*Last excerpts from my private journal

    This year, joined Heroes Phils. and Black Pearl Phils. Yup, I'm officially a hero and a pirate. The fanboy in me now encompasses books, TV and movies. I wonder what next...

    I suppose one of the biggest challenges this year was New Worlds. This year saw us holding two major events, both of which took considerable toll on a whole lot of us – both physically and emotionally. Nevertheless, I am proud of our achievement and my participation.

    Last July 9 to 15, by invitation from Rockwell Powerplant Mall, we held a week-long event entitled New Worlds Transformed. It was in line with the Transformers and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movies.

    There will always be one thing I will never forget about Transformed: The Parade of Fandoms. Marshalled by members of Cosplay.ph, everyone in costume marched and paraded around Rockwell  – the sight of these varied fandoms marching together was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen! Hogwarts and Star Fleet, the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire, the Pirates and the Royal Navy, the Vampires, the Transformers and more! That was something.

    By October 27, it was time for New Worlds 5: The 5th Annual Philippine Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention. However, the event was not without its own setback. On Oct. 19, a week before the event, there was an explosion at Glorietta 2. Regardless if it was an attack or an accident (an ongoing debate until now), there were damages and casualties. There were fears that the con wouldn't push through because there were days that the mall was closed.

    The convention pushed through and we brought much-needed life back to the mall again. There were new groups that joined us (Anne Rice Phils., Black Pearl Phils., Cosplay.ph, Cybertron Phils., Heroes Phils., Lost in the  Phils. and Supernatural Phils.). Sadly, Wheel of Time Phils. was unable to participate. I actually prepared a costume for the event as a member of Heroes Phils. – Gabriel Gray/Sylar of Heroes.

    I suppose New Worlds 5 would be one of the highlights of the last quarter of my year. Of course, I turned 26 last October. These last few months were probably one of the easiest I had ever been. They were certainly easier at least than how I started the year! Maybe it's because of great friends and a more stable family situation.

    When I started writing this recap, I was drawing blanks. I couldn't bring myself anything to write. I realize now that it wasn't because there was not much to write. It was actually because there's a lot! This is by far the longest recap I have ever written.

    Here's to more adventures in 2008!

*Further excerpts from my private journal

     2007 had become a technology-driven year for me. There's still my trusty Palm Tungsten E2, which had been my most useful companion. Thanks to the camera I got my family last year, I have tons of pictures of friends, family, pets, places, events, my collection and myself. 2007 would indeed be memorable. Last September, my brother gave me his old 3gb iPod classic because mom gave him a new one, which she got from a client.

    Speaking of my iPod, my taste for music in 2007 can be summarily described as “R & B” - ROCK AND BROADWAY! Although shameful, I have to thank piracy for allowing me to acquire the albums of 3rd Eye Blind, Three Doors Down, John Mayer, Jason Mraz and Green Day, and the soundtracks to Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera, Chicago, Into the Woods, Wicked, and Hairspray, as well as to Quest for Camelot, Buffy the Musical and Scrubs – My Musical. I was also able to find digital copies of the albums and soundtracks I got on cassette tapes when I was in high school and transferred music from my CDs (original ones) to my iPod, where I also have the entire season of the Avengers cartoon series and the Ultimate Avengers movies!

    My favorite band, Matchbox Twenty, released their “Best of” album this year – Exile on Mainstream. Of course, I got the original copy.

    Aside from music, 2007 was also a year of great movies – Spider-man 3, 300, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Enchanted, Beowulf, The Simpsons Movie, Stardust and of course, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. The latter four being more special because I got to see it for free with the geek friends. Sadly, there were the not-so-great ones as well – Ghost Rider and The Golden Compass.

*More excerpts from my private journal

    Tita Pinky and Tito Wayne welcomed 2007 here in the Philippines and returned to Canada around the second week of January. More relatives from the other side of the globe came to attend another relative's wedding. When they left in August, my grandmother who had been staying with us for two years went with them as well.

    Yes, looking back - 2007 is full of hello's and goodbye's. Thankfully, there were more hello's.

    Back in January, me and my friends at NWA and Fandom Inc. began work on Fandom Café – a place where us geeks can hang out and find a second home. Since then, I've had a great share of hello's at the café. It was there that I first met two of my closest friends in New Worlds – Alec and Lynn. It was there that I first got to see “Heroes” and loved it. It was there that I got to meet Oliver Pulumbarit, a fellow Avengers fan whose artwork and article on MTV Ink about JLA/Avengers years ago I cut out and saved.

    It was also there that we said goodbye to one of our own. In April, Ricky Sunico passed away of a brain aneurysm (if I'm not mistaken). That was the first time I ever lost a friend. For two days, the geeks of New Worlds trooped to his hospital for hope and support. Two more days we gathered at his wake and laughed, like we knew he would want us to do. At his cremation, I joined the Trekkies in wearing a formal dress white uniform – a most proper send-off. (I'm tearing up as I write this)

    After the cremation, we were all off to Fandom Café to celebrate his life and Jon's birthday, which was supposed to be the only thing we were celebrating that day. Despite the tragedy, that night in April when we were all together in celebration and not alone in grief is one of my best memories. I hope I'll never forget it. I didn't even get to know him as long as everyone else in New Worlds did but  I still miss the big guy.

    Around a week before Ricky's passing, Chan-Chan left for the US. I joined some SDP members for his send off dinner. He's in California now working at Disneyland and he seems pretty happy over there. Sometime in July, Lora came home from New York. I didn't get to see her until she had to go back. She's currently pursuing her theater studies. I hope to see her headline a Broadway show someday. Kenjie, meanwhile, left for Macau last September where he's working as performing gondolier and going places. The last time I saw the guy was a chance encounter in 2006... and I was in a hurry.

    Other goodbye's in 2007 include two prominent fixtures in my life who will never know who I am. Madeleine L'Engle, whose words and worlds were opened up to me when I was in seventh grade and inspired me to journey into fantasy, and of course, Robert Jordan. The Wheel of Time books got me through my college years and some time beyond. Without him I never would have met my friends in New Worlds.

*Excerpts from my private journal

    So here I am. At the beginning of one more year. As with every year that passes since 1998,  I write my reflection on the year that was.

    2007 turned out to be more eventful than I thought it would be. It started with an upgrade in my salary at Dempa Publications, then got fired by the end of February and was jobless for weeks.

    The same day that I got fired, my political party during my CASA years in college, KaCASA, lost four of seven seats in the election. We won the presidency though. A few weeks prior, the Students Democratic Party also won three of four seats in the AB Student Council elections, excluding the presidency. The thing with college politics is that it was such very much a part of my college life that as a working professional, I felt (as most of us alumni did) that it was imperative on my part to be supportive.

    Of course, the timing couldn't be more wrong as I wasn't able to save anything up during my lucrative days at Dempa.

    It would be weeks before I get another job as a copywriter for my present company – Pageshop Graphic Design, Inc. That's right. I've been employed since March 2007. I consider that to be an achievement - I have not been fired or retrenched and this is the longest time I have ever spent in a single company.

    While my first quarter does sound pretty sad (because it is), there were reasons for me to be happy as well. For one thing, the Avengers expanded to two different rosters around that time (New and Mighty) and launched a third title (Avengers: The Initiative, which is more my favorite than the other two).

    While I am following Avengers: The Initiative monthly, I only finished the first story arcs of the NEW New Avengers and the Mighty Avengers. This year, I also expanded my collection to include The Ultimates Vol. 1 HC, Young Avengers Tpb. Vols. 1 & 2, Avengers: Galactic Storm Tpb. Vols. 1 & 2, as well as several one-shot comics featuring the Avengers. I also got the complete line of Avengers Minimates and a straight-from-the-US copy of both Ultimate Avengers movies, courtesy of Papa who came by for a visit last September.