perfect starry nights. sweet dreams. moon beams. a love that's warm. and bright.

Last Friday, I was stuck all day at the Araneta Coliseum "manning" the set up for that night's Christmas party. I wasn't really doing anything much except people-watch and crave for a mocha latte in the nearby Starbuko. Of course, I couldn't get my coffee because I had to pretend I was actually doing something important. If the banquet managers caught me lollygagging, I'd be dead before I get to see the program. I won't allow that because I knew there would be celebs [apart from me] that night.

So while the set up was being done, I checked out the schedule for Disney on Ice as I have decided earlier on [with childlike squeals and ohmigawrsh-im-so-going-to-see-that] that I will secure tickets at the soonest possible time. I immediately went inside the arena and picked a seat in the patron area and practiced cheering for imaginary ice-skaters dressed in colorful and whimsical costumes. My officemates wondered what I was doing and when I explained I was prepping for a January show, they shot me amused and weirded out looks. I seem to be getting that all the time.

Needless to say, I am prepping for Disney on Ice because, hello, it's Disney, I'm Xaris, do the math. I hurriedly reserved a ticket online and I am eagerly waiting for a confirmation. Like I have so much money to burn, tchh.

It's the nearest I'm going to get to Mickey Mouse until HK Disneyland [yun na muna, poorita pa 'ko eh]. And yes, I love watching figure skating what with all the drama of their movements plus their frilly costumes.

Going back to my Araneta experience, when I had successfully made sure that my assignment was done, I went inside the main hall to see what was happening. There was an ongoing show hosted by Edu Manzano and Tuesday Vargas. Like any show, there was an opening, a middle and an end.

some people would ask me if i trained in a call center thus my slang. come to think of it, i can't exactly point where i got to sound like this. sesame street perhaps? for the record, no, i have never set foot in a call center nor received any formal training in the language. my parents did not even train us to be "spokening dollars." it was mostly my kuya who talked dollars owing to his ateneo education [tsk tsk, conio boys for playmates, why not?] and my cousins growing up elsewhere thus the constant "whut" and me going "ha?"

i think i seriously took in english when i was in the sixth grade. i deliberately studied grammar beyond the lessons in school and read a whole lot of books. thank you francine pascal and sweet valley series! later my reading habits evolved to jules verne, cs lewis, jessica zafra and newspaper columnists. that's discounting my disney and Bible bed time stories with a dash of english classics earlier on.

nobody understood me then. they'd go, "ang arte naman nito, inggles inggles pa." and i go, "just because you're dumb enough to understand doesn't mean i'll level off with you noh!" [which is bad construction, come to think of it].

never claimed to be an expert either. i just hung on to "doing it like the romans do!" glamorous grammarian. glammarian!

imagine the ego deflation i had when i got a 2.5 for that one class where english is required. because of that, i will never work at a call center. i don't think i'd be able to stand any more ego pfft-ing if and when i screw up.

of all the days to be "normal" i had to pick yesterday. the imossible has happened. the xaris partied in *gasp* her uniform *squirms* at the wedding essentials dinner party at the rockwell tent. geez. i was there in shocking green while the rest of the industry was in their party clothes which don't even compare to my xaris-normal days. where were my four inch heels and vintage ensembles when i needed them?? why does it always rain on me? why? why rockwell why?

on the plus side [depends how you look at it], i found out that i was actually working for one of the top wedding suppliers in the country. hah, talk about downsizing my area of work. i had no idea. but it all dawned on me last night *hallelujah chorus*  yes yes josiah's  the best!

it was a bit shocking too to find out that my boss practically knows everyone at the party, making beso after every five steps, to some soshalera-ever and half the party hall. oh rawr. so that's what PR is about. it was funny, actually becauce ma'am jet has always been "just ninang jet" all my life when she is in fact a biggie in the wedding industry.

funny too how i realized i am anti-social after all contrary to previous claims. last night got me thinking whether stardom really is for me. so now, i resolve to strut my stuff no matter what it takes. hah. that's the spirit!

i now come to the conclusion that this is not yet the time for my star to shine. there are a lot more stardust to collect. but but but that doesn't have to mean i will never glimmer. believe me, i will. consider this a training ground, i always say.

tomorrow i will be sanguine again.