"I just don't understand why, through all these years, you can't seem to accept my stand on that?"

"Because, through all these years, I've never seen you as anything but beautiful."

My Phone is Haunted!

My phone has been acting strange lately. The other day, I was checking to see if I received any text messages. The screen showed that there were none but I decided to look anyway. I tried accessing the Inbox but it replied, "Sim not ready". Having owned two phones before this one, I knew that this was a common glitch in the system. For some reason, it cannot detect the sim card even if it was inside the phone the whole time. All you can really do is turn it off and on again.

Anyway, I waited patiently for it to reboot and tried again. This time, I was able to open my Inbox but the messages did not show who they came from. Rather, it showed the first few words. This is usually a sign that either the number that had sent the text message was not in my directory or it cannot read the directory.

So I scanned through them, recognizing all except one. The message began with: What is your..., and continued with "...problem?" No phone number or time of message being sent. I exited the Inbox and tried to access it again. This time the phone diretory was working so I could see who had sent me text messages. But the message itself was gone. I tried looking for it in the Inbox, Sent Items, Archive, Folders. Heck, I even checked the MMS folder just to make sure. But there was just no sign of it.

Let me tell you a story...

A friend of mine asked me to buy something for a girl he liked at my office. He wanted to give her something special to make her feel better at work. If you've worked at a call center, you'd know that we need all the special soemthings we can get. LOL Anyway, since the girl liked chocolates so much, I decided to get her premium chocolates.

At this time too, I was in love with a girl (not the same girl, mind you). But things weren't doing too well for us. It seemed that no matter what I did, she just didn't seem interested in me. We had become distant over the past couple of days. In fact, I was thinking of giving up and letting go. After all, this wasn't the first time this had happened before. I found myself in this same situation too, several years ago. It was only in the last two years that we started talking again.

Anyway, just before I went to the store, I prayed to God asked for what I should do. I said, "If I find her particular kind of chocolate at the store, I would get it for her and patch things up between us. If not, then I'll take it as a sign that I should just let her be." So I went to Mark's & Spencer's, found the chocolate for my friend. But there was no sign of it. I even gave it one last shot and asked the store clerk if they had some in stock but had yet to put on display. She answered no and that was that.

Frankly, I felt both sad and relived. Sad that things would have to end between us and relieved because I could get on with my life now. It should have ended there, but it didn't.

I went to the store next door and bought her favorite kind of chocolate there. LOL I gave it to her later and things are...normal enough now, I suppose. I'm back where were started. Stupid, huh? I guess because I didn't like the answer to my question, I decided to do something about it. Chances are, I'll fall flat on my face but that's a risk we all take anyway, right?

Dear Kuya Aldwin,

Today, I received some very strange questions from a friend. I answered them as honestly as I could and she seemed satisfied with my answers. Of course, they were more of a what-if-scenario. She wasn't really asking these questions of me but she wanted to know what I would say.

I've asked for her permission to put them here in my blog. Tell me what you think. I'd like to know what you would have answered as well as what you think of mine.

---

Q: What would you say if your girlfriend asked you to keep your relationship non-physical (i.e. nom-sexual)?
A: I would ask why and if her answer was valid, I would agree and do my best to keep my word. I don't think there is a reason for me to say no.

My friend was worried that her relationship with her boyfriend was more physical than non-physical. She wanted to have a meaningful relationship where it would be able to endure if they got separated. I suppose it's something a lot of couples are (should be) thinking about. "Are we here just because we have great sex?"

Sex is an important part of a romantic relationship. It is the epitome of expressing love in a physical level. But we all know that love isn't just physical. There's also an emotional connection, too. This is what poets and writers often describe in their works. Something intangible and yet so valuable. Without it, sex would be meaningless; a biological activity that you could do with anyone.

---

Q: Do you think he would freak out if I asked him that?
A: Knowing him, he might. But that's just natural for him to be worried. Wouldn't you be?

People - guys most especially - might overeact if their significant other asked them to limit their relationship to a non-sexual one. Especially if they enjoy. A lot of questions will be going though their minds such as: What? Why? Am I doing something wrong? Is she unsatisfied? Is she pregnant?

Just from that line of questioning, it seems that the partner is insecure. And this is the main reasonw hy they would freak out. My advice, if you're going to ask something out of the oridinary, don't wait for the other person to ask why. Say it - explain it - as soon as you ask.

---

Q: He asked me if I wanted to stay the night over. Do you think I should? I've never done it before and I'm worried.
A: Sweetie, it's not as if you won't be doing anything you haven't done before, you know. I think you're worried about what people might think if you do sleep over. I don't think you should but if you want to, why not? You're old enough to make your own decisions and be responsible for them. The reason I'm saying this is because I don't want to be judged by people but I want to be able to do what I want.

My friend is conservative, by nature. She comes from a conservative family. And if her family or her other friends knew that she would be spending the night with her boyfriend, their reactions will range from shocks to frowns.

It's kind of difficult to answer her question. Thinking from a different perspective other than being her friend and putting myself in other people's shoes - such as her brother or her father - I would suffer from my own prejudices. But since I am her friend, Iw ould tell her to do what makes her happy but she should be prepared for any consequences.

---

Q: But if I say yes, wouldn't it be hard not to...you know, do it? Especially if I want to develop our non-physical relationship.
A: Of course it would be! Unlike where you two meet up and spend a few hours together, sleeping over at his place will give you the time and opportunity to do what you want without feeling rushed. But this would be also a good opportunity for you to see if he will respect your wishes.

I'm not one to encourage testing your significant other's sincerity. It seems wrong to set up an elaborate scheme to see what they would do. Not only does it seem like you are treating them like a science experiment, it also means you don't trust them to make the right choice. But this would be a good opportunity for her to see if their relationship has something other than just the physical aspect.

To me, this particular test has a different kind of significance if I were in the guys shoes. Knowing how I am, if I can spend a night with a girl without trying to have sex with her and she was even willing, then it could only mean I love her because it is very seldom for a guy to be content in just holding someone and watching them sleep. To be able to do that tells something of how the guy feels for the girl.

Who Wants Cake?

My weekend is off on a good start! I just arrived at the office to find a cake sitting on my desk. And it's chocolate mousse, my favorite! Pepi, an officemate, wanted to thank me for swapping schedules with her. Now I have something for dessert! I guess I can have my cake and eat it too!

Romantic

I've always been a sucker for romance. Nothing makes me smile more than the idea of someone doing unbelievable and unexpected things to make someone feel special and loved. Most people think that it is expensive or outrageous to show someone that they are thought of amorously. Sadly, these same people believe that love can be bought. But what makes an act romantic is how much thought and effort you put into that gift.

Working on the Blog

Seeing that I've got the night free because of my change in schedule, I decided to work on my blog. It's been a while since I've coded using html. The last time was working on my website for the Amphion City Role-Playing Game. It was supposed to be part of PBEM (Play By EMail) game for my friends where they could visit to check up the progress of the game as well as pick up some clues. The game itself would happen via email.

Speaking of games, I was able to spend some time with my friends this Sunday. It's a good thing my schedule changed because I was beginning to miss them and our weekly RPG session. I've also thought about running a game for them too. With the new game system out, I'll be on equal footing with them. Basically, we can learn together.

We just had a dry run of the game the other night and it was fun. Some of the rules were a little confusing and hard to find. But we slowly got used to it. Stayed up for a whole 24 hours because of it (work and play).

Well, I really should be getting back to making my site look better. I see that Seth has decided to update his blog. Cool. Here's to making more updates and unload all that crap once in a while. You wouldn't want to suffer constipation. Hehehe!

Hope you can tell me what you think of the improvements, everyone.

Road Signs

I woke up this morning to a phone call. A company wanted to know if I was still interested in being interviewed for a position. I obliged and said I'd be happy to and set it up for next week. I thought, this was cool. Even if I'm already being considered for the supervisor position in PeopleSupport, I should keep my options open. See, one of the things I hate about my job is not being able to get the schedule I want, which is Saturdays and Sundays off.

Later that day, I got a call from my supervisor who tells me that my days off have been changed to Saturdays and Sundays. I don't know why but I was thankful. Of course, I know it won't last for long. Knowing how fickle business can be. I will, however, try to enjoy it as much as I can.

I should tell the other company that my schedule has been changed. Though I have no idea what would be a better day for me to go have an interview.

My mom says that this is a sign from God. This is His way of telling me that I should stay with the PS. I don't really believe in signs. Namely because the ones sent by Divine Providence are not simple like traffic signs. In fact, they are often ambigous.

Okay, suppose that the latter phone call was God's way of telling me to stay in PS. So what was the previous one? In fact, what about the email I just received from a friend regarding openings in the company he is in right now? Is God changing his mind all of a sudden?

I'd like to think they are Road Signs and not Traffic Signs. The difference is that the former tells you where the road can lead you. Whereas the latter tells you where you can go.

I prefer being able to make my own choices. But I don't mind consulting the Road Signs every now and then.

Stargazer for Ging

This is a stargazer. I'm posting it for a friend because she needs some cheering up. It's one of her favorite flowers, next to pink roses.

White Lily

This is picture white lily. Apparently, there are several types. I'm not sure what this one is called specifically.

Angel's Trumpet

This is called Angel's Trumpet. It's not hard to imagine why. It's easy to dream up an angel tooting this as a horn.

Pink Roses

This picture was taken at the Lady of Manaog shrine in Tagaytay. I've always been partial to pink roses.

I should be asleep...

...but I'm not. For two reasons:

Firstly, at around 3:10am today, an earthquake struck Metro Manila. I'm still trying to get more information. From what I know, the epicenter was around Bataan at intensity 6.2. Metro Manila experienced intensity 3-4. No damages have been reported so far. It lasted for less than a minute.

I'm checking on my friends by sending text messages. Some of them have answered back. Those who have answered say they're ok. Most of them were asleep at the time (I can only assume that the others who have not answered are still sleeping soundly).

My co-workers were at work on the 12th floor (I was at home since it was my day off), a little shaken up - both literally and figuratively speaking. Though it may have been weak, being inside a building 12 stories up would have made it seem strong). Luckily, no one was hurt.

Secondly, I'm working on the site. I've decided to make some changes to my blog as well as making some new additions. One of the most prominent is the title. It is no longer, "The Sword and the Rose". It's now called, "Rants and Raves." The former didn't seem to fit to what I wanted to write so I changed it into something that was more appropriate.

I've also decided to create a second site that will contain my fiction. I've decided to call it "The Terminal" after the movie by Steven Speilberg starring Tom Hanks. Why, you might ask? Well, like the movie, I see it as a collection of stories brought together by one man. Like a real terminal, it is only a way-point in a journey; small parts of greater whole.

Well, the sun's out. I should go to bed. Talk to you later!

Taking Pictures

If there is one thing I do not like to do, it is having my picture taken. I'm honest enough to admit that I am not photogenic. Some people were born to be in front of the camera. They may not be that good-looking but there is just something about them that clicks with the camera.

What I do enjoy is working on the other side of the lens - taking pictures of someone or something else. I don't have a special camera or equipment. Heck, I don't even know the difference between color saturation and gamma lighting. I usually make use of my phone's camera which, by photography standards, is mid range to low end.

My current favorite subject of photography is flowers. There's just something about a blossom that calls out to be captured in film (although with digital photography, this would be erronous since it doesn't use film). I suppose it's because flowers, like most things in life, change over time. Slowly, but surely, they make that inevitable way towards decay.

So what better way than to preserve that moment in time as a photograph? But seeing it is not enough. When I take a pciture of a flower, I usually take several and retain only the one that I like. And what I like is being able to invoke a certain kind of feeling in the viewer.

Flowers, for the most part, invoke three of your five senses. It's a tie between sight and smell. The third, one that is often unappreciated is touch. That's what I see to capture when I take a picture of a flower. I want the viewer to say, "I can almost feel the petals just by looking at it."

=====

Now, before you go wondering if I'm gay. Let me say something that I told my mom when she was about to say the same thing:

"I am not responsible for people's assumptions or their stupidity about me but I reserve the right to laugh at their mistakes because of it."

The Only Guy Going to Tagaytay

Ok, first off, this is not the final version of this post. I'm planning to add to it in the coming days. Why? Because I'm still waiting for some pictures to be sent to me by my friends who I went with to Tagaytay. How do you know when it is the final version? Easy, you'll read the article minus this entry. Got it? Good! Let's get to it.

So what happened to the trip? Well, it was a lot of fun, that I can tell you. I enjoyed myself even though (or should I say, because) I was the only guy there. LOL I felt out of place sometimes but, as always, I was treated like one of the girls.

I got off work at 1am. I decided that it would probably be best to stay at work and get a few hours of sleep instead of going home and then coming back to work a few hours later. Unfortuneately, I could sleep a wink last night. I think I was too excited about the trip. I decided to walk it off - that is, do some floorwalking to help reps if they have any questions about what they should do. I also thought it would be a good idea to get a feel of what I'll be doing in the future.

Time passed by pretty quickly and I didn't feel sleepy at all. I decied to take a bath before we left. It's a good thing our company has showers, even though it's located in the bulilding next door. I went to McDonalds for breakfast, ordering the Big Breakfast Meal of eggs and sausage plus a cup of garlic fried rice. Nothing like garlic to give you bad breath int he morning. Hehehe!

Like all leisure trips, this one didn't leave on time. LOL We were supposed to depart by 7:30am but we were delayed because of one thing for another. I guess when you're going out to have some fun, you should be able to dictate your own time instead of following a schedule.

We all piled into Girlie's Mistubishi Adventure and drove off at around 8:45am. While on the hi-way, the girls started talking about this and that. I kept quiet because I couldn't identify with what they were discussing (i.e. F4).

For some reason, I felt I shouldn't be listening to what they were talking about. It seemed like I was intruding on a girls-only confrence. Sorry, guys, but I wasn't able to get any information that might help us understand women more. LOL

We met up with Lizette in Laguna along the way. Since she brought her own car, we decided I should ride with her so she wouldn't be lonely. Our first stop was Our Lady of Manaog Shrine. It was a small chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary. While the girls lighted candles, I was taking pictures. Unfortunately, my camera stopped working. It was taking pictures but it wasn't saving the information.

My first thought that there was not enough space. It seemed the camera's default setting had it somewhere in 2 megapixel range. I wanted to delete some pictures but I couldn't do that either. Not wanting to format the memory card, I decided to just use my camera phone the rest of the trip.

(More to come...)

Words of Wisdom from Rosie and Karina

"It shouldn't be hard for someone to love you when they say you're a great person."

I'm so sorry...

...for not adding the Tagaytay pics and story tonight. I know I promised to put it on here but something has come up. To make a long story short, I have a cold and have not slept in 24 hours. More details will be published on the next blog. Right now, I need a comfortable bed with cool sheets and some soft pillows.

Goodnight! See you tomorrow morning! I hope...

Stay or Move on?

You can't have it both ways. As much as you'd like to keep things the way they are, they rarely do. Sooner or later you'll have to choose. Don't let fate decide that for you. There's nothing worse than a lost opportunity.

So make the move. Say what needs to be said. And let her make the choice as well. It's better for you to lose him or her now after making the choice than to wake up one day and find out that they're gone. You'll just hate yourself. Trust me on this.

If you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't, you might as well take the consequences by doing the action. At least then, both of you will know that they were worth the risk of breaking your heart.

Going to Tagaytay

I'm at the office right now. Tomorrow morning, I will be heading for Tagaytay with some officemates as a team-building activity. I've brought a digital camera and some toiletries (I'll be spending the night here since we're leaving at 7am and I get off work at 1am). The toiletries I bought: a small soap, a packet of shampoo, deoderant, shaving razor and alcohol amounted to less than P100 at Mini-Stop. Cool

It's been a while since I've been to Tagaytay. If you haven't been there, you should go. It's the closest thing to Baguio here in the south. It'll be nice to get away from it all even, if only for a while. Good thing there was allocation for leave from work on Tuesday. But it's never really hard to file for leave on a weekday.

I'll be taking some pictures and uploading it here as soon as I get home tomorrow evening.

I Dreamt of Maui...

I had a dream last night involving Maui Taylor. I don't know why though since I didn't watch any movies or read any articles with her in it. I don't even like her. Don't get me wrong, I think she's attractive. I just don't think I'd be fascinated by her.

Anyway, I think we were both in a theater or part of a play. She was telling me how nervous she was because this was her first time acting in on a stage. I wasn't in the play. I was more of a props guy or reviewer that had backstage access. I wonder how to interpret this.

People I know believe that what you dream is actually what will not happen or the opposite of what will happen. If this were true, then, I will be thankful mor ethan disappointed. I've had too many dreams where I was driving a car I had not control over.

Most psychologists, on the other hand, believe that the people, objects and actions in our dreams are a metaphor for something in the real world.

For example, Maui Taylor could represent something I find attractive but have no experience in (drawing comic book characters). And her acting out in a play for the first time would be exhibiting my talent or my works and the nervousness I would feel. The fact that I am a props guy or a reviewer in the dream could represent my current standing: objective and distant observer or critic.

Either that or I just want to have meaningless sex with Maui Taylor.

Blogging

I'm still experimenting in designing my blog. I've changed the template several times already but I think I'll stick with this one. I am partial to blue. If you've noticed, the text is in different colors. I've tried white, gray and red. I'm thinking if the color of the text should have any significance to the current mood. What do you think? For now, I think I'll stick to white.

I'm also using Arial at normal size for my font. I've thought about using smaller text because I tend to write long postings but it may be hard to read for the visualy impaired.

I've checked out my friends' blog sites. I wish I knew enough html to program my blog manualy. But my knowledge is limited to Dreamweaver and FrontPage. When I get home, maybe I could tweak it a little. What I really want to do is add a list of links I'm interested in such as my friends website and some webcomics. I think I'll transfer the code from here to an HTML editor, make the alterations, then put it back here. That could work. Or maybe I'll just ask my friends how they made theirs.

I'm still wondering how honest I will be when I write on this blog. I intend to tell people about it but in doing so, I might inadvertantly mention something better left unsaid. I don't like hurting people, especially people I know. It goes against my nature. If I were anonymous, it wouldn't be so bad. I guess I'll just have to write those tantilazing tidbits as blind items or incomplete sentences. Hahaha!

You know what else is funny? Everytime I visit my blog, I half-expect something new to be published - even though I am the only who has access to it. Weird...

Sunday blathering

It's a Sunday afternoon and I am at the office right now. My throat is itchy and I feel sleepy. Must be the cold medicine I've been taking. Anyway, I hope you're having a better weekend than I am. *mumbles incoherently* Enjoy it. You're going back to work tomorrow. Hahaha!

Anyway, I was looking through the classifieds this morning and I saw some jobs that are worth sending out my resume. Even though my team manager is eyeing me for a promotion to supervisor, I'm still in search of greener (i.e. normal days and times) pastures. I wonder though why most of them do not have an email address to send your resume. I think that's kind of weird considering the times we live in.

I wanted to check out the opening for a librarian at a private school. Unfortunately, I don't think I have what it takes since a) I don't have a license and b) I've forgotten most of my lessons in librarianship. Most people take for granted the work librarians do. I mean, how hard can it be to be mean and grumpy and arrange books? Before I took this course, I would have said the same thing. But like any social science or educational course, it can be applied to almost any other line of work.

I'm wondering if I should take the offer to go on overtime to mentor some new agents. They are adding a bonus and some other perks to go along with the regular salary. But if there's one thing I've always kept, it's that my days off are off limits. It's bad enough we don't have holidays and 20 paid time off in a year, now they want me to sacrifice the only time I have to myself. Sure, the pay is great but money really isn't what I'm after. If it were, I wouldn't be staying here because I know there's a lot of higher paying jobs that do similar type of work. No, I don't think I'll be doing overtime...

Why I got into this mess...

The reason I signed up for a blog here was because I couldn't post a comment at a friend's site unless I became a member. You might be wondering what was so important that I would sign up for an account. Well, it all started last Tuesday.

Tobie, the Storyteller for our RPG group, informed me that the new books from White Wolf were now available in SM Megamall. I decided to go there the next day and pick up a copy. As I was making my way there, I thought that getting Tobie his own copy of the book would be a good way to thank him for all the games his run for us. Not to mention all the books he bought and food he's served in order to play a game.

Of course, the hefty price tag of P3760 for two books made me realize it would be a good idea to ask for help from the gaming group. So James, Sam and Seth agreed to split the bill with me. And so, we were able to get Tobie both books. However, one of the books would need to be picked up at the store at a later time because they didn't have it available on hand. But at least it was paid for.

So, Tobie got his wish and we get to forego buying him birthday gifts and Christmas presents for at least 2 years. I heaed he even got teary-eyed when he found out because he wasn't really expecting us to get it for him for free. Guess we showed him. Hahaha! By now, Sam is handing the book over to Tobie with the receipt for the other book he'll need to get from the store. I would have been there too if I wasn't stuck at work right now. Oh, well.

So, Tobie, even though we can't pay you back for all the games you've run for us, we thought that being a great Storyteller should have it's perks. Enjoy the books!

Can't File for Leave

I'm really not sure who I should talk to but I hate the fact I can't file for leave to have the weekend off. Working at a call center, we don't follow the time and days of normal people. Because our clients are usually located half-the-world away, we work on their terms and their times. Not to mention our company offers 24-hour service coverage. For example, I have work from 4pm to 1am, with Wednesdays and Thursdays off. Obviously, I have to go to work on Saturdays and Sundays.

This is a pain in the ass, especially since the only time I can be with my friends is on Saturday and Sunday. I tried to file for leave but unfortunately, there is only one allocation and a co-worker has already filed for leave until October 22! Damn it!

If there were any other job that could assure me of more or less the same pay and have weekends off, I'd quit this job without a second thought.

You'd think that after having stayed her for more than 2 years, I would have had some perks that allowed me more freedom than the regular agents. But you know what, that just ain't going to happen! Why? Because the better you are at your work, the more demands they can make from you.

They'll assign you where you're needed the most, which limits your options in what job you perform and what schedule you can have. They'll change your schedule at a whim, informing you LESS than 24 hours later because they need people to help out with the queue. They'll throw money in your face and use it as a band aid, hoping it will take away the pain and aggravation for continually making sacrifices.

And all you can do is nod and take it up the ass like a good little boy. Because you need the job and there's nothing better out there. They're all the same, you know. They'll use you and abuse you because labor here is cheaper than it is in their homeland.

And do you know what happens to the people who are responsible for your schedule, the same people who plot out how many can file for leave, the very people who decide to change your schedule at a whim? Nothing. They don't get progressive counseling when they make an error in plotting out schedules. Oh, no. The worst they can be told is to re-plot the schedules again...which they are paid to do!

No wonder people quit here in droves. No wonder they change schedules too often. They can't make people stay long enough and end up punishing those who choose to remain.

I should just quit. That would solve all our problems. I wouldn't have to file for leave and they wouldn't have to plot my schedule.

cbaker81???

I had already written a long article regarding the origin of my user name of 'cbaker81'. But, for some reason, the computer decided to delete it before being saved. *sigh* So here I am again, typing a new article to post.

In the past 24 hours, I have had several thoughts and experiences that would be great to publish. When I started this blog, I was afraid I would have nothing to write. It's good to know that I will be able to post something at least once a day. But I don't know if I should write it all down now and publish it or write down and publish one post per day. Hmmm...

Oh, I see that there is a 'save as draft' option. It seems I will be able to do both: write it down now but publsih it later.

So, where was I? Oh, yes, the origin of my usename, cbaker81. Well, it all started in highschool. I can't really remember when but it was the time I found out about the internet and email. I wanted to try it out see what I could do. The first thing I did - heck, what most of us do - is create an email account. I chose to use Hotmail.

But I wanted a cool name. I wanted something that would let me blend in and yet stand out at the same time. You could say that I wanted a name that was me, but also not me. Sound confusing? Well, you can think about it this way, I wanted to have a pen name that still kept the essence of my name.

Most people don't know my full name: Aldwin Christopher Baking Catral. Seeing that I had two names that didn't see much usage (Christopher and Baking), I decided to use them. But people mispronounced Baking as "bay-king" and not "ba-king" so I decided to return it to the original word from which it was derived. Hence, the name Christopher Baker.

So where did the 81 come from? I wasn't born then, but rather in 79. As I entered 'cbaker79' as my preferred username, Hotmail informed me that it was already taken and suggested some other names. I decided to let fate choose for me and it selected 'cbaker81'.

Because it's a lot easier to remember and I didn't want to create any other account by another name I would have to remember, i decided to accept it. So I stayed with it from then on. Almsot all my accounts are registed with 'cbaker81' except for a certain few.

Forced into it...

I've decided to sign up because I can't make a comment on friend's blog without doing so. Besides, this might be a good opportunity for me to start writing again. God knows I need to the outlet for all this pent-up emotions these past couple of weeks.

One of the reasons I've kept my distance from making my own weblog (yes, children, that's where the word comes from, shame on you for not knowing) is that I felt I wouldn't have anything interesting to write about. I'd probably forget (or worse, become indifferent) about this in a couple of weeks much like my Neopet. However, after reading some of my friends' yet-to-be-updated-since-2004-rolled-around, I decided I couldn't do much worse.

So, let me introduce myself. My name is Aldwin Christopher Baking Catral, but my friends just call me Aldwin. I'm 25 and I live in Las Piñas City, Philippines. I like reading and writing stories (and sometimes, poetry). My current passion is role-playing games.

I work in Makati as a customer service representative for a company called PeopleSupport. It's a good company to work for if you're just starting out. But I've been here for 2 years now and I'm still at a step above an entry level position. I need a change so I've thought about quitting. But frankly, what else is out there except another call center? I've decided to stay - for now - because it's better than being a bum at home.

Well enough about that. I could go on about myself but what would I write in the future? Better to save it up until something catches my fancy...or my ire.