The Best of (Ang) 2004

2004 was a period of transition. From being a plain student, I turned into a UP graduate, a bum, a job hunter, a job huntee, a junior product planner, a taxpayer, an SSS member, a Youngblood baby, an officemate, and more!

Life can’t get any better than it was in 2004—the best year of my life. It’s the year when I reaped the rewards of being in school for 17 years. The rewards ain’t that wonderful but what the heck? I’m so happy I can just say, “Hah! Life is good!”

2004 was the year when two people with an oblique kind of closeness and dearness to me passed away: Aaron (12 August) and Tito Bobby (26 December). Their existence showed me how great it is not to be afraid, not hold back. In the process, they taught me that it doesn’t matter how you die; what matters most is how you lived.

In this wonderful year, my “young blood” hit the new stands. It was the golden moment (the hype lasted at least a day—or two) for my writing career—something which I thought I was just trying to make up with the creative lobe of my brain. My P900 contributor’s fee, mostly spent on taxi fare on my way to the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s main office, wasn’t the best part of the ordeal. Recognition was half of it, but what got me more psyched was the idea that I had an effect on some people (even for a few minutes) through my written voice.

In 2004 I got a hasty date proposal, something I didn’t see coming, from a descent guy to which I retorted a romantic, “no.” I also smoked two sticks of cigarettes—one irrationally, the other rationally. It resulted to an impromptu article for Manila Bulletin, an article for my journal, another article for my blog, and a set of slightly nicotine-inflicted lungs.

I don’t know what awaits this coming year but I sure am ready to find out!

Nice seeing you, 2004; hello 2005!