My Mobile Phone History

I was browsing through a gadget blog when the idea for this post came to me. Since I've owned only a handful of mobile phones (which means I don't really have to write a very long post) and each mobile phone has a story behind it (no matter how inane, hehe) I figured I'd give it a shot. I'm not really a mobile phone freak. I had my first cellphone when I was already working (the only way to reach me before that was by calling our home phone or texting my Mom. lols), and I don't really change phones to keep up with trends. So, here's my mobile phone history (cue in the music, please lol)

Nokia 3210
Dec. 2003 - mid 2004
Current location: Unknown

My very first mobile phone was the heavy and chunky N3210. Yes, the phone that almost weighs like a brick and can actually double as a weapon. It was a hand-me-down from my brother. No, wait - I think I actually bought the damn thing from him. Haha. Although the phone served me well, I really hated lugging that brick around. Anyway, the phone must have really disliked me too because one rainy night while I was commuting to the office, It quietly slipped from my pocket and left me forever. So far, It's the only phone I lost. RIP.

Nokia 3330
Nov. 2004 - Dec. 2005
Current Incarnation: Ma's other mobile phone

I replaced the ill-fated N3210 with another hand-me-down, a 'pre-loved' Nokia 3330 bought for a princely sum of P1,000. Yeah, I know I'm a cheapskate. Haha. I went through a lot of good and bad times, upheavals and lulls, while I had this phone, all sheathed in black with an electric blue backlight. When I eventually decided to move on with a 'new' phone, my mom claimed it as her own. I still use it sometimes when I 'steal' load credits. *grin*

Motorola C650
Dec. 2005 - Oct. 2006
Current Location: Somewhere in Legazpi

My colleague Mydz (who by the way is the real cell phone aficionado, lols) sold this phone to me back in mid-2006, yet another pre-loved phone. It was my first color phone with camera. The phone was OK except for the stupid joystick that kept breaking. After spending too much for repairs, I just had to get rid of it. I don't remember to whom I had it sold, though.

Nokia 2100
Oct 2006 - Dec. 2006
Current Location: Unknown

I found myself phone-less after I disposed of the C650. With funds running low, I had to settle for a low-key, second-hand Nokia 2100 that my co-worker was selling. This phone is memorable because I had it with me while that deadly typhoon was raging back in Nov. 2006. My brother claimed it when I had a new phone. I don't know where it is now. lols

Nokia 6680
Dec. 2006 - Feb. 2008
Current Location: Somewhere in Greenhills

Mydz (again!) was the middleman when I bought this phone from my colleague's sister, who turned out to be a batchmate back in HS. I know, another second-hand phone. hehe. The N6680 was the most expensive phone I shelled out money for. I had to pay for it in installments though, so it wasn't really that heavy on the pocket. I had fun tinkering with the N6680 with its Symbian 60 OS, 1.3MP dual camera, and 3G-capabilities. The phone also served me well as an MP3 player. My only gripe was the phone's hefty size.

Nokia 5310 XpressMusic
Feb. 2008 - Present
Current Location: Somewhere under my pillow

I didn't really intend to replace the N6680 because it was still working fine. But a quick sidetrip to Greenhills woke the impulse buyer in me (that place is evil, lol). I was immediately attracted to the 5310 with its sleek design. Placing the 6680 and the 5310 side by side convinced me in favor of the latter. So I traded in the old and bulky for the sleek and slim. I'm glad I did because the phone is just perfect for me. It's lightweight and thin but durable and still offering the features I need especially the MP3 player and camera.

So there, you've just wasted a few minutes getting intimate with my mobile phone history. Haha. How about you, what is your mobile phone history?

Twenty Five

As of today, the 27th of April 2008, I have wasted 9,132 days or equivalent to 219,185 worthless hours or 789,067,050 squandered seconds. lol. Yes, today I turned 25. No big deal really. Except that I am now a quarter of a century old and I have approximately 45 years to go before I bite the dust (that is If I maximize the life expectancy of a Filipino male). Haha.

Kidding aside, I'm thankful that I've reached another milestone in my life. It's a special day not just for me but also for my eldest brother. We both share the same birthday with our departed great-grandfather. Happy Birthday, Kuya!

I'm also thankful that I'm in good health, my family is doing okay, I have good friends and even though life is still full of snags and hitches, I think I'm chuggin' along quite alright.

Here's hoping for the best in the next 25 years. Cheers!

***
A huge thanks to the entire USAP Marketing Department - Legazpi for the gifts, and also to Phoebe and Jirl for the birthday posts they wrote in their respective blogs. I'm touched. Hehe. Thank you. :)

Photo credit: xjaemaex

Psycho Restart

Finally, some breathing space. To say that the past few weeks have been busy is kind of an understatement. It was quite hectic that I can't believe it's already the last week of the month. And this blog is still stuck in February, haha. It's funny my last post is Stop and Stare because my blog literally stopped on its tracks. But with the long holiday ahead, there's simply no excuse that this extended hiatus should continue. Have time, will blog!

Interestingly, restarting this blog on a Good Friday actually makes it come full circle because I started this blog on Good Friday two years ago. So there. Happy Birthday blog, I guess. hehe

Tagged: Why Do I Blog?

I'm supposed to be working on some pending projects here at home, but my mind is wandering somewhere else. I just can't focus. Argh. I guess I need a break from working on the same old stuff for weeks. So for the meantime, while I refresh my mind, I'll answer this tag from Neil, a co-forumer from SkyscraperCity.

How long have you been blogging?

My blogging experience has been intermittent at best. I first had something that resembled a blog back in late 2004 via the old Blogger. It's dead now. Hehe. I simply wasn't able to maintain it and it died of neglect. Between '04 and '06, I made several attempts to start blogging again but somehow I just couldn't keep it going.

In 2006 I had an anonymous blog at WordPress - I opted for anonymity because I had some quite personal stuff going on there. But that blog is dead too. Hehe. I guess I'm not really at ease having too personal blog posts for everyone to feast on. The current incarnation of my blog is doing well, I think. I started posting stuff two years ago and It's still alive. Hehe.

What inspired you to start a blog and who are your mentors?

A lot of things inspired me (and continue to inspire me) to blog, or generally, to write. Maybe the most important reasons that motivate me to write is the yearning for self-expression and creativity. For the past few years, writing has become my life - because it is my job and it pays the bills. But writing out of necessity is never as fulfilling as writing to express one's thoughts and to explore and share things that are interesting for me. Thus, I blog.

I don't remember having any blogging mentors.

Are you trying to make money online, or just doing it for fun?

It is tempting to monetize a blog, but this is still first and foremost a personal blog. I simply love writing stuff and sharing them to anyone who cares to read.

Cheesy as it may sound, I do get a sense of fulfillment in the simple joy of having people read and relate with my posts. It feels great when people leave a comment or two. I'm happy when my blog gets good traffic or when one of my posts appear on top of search engine results. Even though I have been a part of the SEO industry for more than four years now as a web copywriter, I'm still basically a newbie blogger, and all of this fascinates me. I still have a lot to learn.

For the meantime, I'll stick only with AdSense on this blog and skip the other revenue-generating stuff. If I get clicks on my ads, that's great. If I don't, that's fine with me too.

Tell me three things you love about being online.

1. I have access to a vast wealth of information and news. For someone who used to pore over encyclopedias, the internet is nirvana.
   
2. I get to interact with and learn from interesting people through forums and other blogs.
3. I get to download stuff. (Hey, don't give me that look, LOL)

Tell me three things you struggle within the online world.

1. Hmm, I 'struggle' with updating my blog regularly too.
2. I'm struggling.... to answer this last question.
3. I'm struggling to keep my eyes open.

Guess it's time to hit the sack. But before I do, I ask Homar, Phoebe, Cristel, Richard, and Abby to continue this tag/meme. Just ignore if you've done this before. Good Night.

Diagnosis: Disillusionment

Disclaimer: Rambling mode is on. If you don't want to read anything emo, pointless, senseless and utterly self-indulgent, just look away.

All around me are familiar faces. Worn out places, worn out faces. Bright and early for their daily races. Going nowhere, going nowhere. And their tears are filling up their glasses. No expression, no expression. Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow. No tomorrow, no tomorrow.

For the past few days I find myself once again weaving in and out of familiar old feelings. It’s like living a non-life. As I wake up in the morning, I can’t find a good enough reason to get up and face the day. And when I do succeed in dragging myself to where I’m supposed to be, there begins another sickening routine where I trudge along, seemingly okay on the outside, but not quite deep inside. The day has barely started and I'm already wishing for it to end.

Something’s just wearing me out and I feel as if I’m worn out too thin. And I know it’s affecting my efficiency (was I ever efficient?) and functions at work (I think I’ve been malfunctioning for months now) negatively. As usual, befuddled old me can’t point a finger to what it is that’s bugging me. I try to be unfazed by it all and I may be succeeding because nobody notices. But as the day ends, I find myself slumping back down into the dumps again.

And I find it kind of funny. I find it kind of sad. The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had. I find it hard to tell you 'cos I find it hard to take. When people run in circles. It's a very, very Mad World

Maybe I'm just bored. Or maybe I’m just tired of it all: the same places, the same faces, the same things. Or maybe I’m disillusioned, yet again. They say that disillusionment refers to the feeling that arises from the discovery that something is not what it was anticipated to be.

Maybe that’s it – this isn't the life I envisioned I would have five or ten years ago.

But then again, what exactly did I imagine my life would be? Did I consciously will this kind of life into reality or this is exactly what I'm supposed to be living and I can't do anything about it? Where will all this lead, then? Am I taking the right path and at the right direction? Can I get myself out of this rut soon? Am I just wasting my time? And when I finally wake up from this stupor will I be regretting all that lost time?

Art by Vladstudio

I wish I knew how to...

There are several things I wish I knew how to do, talents and skills I wish I had. Often, when I see other people do stuff that just blows me away, I get stirred up not only with admiration but also with a teensy-weensy bit of envy (ok, maybe a lot actually hehe). Here’s a skill or talent I look up to in other people. I wish I knew how to...

...play the piano, guitar or the violin. If I can I have my way, I’d love to learn how to play any of these three instruments. I guess it might be too late because my fingers are already as stiff as crowbars. Haha. Good pianists, guitarists and violinists start young right? I tried to learn playing guitar but wasn’t really committed to learning, which is a shame because my two older brothers are adept at playing guitar. If I only I put my heart into it, I might have learned.

Meanwhile, if I only knew piano or the violin, I would have loved to play Pachelbel’s Canon in D or maybe a nocturne by Chopin. Too bad…guess I'd have to satisfy myself just by humming along to the music.

Anyway, the only musical instrument I ever learned to play with a respectable degree of skill is… the bamboo flute. Yes, those ubiquitous flutes you can find in almost every mall. It was a pasalubong from my Mom. I actually mastered most of the songs on the booklet that came with the flute. Even if it has been years since I last played a tune on a flute, I think I can still do it.

It's cool but the only problem is that I can never ever, even if I try with all my heart and soul, sing along while playing the flute. Can I? Haha. So, to anyone who can play the piano, the violin or the guitar well, you’re lucky. It’s cool. :-)

who, me?

hmm..do i really need to tell you all about me. I know its somewhat a prerequisite in many blogs but I’m not doing any of that. I mean, I’d love to but even I have yet to know a lot about myself..hehe. Well, I’m hoping that this blog can help. So, just read on, who knows we might discover the person behind this blog at the same time.

attempts

It's 10:29 pm, Good Friday and I've got nothing else to do. I just wrapped up my last article and I'm finally free of my obligations for my freelance job. So, what then should I do.

Start a Blog…

Nice, here I go again. How many times have i started a blog? This might be the third, or fourth i think. I'm not sure. All i know is that my previous blog never went past post # 10, i think. So, why the hell am i starting another blog? Do i even plan on adding a new post tomorrow or the day after? I don't know. All i know is that i've been itching to write a new blog again. Not for any grand reason, but just to start a blog just for the sake of it.

So, why did my previous blogs not prosper? Hmm, was i too lazy? haha, i guess so. But maybe I was too caught up in the thought that every blog entry i post must be of some significant value, containing a humorous or touching story everyone will appreciate, or maybe a witty social critique or some philosophical gem or something…

err, but I'm not that wise or smart, anyway. I guess i was also kind of afraid to find out that I'm such a boring and inane person in every entry I post…so there, blog # 3 simply stopped in its tracks and was doomed to float like junk in the wide cosmos of cyberspace. Is this blog doomed to the same kind of fate? We'll see…but i hope not.

So, why did I name this blog 'Psycho.Sanctum'? Well, it simply means 'sanctuary for my spirit' or 'asylum for my soul'. Hehe. I know it may sound cheesy, but who cares? lol

This blog attempts to satisfy my intermittent craving for self-expression (and maybe catharsis) through writing and explore the things that captivate my interest. I am not expecting you will also be interested in what I will be posting here but I'm hoping you do waste some of your precious time browsing through my posts. Welcome to my sanctum!