25 Random Things About Me (it could have been 6 or 66 or 666 but taggers insisted it should only be 25)

1. I am a battered child. In our generation, no law prohibited parents from torturing children. My parents always had a reason to pinch me, spank me using anything that came in handy like belts, brooms, sticks, firewood. I was even knocked down with a pestle, that heavy wood used to pound rice. I wasn’t able to walk for a day. My brother and sisters had a share of this misfortune. A sis was struck with a wooden bench. My siblings and I had ducked from flying saucers, coconut shells and knives. And we were not prodigal sons and daughters. In fact, neighbors and teachers praised us because we were the most subservient of children in our community. Until now I still have unresolved issues with my parents.
   
2. I am slightly claustrophobic. Enclosed places remind me of oppression and fear.  I used to hide in the darkest closets and unused rooms and cowered in fear because battery was inevitable. Until now that experience in dark closets would send me gasping for air when I am in a room with no visible windows.
   
3. I love rooms with lots of windows, preferably floor to ceiling windows.
   
4. I am an obsessive-compulsive person. I could not afford to see dirty or topsy-turvy places. I know when someone mess my things around even if returned to their proper places. I just know. My dinner plate is always clean like it’s ready for use even before I leave the table. I arrange skewed artworks in exhibitions and museums. I could not handle public washrooms, and public equipment, that is why I wash my hands as much as possible.
   
5. I hate cockroaches of any kind. They remind me of dirty things. I used to bring Baygon spray in my bag.
   
6. I am generously kind. I say Thank You a lot and apologized even if it was not my fault. I used up my finances to spend for my family and friends.
   
7. I am not an alcoholic despite of the fact that I think I would almost (almost lang naman) die if I could not have a drink or two each day. But my brother is, I am sure. Two of my uncles died of liver cirrhosis. Most cousins and relatives loved drinking. Some succumbed to that fact. Our clan is known as THE clan of drunkards.
   
8. I love mixing drinks and experiment on them. I also love to cook and experiment on the how tos. I baked my first bread when I was 13. I have no recipe. It was nothing glamorous, only that I used clay-pots when I baked that bread.  My dead aunt (it was not my baked bread that caused her death) claimed it was better than the ones sold at public markets. I never bake ever since.
   
9. I don’t have television at my place but I bought one for my parents. If given the chance to watch TV, I would rather have National Geographic channel, Discovery and its sister channels and hate those channel surfers who would not consider other people watching a show.
   
10. I fear driving. My first bicycle ride was traumatic. I brought along my cousin with me and I did not know how to navigate a curve. We ran smacked into a running tricycle. My cousin was transported in the passenger seat of the tricycle, my face was bleeding from a wound, and our bike’s wheels were formed into number 8s. I tried again, this time traversing half the island of Bohol. I almost got myself killed when the chain of the bike malfunctioned and I was caught between a stationary delivery truck and Dory Transit speeding through. My first four-wheel drive was with a Pajero but it was not that disastrous. I almost ran over a pedestrian. My first motorcycle drive gave me a burnt leg and a sprained arm.
    
11. I do not consider myself as an artist despite people tagging me as one. Yes I used to draw. That was before. I used to paint. That was before. I never had the chance to perfect my talents (if they were considered talents) because I could not afford them. Anyway, I still have artist tantrums rooted in me.
    
12. I am the only photographer who does not own a camera. Seriously, there are hi-tech camera owners out there who could not even compose a good shot. If you consider a mobile phone with a camera as the tool of my trade, then I am a photographer. I depend so much on my Sony Ericsson W810i.
    
13. I never graduated from college. I am an undergrad with just a few more semesters, two to be exact, before I could have a diploma, and I quit. It could have been a Bachelor of Science in Philosophy!  In fact, if not of my neighbors who adopted me during my high school days, I would never finish high school. I hate boring teachers. I know better than them. This being an undergrad, is the reason why I resigned from government service. I used to work with the government, my position being Computer Programmer despite my ignorance with computers. I never had any background with computers. Not even with typewriters. I used only four of my digits when I am typing, with the occasional thumb for spacebar. The HR department did not ask if I graduated or if I have a diploma. My skills in writing and designs saved me. Later, when I was getting too popular when a new governor took over, my credentials were checked and I was forced to resign.
    
14. I love books. I love Pablo Neruda, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Edgar Allan Poe to name a few. Poe, especially. I consider myself a writer (blogger, for now) especially when I am drunk. During my college days, the school’s publication editor would drown me in alcohol so I could fill in some space. My grades would be saved if the teacher gave essay questions because I know how to get things in perspective rather than fill in some blanks. I was usually drunk during exams.
    
15. I have been in serious relationships but always came out wounded and battered. I became a liar out of past relations. I felt used and abused. I also used and abused lovers. I learned to drown myself on a deadly combination of alcohol and drugs. Slashed my wrists out of jealousy. Hoping to recover, the past years have been dry and lonely as a choice. Transgressions now things of past, and lessons learned, I believed I have recovered from those disasters. Lately, starting a clean slate, I met and fell in love with a person I used to know. We have started our journey together and hoping for the best to come for both of us.
    
16. People see me as strict, aloof and a social climbing publicity whore. My friends see me as a happy, loving and trustworthy person. Children would always come to me especially special ones. I have pacified kids on tantrum spree. I have taken cared of babies of strangers.
    
17. I am a music lover and can hum a tune or two but I could not remember titles, lyrics and artists of the songs. My music genre includes arias, classical (not classics, although I also love them), rhythm and blues, fado, trance, smooth jazz, ambient, world, kundiman and some pop. I hate karaoke the most. I hate people who exude confidence and shamelessly sang in karaoke joints but could not even tell if they are off-tuned.
    
18. I only eat a full meal once a day. This is out of necessity and not a dietary requirement. If I have enough funds, I usually go to KFC and order two-piece hot and crispy chicken and a large Mountain Dew. If I feel rich, I would grab Japanese and Thai food. Spicy food is a big come-on for me. If the food lacks the zest, I would always ask for chili powder.
    
19. Given a choice, I would rather be in the countryside than big cityscapes. But I also love to travel. Traveling gives me a chance to unwind, be with friends and meet new ones and experience different personalities and culture. Favorite tambayan? Cemeteries during sunsets. Quiet and beautiful.
    
20. I love walking in the rain but would cower shamelessly when there is lightning and thunder. Rainy days usually are the perfect time to have cups of coffee, although every time is coffee time for me. But rains give the ambience.
    
21. I used to have a beautiful penmanship. My teachers would always ask me to write things on the board and on their lesson plans when I was in high school and college. Now, my writings are like doodles and lacked the beauty it used to have. When asked to fill in a questionnaire, a keyboard would be the best option rather than a pen.
    
22. I have nude pictures being circulated in the internet. A hacker (and maybe a desperate admirer or an abandoned lover) brought them out and sent them to heads of offices and employees from my former employer, the provincial government of Bohol. The hacker even threatened to post them around Tagbilaran. Being the epitome of glamorous cool, I offered myself to help. I retained my composure all through the incident raising eyebrows of employees who accused me later as culprit pretending to spread my nude pictures to cover up my HR mess. I don’t know what kind of brain those people have, if they have, but covering a bad act with another scandalous act in the hope of redemption is not my cup of tea.
    
23. I have tattoos and planning to have another that would cover both my arms. My icons are Sun and Moon. People who mistook tats as symbols of incarceration should stop their narrow outlook. Historically, Visayans were called pintados because of tattoos all over their bodies.   
    
24. I have a collection of masks. Wood masks from Asia and Africa. Ceramic masks from Mexico. Steel masks from UK and Italy. Paper mache masks from Japan and the Philippines. Fiber glass masks from Germany.
    
25. My favorite color is orange. 
    

Birthday ko kasi so ayan confessions na!