Hello everyone! I sound pretty chipper today, don’t I? Yep. You’ve guessed it. I’ve finished my thesis and now I’m free to keep posting here once again. Woohoo!

Well, this is actually a little late. We played last Monday night at Mayric’s, opening for Moonstar 88 and Parokya ni Edgar. It was my birthday but I didn’t have a single cent to treat my poor bandmates. Sigh. Ayn kept hinting about stuff: “Selena, Starbucks tayo” or “Selena ang sarap sigurong magsisig ngayon”… kasama pa yung hirit ni Gilbert na “Happy birthday, Mister Kebab”. Shucks. I felt like a rat. It hurts to not have money. But I’m sure they understood.

We had a sucky set actually. Ralph’s cable kept giving out on him and I… well, I just didn’t feel like singing that night. To tell the truth, I was feeling very depressed, what with my financial situation and feeling old and not being able to march at my graduation ceremonies and other petty shit like that. I almost wrote a song about it *gasp!*… that was how fucked up I was that night (you can imagine how Allan feels all the time hehehe). While I was singing I felt like the audience could see through me, that they could sense I wasn’t really performing for them or making much of an effort, that I was tired. I guess it contributed to the suckiness. Charmaine said I was good and loud though. Well, at least I didn’t let the band down too much.

So we finished early and we hung out in front of Mayric’s for a while. Allan showed us this mock profile he made of the band and we kept laughing. It’s really funny. Maybe we can post it here sometime. Of course, ehem, I’ll have to proofread it a bit. Ayn suggested that we put it in the inlay for the album… something like a background that you can’t see if you don’t look very closely. Interesting idea… provided that the album actually gets produced.

Later that night, Ralph and Charmaine left because they were so sleepy and Ayn went with Michelle to meet some people (maybe a certain brother of someone’s boyfriend who we thought was cute at Metallurgica?). I decided to stay with Allan and Roel. I was really down and I didn’t want to go home. Si Chris kasi eh, bad trip. Anyway, Allan ordered some lovely chicharon bulaklak and beers for us. By the time Parokya was singing “Gising Na” and all those other slow songs, I was pleasantly buzzed and starting to cheer up. Allan invited Dindin and Buhawi to partake of our chicharon bulaklak when they came down to rest. He told them that it was my birthday and Buwi said, “Talaga? Happy birthday!” and shook my hand. Dindin did the same. Buwi suddenly said, “Pakiss naman” and I said sige so we kissed each other’s cheeks. I turned to Dindin and said, “Ikaw di mo pa ko kinikiss” and so he brought down his cheek to me but instead I kissed him. And I suddenly realized how funny it all was and he said, “Teka parang mali yun ah!” and we all cracked up around the table. That was really funky.

I know how this sounds so cliché but I really felt it at the time. A year or two ago, I would have been ecstatic for Buwi and Dindin to have kissed my cheek but now it’s just funny because we see them so often. So cliché when people start feeling that way, but I did. I suddenly realized how lucky I was to be in that position. Weird. And I guess that’s how sina Led and Bird of Kamikazee feel, too.

Anyway, that isn’t candy stuff anymore, but I just wanted to say that I really am thankful for candyaudioline because it’s absolutely great to be a member. We’re at that wonderful stage of popularity limbo, where you’re famous enough to be recognized for your musicianship but not enough to be bothered by screaming hordes of fans everyday. There’s no pressure to be in it, but you get all the perks. You have great friends and a great venue for catharsis.

Updates: we might have a semi-regular gig at Mayric’s on the 14th with Blue Ketchup and Soapdish. Buzz Nite is on the 12th although we won’t be playing there because Allan is somewhere else… still, it would be good of you guys to support the indie scene.

Speaking of Soapdish, Jeff had an interesting time that night with his beer. The Parokya sethad finished and only Buwi was left onstage. Roel was picking up stuff but he decided to jam with Buwi and they started playing jazz rhythms. For a while it was doing pretty good… Buwi sounded different and Roel sounded groovy. Then Jeff and another Soapdish guy climbed onstage and added guitars. It was so funny beause everyone was obviously happily drunk, bu they still sounded cool. Then Buwi started repeating himself and Roel couldn’t do anything except rap beats. Jeff had to surrender his guitar to the other guy, but he grabbed a mic and attempted to help Buwi out with the vocals. The problem was that everytime Jeff was about to sing, Buwi belt out once more and he would have to wait again. Finally Jeff was able to sing… he sang, “You don’t see me for so lo-onggg…” ala Francis Magalona circa “Gotta Let You Know”. So it suddenly turned into a full-fledged rap thing complete with “Yeah” and “1-2-3” and stuff like that. Wewere laughing so hard at our table. Gilbert would sing, “Bigyan mo ko ng talo-ong” and Allan would answer with a “Di bagay sayo’ng baro-ong”. Oh well.

Allan and I decided to eat at Mister Kebab after that. Sumabay kami kay Popo of Moonstar and Jeff and his bandmate would sidle up to our car at stoplights and taunt us. He was even waving his shoe out the window. Sigh, to be drunk like that again…