the old, the new, and the hybrids of both

this past week i have...
...gone to an out-of-town film shoot for four days straight
...trudged through an unimaginable volume of wet sticky mud all day and night (it was part of the set)
...shared temporary quarters with a local "stalwart" in underwater cinematography ("down-to-earth" is a mild word to describe her. ambait! i'd run out of superlatives.)
...cavorted in the amorsolic countryside for the first time in years
...rode on the backseat of a tricycle right beside the current Apple-of-my-Eye (a kilig-worthy memory, hahaha)
...ate like there was no tomorrow (and there always was...and each "tomorrow" would witness the pounds pile up virtually as fast as i could say "oink")
...dressed up in the morning sans the usual rituals (the new ritual was "Ligo, Punas, Bihis"--wala nang suklay-suklay, let alone face powder!) because of time constraints
...been getting myself tanned and shriveled from the exterior day-long shoots (and now i've been showing off my tan lines to anyone who'd comment about how dark i'd become. hahaha)
...cleaned the bathroom floor of hard-to-melt mud with an entire roll of one-ply tissue (one of the most euw-inspiring things i've done in recent memory. argh)
...lost my cellphone and got it back again (buti na lang nag-iba ko ng SIM card for the four-day shoot...at buti na lang kaibigan ko ang nakakuha)
...been almost completely cut off from the outside world, as far as cellphones are concerned (there were no cell sites for miles in the location where shooting would usually take place)
...taken about a thousand photos with my trusty digital camera (of nearly every scene, and nearly everyone, except, erm, Direk. go figure)
...been smiling more often than usual. argh.
...bought a book for the first time in months
...attended a classmate-friend's baby shower for the time ever (anubayun, childbearing age na pala kami. nagdadalaga pa lang ako eh)
...committed myself to a project which i'm convinced would do me good in the future. it may not exactly end up feeding the passions, but right now the pragmatic little devil in me is rearing its ugly head again. nah. it's not like i'm taking on a life-consuming, time-consuming, self-consuming job like the once i previously did for TV. this one's gonna be a walk in the park, compared to my erstwhile horror days. i think.
...been secretly enjoying someone's presence, sans the expectations (something i haven't experienced since the time of Frog Princess. aww)

i love being busy. i love being out there. i just want to keep going and going and not ever stay still, ever. work will always get in the way of the things i really want to do but this time around i know where the difference will lie. when back then i had let the work consume me, this time around i will set aside a portion of my time and thoughts to the labors-of-love.

find the time. if you can't find it, then friggin' make it. no excuses. work is not an alibi. at all.

hay, puro pep talk sa sarili. gawin mo na lang noh!