) visited the ballroom for a fundraising event. He said that he's willing to put in some time to help out. He got rid of his athletic wear as he disappeared for a while. Then he was straight out pimpin' decked out in a dressed suit sporting his trademark smile. He was dancing as he was being led in front of the crowd. And then I asked him if he could do that one more time so I can film him through my FLIP cam. He looked at me and smirked. Turning around all of a sudden, he laughed and said, "Of course, let's do this!" So I took the cam and filmed him doing his dance moves and mingling with the crowd. Afterwards, we had some Q&A session and I was still filming him. In the end, I came home happy with some autographed DH items...Too bad, this was only a dream as my girlfriend texted me this morning, "I wish u r here" and the indication beeped to my cell phone. Now that's something real - and I love her so much.

And there you have it. Another series of my dreams on a smaller scale. Wow, if there's so much going on in my head, I guess that's why there's so much creativity and inventiveness in my head during my sleeping state.