Backstreet's Back. Alright!

Obviously, this is a long overdue blog post.

Yes, the group was here for a concert last Feb. 27 sans Kevin Richardson who had already retired.

Yes, I was there in Gen. Ad. with Mark, Jay-r, Icheb, Shey and Jovan.

Yes, I once followed their career and liked their songs. I was 15 and clearly not so cool. Sue me but I will not make excuses. What? Bubble gum pop was all the rage back then!

I actually still have their first album on cassette. I once had a CD of their second album but I gave it to my cousin Monique who was so into them back in the day. I think she still is. I should go ask.


The thing was that my copy was the Asian edition and it came with bonus tracks that the North American edition didn't have. The time I went to Canda to stay with Monique and her family was around the same time that the appeal of BSB pop was beginning to wane on me. I didn't follow the group anymore after the second album.

So I gave my copy to Monique as a parting and thank you gift when I went back home in late 1999.

Ironically, the first time I saw the group perform live was in Seattle with Monique and my cousins. I still remember the ocean of cheering fan girls surrounding. I think my ears are still ringing. I don't having as much fun watching them though (what with the whole declining interest thing).

Flash forward to about a month ago and there I was dancing and singing along to Quit Playing Games With My Heart and As Long As You Love Me, among others. The concert itself wasn't as spectacular as the one in Seattle ten years ago - prolly cause they're not as big now as they were before. Still, the crowd was just as shrilling and I actually had more fun - maybe because of the novelty of it all.

More than anything, what I realize though is that being in that venue with that crowd and that boy band, I can pretend like I was 15 again. Good times, good times.

My cassette and my ticket.

Judgment Day for Tikbalang and KaCASA

Before the clock strikes 12 tonight, I would know two things:

1. Whether Neil Gaiman and whoever the other judges are would name our movie, Anak ng Tikbalang, the Best Short Film in the Fully Booked Neil Gaiman Graphic/Fiction Awards.

2. Whether resident members of the Communication Arts Students Association (CASA) have elected the candidates of my party, Partido KaCASA, to any or all seven posts in the CASA Executive Board for next year.

ON TIKBALANG
The movie was written and directed by my good friend Dek. When she asked me to manage its production sometime in mid-2008, I immediately agreed. The concept was fun and to be part of it was just something I couldn't pass up.

We made the movie specifically as an entry to the upcoming Fully Booked Neil Gaiman Awards, which opened the Best Short Film Category up only that year. More than a year passed from shooting and submitting Tikbalang to being notified that we made the short-list of nominees. Being short-listed meant that our movie had a one-in-ten chance of being best film by Neil himself. It also made Tikbalang eligible for the People's Choice Awards, which I've been actively campaigning for in the last few days on various media platforms - mostly thru text and Internet.

ON KACASA
I went back to the den of tigers, UST, early last week to meet with our candidates. As it turned out, we've encountered a major bump in the road when our President and PRO were idiotically disqualified by the AB COMELEC. A petition to the university-wide COMELEC yielded favorable results when our candidates were finally allowed to run.

Anyway, my real purpose on coming back and meeting with our candidates was to train them in their speeches and give them advice, having been in their situation twice. I actually ran twice during my junior year - in June when I ran for VP-Internal and in March when I aimed for the Presidency. I won on both occasions.

The campaign was held late last week and the elections were done the past two days. Canvasing would be tonight and the results to be announced later.

So I'm excited and nervous but nonetheless calm about both results. After all, we've done our best. The rest is up to fate now and I can only hope that it would be so kind.

Thank you to everyone who supported our movie and our candidates.

 
Almost every KaCASA candidate from '04 to '07.
Photo from Lester.

Relaunching Fandom Live

Late last year, Dek, Tobie and Paolo came to me with a proposition to revamp Fandom Live for this year.

One of the most important changes was to favor quality over convenience. That meant taking the extra long route from shooting an episode to doing post-production.

Another change was to streamline the segments. That entailed lessening the number of hosts and maintaining regular and consistent segments. As opposed to having different styles, color schemes and whatnot for almost every episode.
One of those regular segments turned out to be We:View, which was ultimately assigned to me to produce, direct and edit.

One last important change was to finally settle on a home where the episodes would be hosted. After ustream and youtube, we've finally come home to Fandom Cafe.

At first, the idea seemed fantastic. It would mean I get to play with equipment, software and do what I've always loved to do: production.
Until the real world sets in, of course, and our audio won't sync with our video, footage get magically lost and ultimately our episodes (mine, in particular) get delayed. That doesn't even include taking the time to take the trip to Fandom Cafe and actually edit the videos because I don't have the proper equipment at home. Or the fact that we have to constantly sync our skeds so we don't burden each other.

So there are these problems that we're incessantly looking to avoid with each new episode that we do, even those that aren't assigned to me (Dek handles the non-we:view episodes).
Of course, all these setbacks get blown in the wind the moment we see the final product. Case in point: our We:View episodes for Avatar and 2012.

2012 was shot first as the supposed season opening because we couldn't shoot Avatar without Rocky who had more to say about the James Cameron flick. However, I felt that Avatar was a better opener because of all the gimmicks involved. So despite already having introduced 2012 as the first episode of the new season, I worked on and finished Avatar first. Despite the delays and spending almost a day on it, the result was just amazing. Not Avatar-amazing but it was definitely worth the effort and it deserved to usher in the new era for Fandom Live.

Behind the scenes, I'm thankful our current creative team hasn't gotten to the point of arguing and bickering with each other over details. At least, not on set, which, most often than not, is the Fandon Cafe mezzanine.

We actually argue our creative differences through emails but never to the point of taking things personally. By the time we start rolling, all of us are clear and united about what we want to achieve. Maybe because we have respect for each other's role in the production. During We:View shoots, Tobie acts as our headwriter and Dek is my second cam and cinematographer, and I let them do whatever. They certainly didn't question me when I decided not to release 2012 as the premiere episode nor when I asked for a certain shot to be done for Sherlock Holmes.

So that has been the experience so far with the first quarter of the new Fandom Live. We got more plans for upcoming episodes, so stay tuned.

From weBLOG to BackLOG

When I started blogging, it was because I wanted to share my stories, opinions and ideas. I had this delusion people cared about what I had to write about. I still do.

It's just that I don't know if people got busier or blogs just got cumbersome. Everybody seems to have migrated to the microblogging platforms of Plurk, Twitter, Facebook (to a certain extent) and Multiply (ironically enough). Even myself.

So I pretty much unraveled everything that I consider important and worth sharing these past few weeks in 140 or so characters (including spaces). Even me.

Having an EDGE-capable phone and a ping.fm account help me keep everyone abreast of what's going on in my life - not only in real time but on all my networks. That was certainly useful when I was stranded in Ermita during Ondoy.

Yet I feel that my new life stories still deserve the 250-word treatment. Why? Because while plurks, tweets, stat messages, notes, wallposts, shoutouts and quicknotes let people know I'm still alive, they make for less than ideal writing practice.

So now I have a list of blog topics that stretch back as far as January. Some of the things I'd like to cover are:

1. The Fandom Live relaunch

2. A certain wedding you may have heard of

3. A certain boyband concert

4. A certain musical recently staged locally

5. That whole career thing.

Whodathunkit?

I'm blogging about blogging or lack thereof.

We Don't Need Numbers To Tell Us We're Screwed

About a month ago, I was invited by a friend to the launching of their popdev initiative - 'MulatPinoy'. Now what exactly is popdev? No, it's not population development. It's 'population AND development'.


It refers to how population growth affects a nation's key socio-economic indicators. For example, what does it mean for the country when our numbers grow exponentially?


The good news is that there are nearly enough Filipinos to keep the world running. The bad news is that there isn't enough of the Philippines for the Filipinos to run around in. I remember that during the launch, I struggled with all the facts and figures the speakers were presenting. Yeah, they were compelling. Yeah, they were staggering. Yet, how do I put all that in a blog? How do I explain GDP, GNP and all these high-faluting acronyms?
Then I realized the sad truth that I don't need numerical statistics to confirm the facts. Let's play a game. I'll throw in a few keywords and see how many of you would feel optimistic.

Education.
Employment.
Environment.
Well? How many of you thought we had enough of those to go around? None? Thought so. That list didn't even cover the basic needs of food, shelter and clothing. 


In progressive countries, the trend is different. The more controlled the population growth, the higher the standard of living. The issue, of course, is bigger than population control.
I doubt that we'll adopt China's one-child policy anytime soon. Our lawmakers can't even get family planning off the ground, for Christ's sake. Speaking of Christ, the crap should we care about supposed Catholic doctrines when our people are suffering?


MulatPinoy wants presidential aspirants and other candidates in this May's elections to be answerable to these questions. What policies do they intend to espouse to address these issues? Where do they even stand on these matters, if at all?
To that end, MulatPinoy had been holding Kapihan sessions for the past two weekends now and will continue to do so for two more weeks. The sessions raise these very issues to political aspirants with each weekend bearing a different theme - from education in one to environment in the next.
The MulatPinoy website itself is very informative. Aside from containing links to websites of presidential candidates, the site also tracks each candidate's statement about the issues surrounding popdev.


As for the launch itself, I learned that in order to get to the truth of things, I really have to do the math. The irony is that I took up Communication Arts in college because of the minimal math requirements. Heres's a few numbers that was shocking enough to commit to memory: 
There's only one policeman for every 700+ people.
There are only 4% of the country's forests remaining.
We are the 12th most overpopulated country in the world. By 2050, we would be on the top 10.
Crap.


In the end, the initiative aims to tap our net generation to bring about the message that we are in big trouble and we want our future leaders to figure out how to solve them. Personally, I believe that citizens should also be held responsible for whatever problems we are facing now. Let's begin by taking the right to vote seriously. Listen to the candidates. They may not be likable. They may not be popular. Their ads and endorsers maybe annoying. Still, who knows? Maybe at least one of them would have a solid platform to address these issues.

PopCity is an online simulation game that attempts to teach young people the relevance of popdev. The game was developed by local studio Flipside Games and can be found on their official website.

2009: The List

So I finally decided to activate my Blogger / Blogspot account and I decided to start things off with the things that made my 2009 - both good and bad. Celebrity deaths and other current events that didn't have anything to do with me were not included.

I wanted to make a list of 100 things but I couldn't populate it, so I went with the next best thing: a list of 75 things!

1.Dark Reign
2.Yale New Year's Party 2009
3.Welcome Back, Kathy Repol
4.Goodbye, my dog Queenie
5.Invasion of Malaysia – Jovan's Birthday
6.Goodbye, Hec / Welcome Back, Hec / Goodbye, Hec / Welcome Back Again, Hec / Goodbye Again, Hec!
7.Joon's “Wala Lang” Party at Joon's
8.Iana's Graduation Party at Iana's
9.Singles Poker at Jovan's on Valentine's Day
10.Pirate Mardi Gras at Il Pirata – Oneal proposed to Rej
11.Victorian Valentine's
12.Aids' Prom Birthday Party at Club Dredd
13.Jihan and Albert's Birthday Gimik at 77
14.Lynn's Birthday Party in Makati
15.TAGCOM – got a lot of Avengers goodies here!
16.Welcome Home, Papa
17.The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
18.Rockeoke – this was when the Big Bang Gang was first formed
19.Broadwayoke – sang “Out There”, among other things, and got an applause from the pianist
20.COLF '99 10th Anniversary Reunion at Metrowalk
21.Fandom Live Star Trek Shoot
22.SDP Thanksgiving Party - Majority win, except the top 3 positions.
23.The Original Avengers Minimates
24.Sir Joel Birthday Gimik – my last before finally exiting Pageshop
25.Slimerrun and Swimming
26.Ricky's 2nd Death Anniversary Picnic
27.Jon's Birthday Party at Yale
28.Goodbye, Pageshop - after two years!
29.Hello, Swiftworks
30.Shey's Coffee Party at Bona BF
31.Free Comic Book Day 2009 – another Big Bang Gang formed here.
32.Karen's Birthday Rockeoke!
33.Cameron Crowe Thon at Roseroland
34.Komik Kon Summer Fiesta – got loads of Avengers back issues, including A-Next
35.Fully Booked FCBD / Geeks On Ice – Happy Birthday, Oneal
36.Legally Blonde
37.ToyCon 2009
38.Bianca's Party at Metrowalk
39.Paul's Birthday Party at Yale
40.Iana's Birthday Party at Big Sky Mind
41.VA Anniversary Party at Fandom Cafe
42.Metro Comic Con – got a complete Avengers Infinity set
43.Paolo's Birthday Party at Fandom Cafe
44.Anya's Birthday Lunch in Anya's place in Taytay
45.Shopping Spree – got to get rid of old stuff!
46.Avengers Forever HC
47.Ninay's Birthday Party in Cavite
48.Hank's Surprise Party at Big Sky Mind
49.Getting A New Phone – Nokia 3110 Classic Baby!
50.Talk Like A Pirate Day 2009
51.CosplayMania – there's a reason this was memorable!
52.The Hunger Games LARP / Manila International Book Fair
53.Ondoy
54.Spring Awakening
55.Goodbye, Swiftworks – I got fired, then re-hired, then resigned!
56.Happy Birthday To Me! - no Octoberian Birthday Bash but that's okay. Had fun with friends anyway.
57.The Gathering Storm
58.Planet X 1st Year Anniversary – I got Avengers Domination Factor sans 1 issue!
59.Dante's Birthday Dinner
60.Komik Kon – got loads of back issues, including the complete runs of The Good Guys and The Crusaders
61.Starbucks with CA4 Friends – We had four editions already
62.Goodbye, my dog Dino!
63.BORACAY! - 5 days of Paradise
64.Fizzer Launch Party
65.Thanksgiving Dinner at Adam's
66.Sweeney Todd
67.COLF '99 X-mas Reunion at Gerardo's
68.Welcome Back, Lady
69.Welcome Back, Inggak
70.College Friends X-mas Party
71.Finishing Golden Sun & Golden Sun: The Lost Age on the Gameboy Micro
72.Baul Photos – Thanks, CA4!
73.Troopings
74.OGM's
75.Kaladkarans

Now, for something fun, here are my personal favorites of everything I've experienced this year.

Movies:
Watchmen
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Star Trek
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
GI Joe
Amelia
Avatar – MOVIE OF THE YEAR!
Wapakman – WORST MOVIE EVER! EVER!

TV:
Glee - SHOW OF THE YEAR!
Community

Books:
The Gathering Storm - BOOK OF THE YEAR!
Got a copy of Brida (Paulo Coelho)
Finished Sword of Truth Books 5 & 6, A Song of Ice and Fire 4

Music:
Discovered The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Once On This Island
Tried Out Jersey Boys but didn't like it
SONGS OF THE YEAR: BEP's “I Got A Feeling” and 30 Seconds to Mars' “Kings and Queens”

Comics:
Trese - COMICS OF THE YEAR!
Bayan Knights
Sanduguan

Theater:
Spring Awakening
Sweeney Todd
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee - PLAY OF THE YEAR!

Events:
CinExpo – I did a lot of the marketing / advertising collaterals for this!
Feel Harmonic – I saw the cast of “Rent Manila 2010” for the first time!
ToyCon 2009
Komik Kon Summer Fiesta 2009
Komik Kon - EVENT OF THE YEAR!
CosplayMania
TAGCOM

So, I guess that was my 2009. I've learned to be more trusting and that has been rewarded dutifully with trust as well. Despite all the trials, I laughed and I cried in 2009. It was all worth it.
For my 2010, I think I will continue on the same path I'm already taking now. I'm learning to take more risks and improving on my relationships with people. My personal goal though is improving on my skills and talents.

(*This isn't my traditional obligatory look back for 2009 because there were some pretty personal stuff there that I'd rather not share with everyone at the moment.*)

The Ballad of the Phone

The following entry used to be on my old Multiply blog.

I thought I'd share this here in light of some recent events (story to follow).

    My dad got me my first phone a few months before college. It was a yellow Alcatel unit with only two lines of CAPS locked text, which I was embarrassed to be seen with that I let it die a few months into freshman year.
    Aside from my dad's business going down around that time and I couldn't afford a new one, I decided  that I didn't like the phone culture developing at the time - the status symbol, the dependency. So a cellphone wasn't a priority for me even as I became one of the more active, most wanted students in the next few yeas.
    On my senior year, when I was president of CASA, my co-officer lent me his old Nokia 5110, which I had  broken before the 1st semester was even over. Come December, three months before graduation, my dad left for the U.S. and I inherited his 3310.
    Then, I started working for events. In one event, I broke that phone's LCD. Two weeks before a major event, I was held up and the phone was taken from me - broken LCD, my sponsors and suppliers' numbers and all. That was hell.
    In early 2006, Dre lent me her old Motorola unit. All I had to do was get a SIM card for it.
    With the phone nearing the end of its life, and with phones and loads getting cheaper, I finally bought my first phone that summer: an 1100. The monochromatic phone and its  flashlight served me for two years until last year when its LCD broke.
    To replace the aging 1100, I got a 1208,  my first colored phone, which  had a flashlight as well. Just last month, my phone laid on the floor as flood waters entered our house.
    Clearly I'm not a phone person. I prefer basic models and I'm careless with them. For me, phones shouldn't cost you an arm and a leg.
    So, for my next cellphone, my criteria was that it should have an MP3 player (to also replace the Zen Stone Plus I lost) and can be connected to a PC so I can back up contacts. My budget was P2k and I didn't care if it was a Nokia or other known brands.
    At last month's OGM, I decided to look around SM Marikina. What I found was a Korean brand called eTouch whose phones met my criteria, was discounted at the time, and included a 2gb microSD card. My only issues were that I won't find protective casings for it and there was no way to back contacts up on PC.
    So, I went around more and discovered the Nokia 3110 Classic. When I held it and saw the infra red, the USB connector, and the specs, I knew I found my perfect phone. Except it was beyond budget. It retailed at P4.5k, excluding a microSD card, which would easily swell the price up to P5k.
    The next day, I went to Greenhills to look for more options and forget about the 3110 Classic. I couldn't do it. Finally, I decided "Screw it," and looked for the best price instead. My experience with my Aiptek camera and Blue netbook taught me that I need gadgets with extensive user support.
    I eventually got my Nokia 3110 Classic at P4.4k, inclusive of a 2gb SD card, and I am happier for it. It is now protectively covered in silicon with the plastic film covering the screen, camera and IR intact. I back my numbers up, transfer data between my phone and PDA, and enjoy mobile internet.
    Yes, evolution is nice. That reminds me: There is an eco-friendly variant of my phone called  Nokia 3110 Evolve. Crap.

09/9/21 3:55 pm

Avengers Forever, Comic Odyssey and a lot of luck!

This blog came out some time 2009 on my Multiply account but I'm reposting it here to link to it from an upcoming Weekly Ketchup blog.

Okay, show of hands.

Who here can't tell I'm a fan of the Avengers?

For the longest time, the 12-issue Avengers Forever miniseries had evaded me. I wasn't following the Avengers yet when the series came out in 1999 and I've only been aggressively hunting for back issues and collected editions for the past three years.

Last time I saw the Avengers Forever Trade Paperback was at Fully Booked Gateway about four or five years ago. The book had gone out of print since then, nullifying any special order on the book.

Over the past three years, I've attended every appropriate convention imaginable hoping that a vendor would have the title or have the individual issues. To no avail. What I did turn up, though, were some gems that helped fill up the gaps in my collection.

Earlier this year, Marvel announced that a collected hardcover edition of the series would be released last May. That didn't happen. Bummer.

At this year's ToyCon, I stumbled upon Avengers Forever #'s 1 and 6. I
made thedecided right then to search for the individual issues instead. I also decided I wasn't gonna read those two issues until I have them all.

To that end,  a few weeks ago, I visited every Comic Odyssey and Planet X branch in search for the remaining 10 issues. I think I only saw up to #7. 

Then, Marvel announced the hardcover was going to be released this month.

Yesterday, I finally got my copy from Comic Odyssey Ermita.

But that's not the best part.

Prelude No. 1:

I always get my comics from the Comic Odyssey Galleria branch and had become such a fixture at their events or stall during conventions that, I guess, I've become a familiar face. 

So much so that they give me 10% discount on my new comics.

I guess it's a bit of reward for my loyalty to their store.

However, since moving to a new company based along Roxas Blvd, close to Robinson's Ermita, I haven't been to the Galleria branch for a time and I've been getting my regular fix at their Ermita branch instead where I'm practically a new face.

Prelude No. 2:

I've been saving up for a lot things and managed to get additional income a few weeks ago.

Last weekend, I practically blew half of it on jeans, shirts, shoes, a bag, sock, undies and other stuff. How can I say no to 50% to 70% discount on stuff?

Don't judge me. I don't shop much.

Between shopping, the Cavite trip this weekend, and the fact that the next payday's a week or so away, I was worried about my finances after the much-coveted Avengers Forever HC.

I didn't wanna go to Comic Odyssey Galleria and expect the discount. After all, they were only being nice and generous. It would be abusive of me to ask.

Yesterday, I decided to face the music. I would probably be broke after this weekend but it would be worth it.

So, after work, I excitedly marched up to Comic Odyssey Robinson's Ermita.

Lo and behold, the management of Comic Odyssey, the nice people who give me discount at the Galleria branch, were there. This week's new comics just came in and they were there to arrange everything.

Having recognized me, we started chatting up. I told them why I don't drop by the Galleria branch anymore, etc. They told me that every Wednesday, the week's comics come into the Ermita branch (the main branch) before they get sent to the Galleria and Eastwood branches on Thursday. As it turns out, their supply was delayed so they were a day behind schedule.

Finally, I asked for the Avengers Forever HC and Mighty Avengers #28, and guess what?

They gave me a 10% discount!

With what I paid for both of them, it seems as if I got the Avengers Forever HC for at least P200 cheaper and even got a free comic for it!

SWEET!

I guess, then, that luck is part being at the right place at the right time and part investing in your relationship with other people.

Triple Visions

With the limited number of Avengers merchandise out there (thank goodness), it's great to find ones that feature characters that are unmistakeably Avengers even if I don't see the 'Avengers' brand slapped on the box.

I'm not that big on the character actually but as Avengers go, no one is more associated with the franchise than the Vision. There's the  Big Three, of course, but the Vision is the first character ever developed specifically to be an Avenger (the last being Kelsey Leigh/Capt. Britain/Lionheart, shortly prior to the farce that was Disassembled).

There's also Hawkeye, the Scarlet Witch, (possibly) even Hank Pym (in whatever identity) and the Wasp.

From left to right: Mini Mate (Art Asylum) - got it from Comic Odyssey just last Sunday. Wanted it so much when I first heard about it; Wacky Wobbler Bobble-Head (Funko) - a discounted find from the recent TAGCOM; Superhero Squad (Hasbro) - from Toys R Us. Actually, Alec and I split the Avengers 4-piece box set - he got the Captain America and I
got the rest.

I actually have a few more Avengers characters (Hawkeye Minimate/Superhero Squad; Ms. Marvel Minimate/Superhero Squad; Scarlet Witch Marvel Legend/Minimate; Wonderman Marvel Legend/Minimate; Ultron Marvel Legend/Minimate) but I just find it amusing that I ended up with THREE Visions in different incarnations.

This blog was originally posted on my Multiply on March 2, 2009

Saying Goodbye To A Good Friend

The following entry used to be on my old Multiply blog.
I thought I'd share this here in light of some recent events (story to follow).

Last Saturday, my Palm Tungsten E2 seemingly broke down. This in addition to finding out that the long holiday break over at the Bureau of Customs caused last week's comics (including New Avengers 48) to be delayed until Jan. 5! Bummer right?!

I was going through my memo of comic book stores' contact numbers when the screen just died. I thought all it needed was just a little charge since it was almost out of power. So I plugged it in. Nothing. Soft reset. Nada. Hard Reset. Zilch.

I kept it on the table hoping that it would come to in a few days. It's almost 2009. Still no response.

Perhaps it is time for a memorial.

I got the E2 back in summer 2006 when I got a writing job and needed a machine I could use to write articles (at the time, I shared a desktop PC with mom, bro and sis). I couldn't afford a laptop and prefered a light, portable device over a bulky, stationary desktop. 

In college, I used a Palm IIIxe so I was familiar with Palm devices. When I came across an ad for new Palm products (TX, Z22 and E2), I was immediatlely impressed with the E2. So when it came to choosing a Palm  for work, I sought out the E2 and even got a keyboard for it.

For some time, my E2 was not just a PDA - it was my laptop, mp3 player and gaming console. Throw in wifi, cellphone and digicam/camcorder, it would've been a versatile package.

It was great timing too as 2006 saw me taking on various freelance jobs  and hopping from one full-time job application to the next, eventually landing one. There was also New Worlds 4, among other events in the geek community which I had just been introduced to.

Expectedly, my E2 really helped me schedule and put ideas down on paper, figuratively speaking of course. It was instrumental in keeping track of the various Avengers titles that sprang out of Civil War. When I got my present job at an ad agency, I always have my E2 while brainstorming. When I put up my multiply site, most of my personal blogs were stuff I thought about and wrote on my E2 while in transit or chasing sleep at night. With so many New Worlds events in 2007, including the formation of Fandom Cafe, my E2 had really come in handy. The keyboard, however, lasted only as far as it's warranty could go - 1 year!

Now, I have a Zen Stone Plus,  a Gameboy Micro and a Blue H1 UMPC. I suppose having a Tungsten E2 now is sorta redundant. Thankfully I got myself a Palm Z22 for Christmas, which fits snugly in my pants more than the E2, so I'm still covered.

If I didn't know any better, I think my E2 decided to break down by itself out of jealousy.

12/31/08 4:59 pm