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The thing I love about the holidays is the unwritten rule that you have to reflect on the past year. The things that changed. The things that stayed the same. It’s an excuse to be all reflective and emo and shit. And to abide by this unwritten rule, I came up with a list of all significant and not-so-significant-but-worth-noting events of my 2006. Because lists rule!

• Agent Provocateur. At the beginning of 2006, I quit my web programming job and entered the magical world of call centers. It was like college all over again. The atmosphere was corporate, yet so relaxed. I took calls using the name “Jimmy“, and whenever asked about my last name, I always answered “Santos“. I considered 3 sticks of cigarettes and a Pepsi-in-can lunch. I enjoyed babepeople-watching. I had fun. Really. But after 8 months, “politics” took away the fun out of a very stressful job. And I decided it wasn’t worth the salary. I’ll always be thankful to my teammates, team leaders, assorted acquaintances, and wavemates. Because of you, taking names from stupid Americans, who don’t know how to turn their fucking mobile phones on, became tolerable. A lot of you already left the company, but for those of you still there, I hope you’re happy. You sick masochists. I kid, I kid.
• Kalayaan para sa ating lahat. That’s the tagline I used for eLBi: The UPLB Forums which I closed down in February. In its place, I opened yUPieLBi.com. From “a little forum board that could”, I managed to make it a full-blown website for the UPLB community. But I didn’t do it alone. I have to thank the eLBizen Core for helping me out with site ideas and moderating the forums. I also want to thank the community members who live the LB life online. The site may have had its hiccups, but those are just growing pains. Expect more. Bwahaha!
• 25 and alive. This year, I celebrated my 25th birthday. Yeah, I’m old. But somehow my mind stopped maturing when I hit 20. Nevertheless, the numbers don’t lie. I’m a child of the 80’s, a teen of the 90’s, and a dickhead of the 00’s. I always wanted my 25th birthday celebration to be memorable, and it was. Milenyo made sure of that. I had to delay the party for two freakin’ weeks! But I still had a hell of a time. Thanks to my “party organizers”, my friends, and the people who were there just for the booze and the videoke. You know who you are, assholes.
• The Best. My bestfriend came back from Canada for her mom’s funeral. It was really a sad time for me too. Tita and I weren’t really close. We didn’t see each other a lot, but when we did, I always felt like she’s family. Seeing my bestfriend and some high school friends again was nice, disregarding the circumstances. It really brought home the idea that we’re all past the whole “we’re young adults and excited about the real world” crap. In a matter of a few years, some of us will be sending our children to the same school where we met our lifelong friends, got our first heartbreaks, gave birth to our dreams, and talked to Mama Mary. We’ll be pushing 30. Scary shit.
• Weight loss. This year, I finally lost weight! I said goodfreakin’bye to love handles! I’m already fit and, dare I say, sexy! In a manly way. I finally lost those pesky extra pounds! I’m kidding. I’m still fat. Well, there’s always 20072008.
• Fanboy. My love for comics became an addiction this year. Blame it on me having a job. Before “Employed Baddie”, buying comic books and graphic novels is a form of reward that came at most once a month. Right now, it’s a weekly hit of heroin. Hooray for employment!
• Ortigas Dude. I returned to the big city as a web developer. My first foray into the city life a year ago ended after only 3 months. This time, I have a place where I can stay, I have a great employer, and I’m enjoying the daily commute from the apartment to Ortigas Center and back (although it would be better if that “alam mo na yaaaaan!” radio station is taken off the air). I’m in it for the long haul, baby.
• Blogista. Towards the end of the year, I fell madly in love with blogging. Don’t get me wrong, I started blogging in 2004 and loved it as someone who loves and craves attention. But this year, I loved it for the idea of people publishing their thoughts and ideas. I’d rather read blogs than the newspaper. It’s amazing how much information is being shared between bloggers. I’m a very happy citizen of the blogosphere right now. As proof of this blog infatuation, I launched Go LB! (a community blog under the yUPieLBi banner), I turned my LongBox blog into a comic-centric blog, I created Baddieverse to be my new personal blog, I joined PinoyBlogosphere as a co-administrator of the group blog and as a moderator for the mailing list, I became (just recently) a contributor to The specfuckingtacular Man Blog, and I started two other blogs that I’m just not ready to reveal yet because the content still sucks.

In a freakin’ nutshell, my 2006 has been a year of meeting new people and trying out new things. It’s refreshing, interesting, and fucking scary. Makes being all reflective and emo and shit worth it.

To end this cliche “a year in review” entry, I present to you the very first image of me taken (and saved) on my new Nokia N80 phone (hooray for mga katas ng pasko!). I added the stupid frame and word balloon from the phone itself (so cool). I hope you all have a happy, refreshing, interesting, and fucking scary new year!

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