I got very busy with my life after “The Great Depression.” I woke up one day, not caring about what people think of me. I was like, “I’ll do what I want and I’ll do whatever makes me happy.” And of course, it means boring stuff. Things that make me happy are usually boring. Haha.
So okay, I gathered myself; I organized everything and started giving value of my time. I learned from the Encounter that there’s a higher purpose for me, and I think I knew what it is.
Janine gave up on Jem. She thought that a weak personality should be handled by the strong one. I haven’t really thought about that, but I accepted the challenge. So, every Thursday evenings, before I go to work, I go to their house and listen to Jem and her Hannah Montana-like problems. Until now I couldn’t believe that Jem and Janine are related.
Work’s fine. I was one of the original members of last year’s volleyball team, so I got elected as the team captain. I recruited new players from different universities, and I could say that we’re such a powerhouse team, but we still lost during the first game. I think I got over confident, because I knew that our team was a strong one, we didn’t practice. I gave the setter the instructions to set the ball after its received and the spikers will take care of it. I forgot about the defense part, so, we lost. Haha.
I was successful in inviting old acquaintances to church. But I think they’re not coming back because their lives were already perfect, and they don’t need God. Haha. Okay, let them be.
I think I mentioned about joining the Levites on my previous entries. The church band’s called Levites, headed by Kuya Rommel, who inherited the job from his wife, Ate Dawn, after she gave birth. By the way, our band is not your average boring church band. The musicians are skilled, talented and hard-working. We play different genres, but we’re deeply rooted in the alternative-rock genre, just like Hillsong United.
I went under 6 months of training, which consisted of 6 months of seating in on every practice, and wondering when will I ever actually play in the band.
New recruits Chok and Niko came, so I got worried. I got worried that they’d get to play before me because everyone knows that they used to be in a band together, meaning they’re a lot better than me (unlike me, who never played in public). I know it shouldn’t be a competition, but I can’t help to be insecure. I am ALWAYS insecure, almost about everything. Argh.
Before I finally get to play, I decided to take lessons. Instead of hiring someone else to teach me advanced piano lessons, I hired the band director who charged me 500 bucks per hours. Well, that’s fine, because I’d really like to know if I’m fit to play for Levites. If the teacher says that I’m tone-deaf, I won’t play. I’ll stop attending the band practices and will stop training.
First session:
Teacher calls me on my phone, waking me from my sleep.
“I’m right here outside your house,” he said, in a “dude-let-me-in” tone.
My brother let him in. I got dressed, grabbed some pens and a notebook. After few minutes, we’re in front of my piano slash keyboard.
“Do you have a surgical tape?” He asked? I was like, “Huh? What for? Will my hands be bloody after the lesson?”
“We need to cover the chords on your keyboard. You have to memorize the chords.” I told him that I got it memorized long time ago, so that won’t be necessary. I think he wasn’t quite convinced, so he asked me to show him, which I gladly did. I guess he changed his lesson plan; he had to go fast forward.
Since I know everything that he needs to teach me, we just focused on some finger excercises. He gave me chords to play and some quizes, in which I got perfect scores. Smiley face inserted here.
By the end of the lessons, he told me that I was easy to teach, and I truly know how to play. He told me to present a song next to him next meeting, which would probably the last meeting too. I was like, “Are you kidding? This our first lesson, and next lesson would be the last?” He said that it could be the last, since there’s nothing he can think of that I need to learn. Thank God.
If you think about it, it’s truly amazing. My parents are both tone-deaf; we don’t possess that musical gene in the family. But still, I was able to learn the piano without a teacher. Thank you, God. Smiley face inserted here.
Second meeting:
I decided that I’ll play Hillsong’s “Through It All”. I know the song by heart, and it’s pretty easy. Oops, i take it back. It’s not an easy song; in fact, it has a lot of over chords in it. It’s just easy for me because I’ve been playing that song for a long time.
Teacher arrived and we got started. I played Through It All. He asked me right after, “Where’d you get the chords?” I panicked. I got scared that he’ll get mad if I tell him that I got it from Youtube, so I lied (I know it’s wrong to lie, I won’t do it again), “From Mi Jan.”
He asked me to play another song. I played Hillsong’s “Oceans Will Part”, which displays a beautiful piano part. The song was hard, but thanks to Youtube, I was able to get the chords right. My hands got a little shaky because I was so scared of my teacher, so I kind of messed it up a bit.
He told me to play a third song. This time, I stick with the basics. I did Hillsong’s Here I am to Worship, the Reuben Morgan version. He stopped me during the middle of the song. He changed the chords a little bit, and told me to start from the beginning, which i did, without questions asked.
He’s such a poker-face. I couldn’t tell whether he’s pleased with what I did or not. But after the third song, he told me what I did was correct, and I should be fine. Yay!
He just made me practice with tempo, and gave me quizes. Again, I got everything perfect. Yay!
Third Meeting:
He thought me the scales. I don’t remember much about it because I was too distracted about his good news; I’ll play next Sunday! Weeeeeehhhhhhhhh!
Come middle June, I filed a 3-day leave from work. I think I deserve a break from work to meditate, gather myself and clear my mind. During the 3-day leave, I read Alex Flinn’s “A Kiss in Time.”
A KISS IN TIME
It’s about Sleeping Beauty, but the story was about what happened after she got kissed by her prince.
The princess’ name was Talia. She fell into a deep sleep when she got her finger pricked on her 16th birthday, because she’s cursed by the witch Malvolia.
The other fairies thought it would be the best for the kingdom of Euphoria (don’t remember if it’s right) to be put under a sleep spell, so that Talia wouldn’t be alone when she wakes up.
Three hundred years later, soon-to-be freshman looking for adventure (and a beach) wound up in Talia’s kingdom. He fount Talia in the attic, and out of impulse, kissed her. Soon, everyone was awake, including Talia.
They didn’t notice that they’ve been sleeping for three hundred years, until Jack and Talia came clean about it. Everyone blamed Talia for messing things up, so she devised an escape plan involving Jack. Jack was against it at first, but Talia told him that she’ll tell the king Jack did something wrong to her (like, sexually harassed her) if he doesn’t take her with him.
Without a choice, Jack took Talia with him to the United States. His parents freaked out and wanted the princess out of their house, not know who she really was.
The witch Malvolia was still after Talia. She kidnapped the princess when she got the chance, and hid her in her cottage (she transported the princess back to Europe using magic). Talia learned the truth why Malvolia put her under a curse, and why she’s determined to kill ber
Malvolia turned out to be nice, after all. She had a deal with Talia that she’ll let her go if Jack proves that she’s his one true love. Malvolia taught Talia to make a dress for herself, which she’d be wearing when she delivers her dead body to the king.
Meanwhile, Jack told his parents the truth, and surprisingly, Jack’s dad believed him. They flew to Belgium right away, just in time for Jack to save Talia.
Malvolia let the princess go with Jack. When they got back, Talia explained to her father why Malvolia was so mad at them that she wanted them all dead. The king let Malvolia live in peace.
Talia and Jack went to college. Evan (Jack’s dad) helped out to develop Talia’s country by making it like theme park.
It was a great novel, and it’s one of favorites now. I give 10 out of ten stars for. It was beautifully written, easy to understand, and very funny.
The Last Thursday Before My First Ever Performance:
I got freakin’ worried and nervous when I got the text of song line-up from our band director; I was assigned to play Everlasting God by Lincoln Brewster and Everyone by Planetshakers. First of, those songs are new for me. I don’t really listen to it that much because they’re too noisy, and suit in a punk-rock concert. Second, I only watch Hillsong concert, and listen only to Hillsong music.
I got kind of panicky, and the other two boys (whom I’ve grown close to) were no help at all. Just like me, Niko felt panicky too, and Chok was too busy helping him out. Chok can’t help me because he only play all sorts of string instruments except for piano, organd and keyboards. Oh great. I called Janine for help, and she said she’ll help me with Everyone, so that felt a little better.
I concentrated on Everlasting God, and it turned out really better than I thought. It wasn’t that hard. Yay.
Thank you God for cellphones. I used to be allergic to cellphones before; I turn it off for days and only turn it back on when I have to call someone or send a text. I don’t have a particular reason… probably, I just hated being bothered by people. Before, I use it to take pictures, but since I now have a very nice GE camera, I don’t need it, so I left it to rot. It’s pretty old anyway.
I think Mom noticed, so one day, she asked me what phone I wanted to buy for myself. I told her anything’s fine, as long as it’s pink or lavender. Or something that shows my personality. Then, she came back to our house, and showed what she bought. It’s a Corby II. It wasn’t the most expensive phone in the world, but still, I appreciated the thought. Mom bought the pink model for me. The screen was large, but the phone itself was thing, and it wasn’t that heavy. The memory was up to 8 GB; I could download a lot of stuff in it, like songs and vids. Plus the sound was awesome. I loved the phone 
Great Mom = great phone.
Using my new cellphone, I learned the songs assigned to me. Awesome.
The Last Saturday Before My First Ever Performance:
When I woke up, I felt butterflies in my stomach. You’re supposed to get that when you’re in love. In my case, I was just so nervous and excited.
I paid a visit to the Arriesgado girls, who were constantly making excuses to decline my invitation to attend church. They’d say yes now, then you can’t find them later. I’d hate to admit this, but I actually learned a lesson. I usually say yes to people’s invitations (parties, recitals, dinners, you name it), then bail the last minute. What you sow is what you reap. Indeed.
So okay, I went to their house, and I could tell that everybody was pretty annoyed, but they still pretended to be happy to see me. Well, if they’re happy to see me, they would’ve let me in as quickly as possible, and won’t let the sun dry me up like a raisin.
And as usual, they accepted my invitation and told me to pick them up. AND AS USUAL, I told them I’d be there to pick them, and I was actually excited. Yay.
I went to church for the practice. Everyone was there on time (the band director’s really strict when it comes to time), but Niko and Chok were exceptionally earlier than everyone else. Probably, just like me, they’re excited. And nervous.
Our turn to practice first. Kakay stepped out behind the keyboard to give way to, ahem, me. We listened to Planetshaker’s Everyone, and given a minute to prepare to play. Ayne counted with his drumstick (just like what Luke Munns do in Hillsong United concerts) and we took off.
Haaaaaaaaaaahhhhh. My fingers were actually shaking! My knees were like jelly; I was sweating too much, more than I do when I play volleyball or any other sport, though the room was airconditioned, and I was wearing a denim miniskirt and a breezy top. To make things worse, Des was snapping pictures of everyone using Niko’s camera. I’d like stop her, but I was scared that if I talk or move anything that’s not related to playing my instrument, I’ll mess the whole thing up.
“Wow, you look beautiful in this picture, sis!” She exclaimed.Since that was the case, I just let her.
We did a great job in “Everyone”.
Everlasting God- Chok’s leading this song, and he messed up on his instrumentals (the part of the song wherein you show off your musical skills, haha). We tried it like three times, but Chok kept on stopping. Kuya Rommel decided to change the song to Kristian Stanfill’s Happy Day.
Now, it’s my turn to mess up. I know the song, but I haven’t tried to play the song, or even practice it at home. Kakay stepped up, and I watched. After 5 minutes, it’s over, and I supposed to get and learn everything, from the intro up to the chorus. Whew. The worst part is, there’s a major piano and trumphet solo in that song, and since we don’t have a trumphet, it’s my responsibility to give the same effect. Oh wow, no pressure. To tell you the truth, I was scared to death, though people see it as a positive thing and go like, “Go Reg! It’s your time to shine!” or “You can do it Reg!” Waaaah.
Kuya Rommel told me to practice Happy Day when I get home. Approximately, I have twelve hours to practice before the big performance.
We all went home. I walked home with Chok, NIko and Ria. If I got shy, Chok and Niko felt humilliated. They admitted that they felt like children who didn’t know what to do during recitation. Chok kept blaming himself. He said that it was so embarassing for him to be the cause of the song change. If you’re there, you’d realize that guys could have a bad case of insecurity too.
I really did practice when I got home. One song = two hours. It was half past midnight when I finally went to bed. Out of too much excitement and tiredness, I fell asleep right away.
THE BIG DAY:
I wore a white ruffled top and a black pencil skirt, matched with a 5-inch silver and purple stilletoes. I didn’t look like I was gonna play in the band; I looked like I was going to a corporate meeting. I think was too excited to care about how I look, so I left home early for church.
Chok and Niko were early too. Our familiies sat on front and took out cameras to take picures. Geez! I was like, “Hello, this a church service, not a concert!”
Everything turned out to be fine, though just like what I’ve expected, I messed up a little with my piano – trumpet part, but nonetheless, it’s still good, and nobody really noticed. When I got down from stage, Weinber and his friends were like, “Yay, you did great! Congratulations of getting regularized!” and slapped my hand, as if I was guy. Duh, didn’t you see the high heels and skirt? Anyways, I thanked them. I got more smiles of approval, high fives and hugs as I walked back from the stage to my seat. Ate Dawn commented that my hands were so cold, probably because of nervousness. Well, not really. My hands are really cold, and I get a lot of complaints from people, not that I’m holding hands with them, duh, well, sometimes I do, especially with Jen or Gela. Sometimes I pinch people’s cheeks or arms. It’s not even the “sweat cold hands” but the “ice cold hands” that some friends joked that if I dip my hands and leave them on a pitcher of orange juice, it’ll be good as if you put it on the fridge.
The rest of the day went well. After church I ate out with my family, Mom’s treat. I don’t really get why my brothers love fastfood so much. Aside from it makes you fat, it makes your face oily and pimply too. I didn’t have any choice but to eat in Jollibee because we didn’t have time to get what I wanted from other dining place. We had to go shopping right after and then go back to church for our separate cell group meetings and then I have to play for another service later in the afternoon.
By the end of the day, Kuya Rommel texted me, saying, “Good job, nag-excel ka na.” That meant a lot to me, you know. He’s an epic musician, so getting a compliment from him means everything in my music career (if ever I have one, haha.)
Then, few days later, they offered me the pianist spot for the Friday Youth service. I got kind of excited but nervous at the same time. It’s a pressure to replace Kakay, who got pulled out by her dad from the Friday team because she has to concentrate on her grades. Did I mention that Kakay’s a prodigy? She’s only fourteen, and she can play difficult songs already, not just in piano but also in guitar and in drums. She’s a great musician, no doubt about that. But I doubt that I can meet the same standards. Yeah, I do play some other instruments, but not as good as her. Plus she can play by ear, unlike me, who has to watch a youtube video a hundred times before I can get the song.
FIRST REMYX BAND PRACTICE:
Thank God for cellphones. Aside from being able to use it to play the songs over and over when I’m trying to learn them, you can get the song line-up whenever, wherever you.
So okay, I got the line up by Monday morning, and went ahead to study the songs. I couldn’t freakin’ believe that I have to study six songs and I have forty-eight hours to do it. Rain Down (by Delirious) and Your Grace is Enough (by Chris Tomlin) were very easy. Hillsong’s Love You So Much and God is Awesome and Kari Jobe’s You are Good proved to be a tough challenge for me. And who is Kari Jobe, by the way? She’s all new to me, ’cause I’ve grown up listening to Don Moen, Hillsong, Paul Wilbur and Musikatha. I lost track of the Christian music ’cause I stopped going to church for awhile, and then, when I got back, they’re all playing Planetshakers, Hillsong United, Gateway Worship, Soulfire Revolution, Kristian Stanfill and Chris Tomlin, which are so far from the quiet and peaceful Hillsong music that I used to hear ten years ago.
I’d be the lead in the last three songs plus All Things are Possible, so it’s a huge pressure and challenge. Unfortunately, I got zero out of four. If this is school, I could’ve flunked the test by now.
We always end the practice with a meeting, wherein we talk about the songs, take suggestions, decide what to wear and also, pray.
Just by the band director’s words, I could tell that he’s reallly annoyed. He’s like, “Before you get in here, make sure you know how to play the songs. Step your game up. We’re playing for God, not for people, so do your best.” Ouch! That hurts. He didn’t say it directly to me but it was so obvious that it’s for me because I was the only person who messed up.
The projector guy told me to practice more because I “ruined the whole” practice. That hurt more. I can take a criticism from a pro, but he’s the projector guy! I mean, hello! He’s the projector guy! He’s the projector guy because he can’t play an instrument! I’d like to tell him, “Hey, try playing a Love You So Much and let’s see if you can do it,” but I didn’t. Instead, I meekly said, “Okay, I promise to practice more at home.” It’s just so embarassing that I wanted to break down and cry in front of them. I sucked it up and did the tough-girl act in front of everyone else.
FIRST REMYX PERFORMANCE:
Friday morning: I was in the Philam court with my volleyball team, practicing. I’ve learned my lesson, and I won’t let my team to lose again. Under Bong’s expert coaching, we trained our defense and offense moves. Why didn’t I think of those technics before? Well, probably, I’m inexperienced. He used to play in NCAA for like, ten years, when he was young. I was truly positive that our game plan will help a lot for us to win.
My Friday performance was a lot better than my Sunday performance. Perhaps it’s the adranaline rush because of the energy of the youth, though tne last practice’s debacle was still fresh in my mind.
The message was awesome; it was about making your dreams come true. You know, I learned from the wife’s minister that if I have a dream, I should do something to fulfill it, including praying to the Lord, working hard and staying positive and focused to my goal. Fair enough. After the service, I left right away for work.
Work was okay. It’s the same stuff. Very routinary, I suppose. This job isn’t really making me happy at all, and I’m staying just because of the good pay.
I once told my mom that I envy my friends, for they have a lot of free time for themselves and to socialize. My mom said that my friends’ mothers told her that my friends envy me because I “have a lot” of money (or they just thought). Probably they meant that I could afford stuff that they couldn’t. I came to think that with this boring job, I wouldn’t be the subject of envy (financially) of my friends.
So, I decided to hold on for my dear life in the corporate world and keep my job.
