Friday, April 4, 2008

I have 5 days of summer break...

Er... 4 days if you don't count today.

Amazing! I actually have time to kill bwahahahaha...

Thank you to all who came to help out / watch the fundraiser of Ex Libris Philippines last night: the 2nd show of our opera DON PASQUALE!! Special thank you's MUST go to Tata, PM-extraordinaire, Ogot, assistant PM-not-any-less-extraordinary, and also orgmates Richard, Christian, Nerie, Judie, Venice and Nicole, and Sangkil-mate Leo. The production was a success because of them.

Don Pasquale has been such a huge part of my life. To give you an idea, the first thing I thought of when I woke up today was: "What time did we set today's rehearsal for, again?" Hahaha!

When my brain started functioning, and it hit me that we would NEVER have rehearsals for DP again, I was overcome with a mixture of relief/ joy/ and a great deal of sadness as well.

I will miss:

* the late-night rehearsals... which were always fun no matter how tough things got because of the wonderful people I was working with

* the food! usually Rodic's tapsilog which had to be wolfed down at a highly accelerated rate while waiting for my turn to be blocked

* the adrenaline rush of running around doing production related chores

* going to Camp Suki for costumes, and getting lost in the New Manila/ Tomas Morato area

* agonizing over the darn programmes which are rather complicated to format if you're not a techie

* props-making (yes! Thanks to DP, I've realized I have a possible career in screen making!)

* being a flirt. Haha! Norina was such a hard character to play, because she's very different from the REAL me. It took the whole semester, basically, to get her in my system, and she'll always be a part of me.

I'll admit, it was rather fun to wear pretty dresses for a change, though I never really got the hang of wearing my 2-inch high step-ins, and up until the 2nd show I was struggling not to trip while sashaying this way and that. It was an uphill battle to overcome my reservations so I could be all touchy-feely with the male characters, but I learned to put everything away and just focus on getting the job done. And so I held hands, kissed cheeks, draped myself all over and even sat on the laps of my male friends... all in the name of theater, of course. YES I FEEL SO ACCOMPLISHED!!!! I did all those things... while singing Italian! ;)

Aside from doing a couple of chores like returning props, costumes, and having gowns laundered, I will spend the next few days catching up on my reading, paying off my sleep debt, and taking care of clearance. Which reminds me, I need to have everything done by Wednesday because I will be attending MuEd workshops/seminars everyday, from 8 til 4 p.m., til the end of the month.

And beyond graduation?

I'll finally know what it feels like to have a regular paycheck, and have extra money for my little luxuries (usually books and a Starbucks hazelnut latte on VERY special occasions...). Yay!

Knowing that my summer "break" is so short somehow makes it all the more precious.

It's still not hitting me that I'll be leaving UP for good.

I think it will come in one big emotional tidal wave come grad day... I'll probably be an emotional wreck, haha!

Heh! I'm in too chirpy a mood to think sad thoughts, so I'll sign off for now and play on our newly-tuned piano. And maybe watch a DVD. And finish that book I've been reading for weeks now.

*sighs in contentment*

24 comments:

  1. gabi congratulatiooooons!!!!!! on everything!!! don pasquale, graduation, summa (phwew whoo!), and work!!!!!!! exciting!!!! We'll miss you though. :( But i'm sure you'll make big waves all over here and abroad! woohooooo!!! God bless you Gabi in everything that you'll be doing, whatever and wherever you may be!

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  2. Will you be attending the Kodaly workshop in the college? :)

    It's of great joy for me to see how you have succeeded in all your "adventures" in the College of Music, with flying colors at that. Where are you going to work? I sure bet receiving those paychecks would feel heavenly, after all the years of "free" hard work you've done as a student. :)

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  3. gabi!!!!! you really seemed so happy!! after the production and classes and everything! i'm happy for u!

    i hope this wouldn't be the last prod (with ate diane as well)! remember the last time i told u something? hahaha i'm coming up with some ideas (owws tlga lng ha! haha) pero of course, let's talk at some other convenient times. sa ngaun, enjoy the err...5 day break! hehehe

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  4. Gabi! Congratulations!!! And wait lang... Summa ka!? I hate you! Ha ha ha ha ha! You're so great naman. ;p

    But as Krina said, I'll miss seeing you around. Buti nalang we had a chance to get to know each other while you were still studying.

    And yan ba yung Dalcroze workshop that Ma'am Cheng texted about? She texted me din kasi. Ha ha! Ayoko muna.

    Wah! I want a regular paycheck na rin, he he. Congratulations with everything! Ang good luck with your future endeavors =)

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  5. Waaaa thank you so much, Krina! Uuuuy do invite me to your recitals, kahit graduate na ako. :) God bless you in all your endeavours!

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  6. Thanks for coming, Kate! :) Wheeee kitakits sa Quezon Hall on the 27th!

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  7. Hi Kim! Yup, I'll be attending the Kodaly course from the 14th til the 25th, as well as the Dalcroze course on the 10th and 11th, and hopefully also the Choral Conducting/Choreography course on 28th, 29th and 30th. Whew! :) Are you planning to attend any of the KSP courses being offered this summer as well?

    Thank you Kim dear, haha, next year ikaw naman! :) I'll be working in a school down south, but I'll still be going to Quezon City from time to time. DO invite me to your 3rd and 4th recital! I feel bad that I wasn't able to watch your 2nd.

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  8. KIM! WAHOO! We did it!

    Yup I really hope this isn't the last prod.we'll be working together... *wink wink* Yeah, I'd love to talk to you over coffee or merienda... na hindi tayo parehong naghahabol ng klase or rehearsal, for a change. hahaha! Enjoy the break Kim dear

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  9. Waaaaa thanks Cat! Haha let's not count the chickens before the eggs are hatched... I'm still uncertain because not all my grades are in yet. But whatever happens, I'm just glad that I'll be graduating on time *fingers crossed*

    It was great to have you as a classmate, Cat, I'm just sorry we didn't get the chance to bond that well. Buti na lang may multiply at friendster! ;)

    Yes I'll be attending the Dalcroze workshop as well as the Kodaly one. I'm taking advantage of lowered student fees while I still can, haha! Sige, magenjoy ka muna ng summer break, but I highly recommend the Kodaly workshops. It helped me a lot in my MuEd gradeschool classroom teaching practicum.

    God bless!

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  10. what?! you're done na with college ate gabi? aww, ang bilis ng sem, i will miss the book sharing. we didnt get to talk and discuss so much. (btw, i hope to join the book sharing session this saturday, pero if i can't make, i will try going on the next one.)

    congrats on the opera! i didn't know you guys were THAT busy with the opera, you all looked quite relaxed to me, grabe kayo! i hope i can survive being that busy when big events come (of course, i won't be singing! hahaha) how do you guys do it?!! hahaha

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  11. eh, it's called "being strong while being weak" ang haba hahaha

    reminds me of the song "a warrior is a child" (sniff sniff)

    labo :p

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  12. Mika! I look forward to seeing you in one of our forthcoming book sessions ;)

    Haha, we looked relaxed?!?! We did?!?!?! haha you pander to our vanity. Hahahaha!!!

    But seriously... we wouldn't have been able to do it without His help.

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  13. UuuuuuUUUuuy Kim! Kita-kits bukas! ;) I look forward to our screaming session while watching a horror movie hahahahaha

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  14. yeah! you did. i was wondering nga, 'don't they have an opera?' hahaha... yeah, i guess it took some supernatural energy to see everything through.

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  15. Hmm, no. Though I'm planning to enroll in an extension class in the college this summer, with Ma'am Marfil, so I guess I'll see you around. :)

    Just attended the choral conductors workshop at AILM (ok, i placed myself under the category "choral singer" and "choral enthusiast" since hindi naman ako conductor, hihihihi). Martin Behrmann's great! We also had reading sessions with sir Jojo and a bel canto workshop with John Pamintuan... And free concerts of the best Philippine choirs daily this whole week at 7:30. :) If you, or anyone for that matter, would want to drop by, it is so very super well worth it (more superlatives, please, hehe).

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  16. true gabi, sa lahat-lahat ng courses na kinuha natin sa UP, talgang sa envisci pa tayo nagpanic! pero sige, salamat narin sa ating butihing prof, at pinasa, este, nakapasa tayo sa course na yun. anyways, congrats satin, lalo na sayo, ms. SCL! more blessings be with you! :) welcome to the real world, the workforce world!

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  17. hi gabz! i'm so happy for you! finally you're finally finished with school...summa ba? hehe, i'm sure..ikaw pa.. gabz! i haven't finished reading your book! i'm so sorry. i promise to finish it this week haha.. have a nice summer! :)

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  18. Haha thanks Aritz! I hope you enjoyed the book, unforgettable diba? ;) Ikaw rin, God bless and have a great summer!

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  19. Congrats, Gabi! On DP, graduation, and your Summa-ness! (imbento ng salita) ;)

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  20. Thank you so much Ate Rina!!! :) Good luck po on your upcoming concerts and your masters recital! *hint: Post! Ubo ubo... Post! at your multiply hehe* God bless always!

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