Daughtry released a new album this year called Baptized. It came out of nowhere but it's great to see them back. They released the first single Waiting For Superman which is a midtempo track that will leave you singing along. I can't say I'm one of their biggest fan even if I have all their previous albums on my music library but this album was a pleasant surprise and I think it's their best album so far. It's just too bad that they aren't as big as they were before but that's alright. Chris' vocals are still powerful on this album. The album has catchy tracks that will appeal to old and new fans. Top tracks: Waiting For Superman, Traitor and I'll Fight
I spent the day at home. I was feeling bad and I don't want to risk it. But I kept myself productive by still doing my work at home. After all, we have a deadline to meet.
I'm more worried of my attendance than my work actually. I've been arriving late recently and my latest salary has hit an all time low. I'll be receiving my next salary by next year so I don't really have any more money to spend until I find a job.
Aside from work, I've been too busy moderating a certain music forum I visit on a daily basis I don't think I've mentioned this but I have been appointed with the position just a month ago and its great to know that they trust me with this duty. It can be exhausting sometimes but I have been a member o the site for so long and I want to contribute more.
Today is also my mom's birthday. No special celebrations but we did enjoy good food. Our youngest brother's birthday is coming up next week and I can't wait for that one as well.
I feel so bad right now. I don't think I'm experiencing any fever but my face is just shutting down from exhaustion. I may not be able to go to work tomorrow. It's my mom's birthday as well but sadly, I wasn't able to buy a gift for her.
3 more weeks to go! I'm excited but at the same time, so tired of rushing all the requirements for a client. But I gotta think positively and this won't last long anymore. The deadline's been extended til the 30th so I have until Friday to go I still have a lot of stuff to do so good luck to me.
Echosmith is one of the new acts that came out this year with their debut album, Talking Dreams. I have not heard a lot about them and just decided to listen to some of their songs after seeing many updates about them in a certain music site.
I was able to listen to 2 of their songs, Cool Kids and Come Together and I was amazed by the vocals and the magical feeling I get when I listen to those tunes.They have this pleasing sound that is perfect for an indie pop band and the lead vocalist is quite cute I should say. It became one of my most anticipated albums of the year and I was so excited to hear it. I've been listening to a lot of these kinds of albums lately with acts like Walk Off The Earth, Passion Pit and Youngblood Hawke releasing music within the past two years. The first three songs of the album includes the 2 songs I mentioned earlier plus the catchy Let's Love which is just uplifting and fun with both the male and female vocals making a perfect combination. However, from that point, the energy seems to lie low a bit and the rest has a sleepy and monotonous tone to it. It has some bright spots like Nothing's Wrong and Bright. But the rest feels so dragging but it's a good album to listen to on a warm afternoon while you're relaxing. It just gets tiring after several spins. It's still a decent effort though and I hope to see them breakout to a bigger audience because they deserve to. Top tracks: Let's Love, Cool Kids and Come Together
The sequel to one of last year's biggest movie came out this week. With a new director at the helm, Catching Fire is one of the most anticipated movie of the year and it's no surprise. Fans of the book and the first movie has a lot of things to look forward to. I made sure to watch this movie the day it came out even if it was on a Thursday. Despite leaving the office a bit late, I still got to secure myself a ticket. This book is probably my favorite in the series and the movie did justice. There were scenes in the book that I wish they would have included but overall, I like how this movie stayed more true with the book unlike the first one. Some scenes were also disappointing like the lack of emotion during Mag's death as well as the lack of emphasis on the tributes. I feel like they need to have more speaking lines so viewers who are not so familiar with the book could understand their characters more and how dangerous they really are. In terms of casting, everyone did pretty well. I'm still disappointed with Jena Malone being Johanna Mason but she wasn't so bad acting-wise. The ending was a bit anti-climatic and there were less action here. I realize I typed more criticisms but that doesn't mean the movie is bad. The movie was better than the first and I'm so excited for the next installment.
I've been thinking of requesting to move my last day to an earlier week since I thought leaving at the middle of the month would leave some tasks hanging on a thread. But I figured out I should stay up to what I told and the pay will also be deducted.
There will be some changes in the workflow soon and I'm glad that I'm out of it. I am so tired of adjusting to new systems every week.
The countdown has begun. I'm only going to be working for four more weeks or twenty working days including earlier today! I feel bad for leaving my colleagues but it seem to be the right thing for me.
I'm afraid of having a falling out with our team leader since he's been so grumpy lately as opposed to my slightly cheery mood. I'm trying not to let that happen but I can't help it.
I'm also been arriving late at the office because of traffic! My officemate thinks I'm already applying but I'm honestly not.
Went to a CD sale yesterday. It was the same one that I went to last June. I was ready to buy a lot of CDs again but I was disappointed after seeing that most of them were just holdovers from the previous sale and there was only a few additions. I still bought a lot but only because I was interested in discovering them. I haven't listened to them yet but I plan to do so soon. Really hoping I would like them so my money wouldn't go to waste even if it was just cheap individually, all of them combined were expensive. I went straight to the mall right after where there was a three day sale happening and bought myself another shirt with a union jack design. I met up with a friend after and we tried the Butterbeer in Starbucks, Yup, the drink from Harry Potter can now be ordered in the local Starbucks branches this holiday season. Just four more weeks til I become a free man again!
It's been quite a while since I made a resignation letter and I'm having a hard time writing one now. I told myself to write one this weekend but I can't get myself to start. I wish there is a template I could follow, it's just that my reasons for leaving are quite complicated to put on paper.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I have decided that I'll quit my job. It will be hard finding another job but it will be even harder if I stay. I have blown my chances of improving and I don't want to let my declining performance bring down the company with me. Our boss has already expressed his disappointment with our performance and every word of his sermon felt like it was directed at me. Even if I'm not the only one who is losing clients, the slump of my overall performance is felt greater than the others. I have already told my decision to most of my colleagues as well as my mom so they won't be surprised. They were surprised but they have somehow accepted my decision. I don't know how I'll move on nor do I know how to announce my resignation to my superiors but I can't wait to have some free time for myself. It better not be a long break though. I still need to find new work. Just a sidenote, the lawmakers from Hong Kong has voted to suspend the visa-free entry of Filipinos going to their country. This is disappointing as we were supposed to go there in December and it might be too late to get a visa now. But I do wish that we still get to go somewhere since it's been a while since we were complete.
I just made a bold decision. I have decided to leave my post at the company. It's not yet official but I have made up my mind and have told most of my colleagues as well as my mom. I know its gonna be difficult but familiar path for me but I'm trying to look at it positively and hoping that there are better opportunities for me out there.
I can't tell how I'm feeling right now but all I know is I'm not alright I've been thinking about my career so much these past few weeks and I think I have come to a conclusion that won't be well-received by others but circumstances are pushing me in that direction. I'm starting to feel indifferent towards my work and I can't help but feel that I'm neglecting my work with my team mates and I hate that feeling. I don't want to be dead weight but I don't want to leave so soon yet. Tomorrow marks my 9th month in the company which is already a milestone for me but sadly it will be uneventful. The leaders/bosses had a meeting earlier today and have done our evaluation and I am not expecting to get regularized but I just hope that there's not much changes in my part.
Avril Lavigne is back with her self-titled fifth album. After her mediocre album that was released back in 2011, Avril comes back stronger with this album. Since then, she has married Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger who appears on the new album with a track called Let Me Go which happens to be the third single of the album. Avril is known for her pop-rock songs and this one's no different and that's not bad at all. A lot of people who were looking for her to mature was disappointed when she revealed her first single called Here's To Never Growing Up, a catchy track which is an ode to celebrating or reminiscing the past. She even namedrops Radiohead in the song. In the video, she is seen wearing the attire she used to0 wear during her first era more than a decade ago with her signature necktie over a tanktop and riding skateboards. She released her second single Rock N Roll, another fun track with an awesome video and reminds people that her music hasn't changed. Compared with her previous album, this is certainly an improvement. The album is pretty much consistent in putting out strong tracks with a good combination of upbeat to slower-paced tracks despite some weird songs like Hello Kitty which I assume is meant for her huge fanbase in Japan as well as a collaboration with Marilyn Manson on a song called Bad Girl which sounds like she's trying too hard to be hard rock or whatever you call it. There's a particular formula with her style of singing on this album on particular songs that seems to imitate Ke$ha but definitely does a better job at it. I am definitely buying this album for sure. Top tracks: 17, Hello Heartache and Bitchin Summer
Katy Perry returns this year with her third album, Prism, a follow-up to her successful Teenage Dream era.
Prior to its release, updates on the album hints that she's ditching the bubblegum pop sound and switching it up with a more darker sound.
I wasn't sure how she was going to pull it off as I see her more as the bubbly type. Upon the release of her first single, all those news of having a different sound seems to be dispelled as her sound remains as bubbly as before. It was a track called Roar which is another generic self-empowerment theme that uses too many metaphors. Though there's nothing wrong with it, the song is just bland. But the most obvious criticism is the blatant rip-off from Sara Bareilles' song called Brave which a lot of people noticed and blasted her on the internet. Even Sara acknowledged it and responded in a classy manner. The worst thing about it is that it sounds exactly the same from start to finish and Brave was just released early this year! The only good thing to come out of it is that people took notice of the song which is an underrated track.
All signs of going dark seems to slowly disappear as she released the album cover and all promos she has been doing seems to be not so different from her previous eras.
She released two more promo songs, Walking On Air and Dark Horse, which I both found boring and seems to lack what I loved from her previous albums.
I started to lose hope but I still listened eagerly during my first spin. The album starts strong with upbeat tracks such as Birthday and Legendary Lovers which are both very fun and upbeat songs, even if Birthday sounds a lot like Last Friday Night. We get treated with one of the first ballads of the album called Unconditionally which is a grower hit.but I'm still irked with how she says "Unconditionally" as "Uncondition-al-ly. It is confirmed to be the second single so I can't wait to see how it performs with the general public. Her history with ballads were never the most successful in terms of chart success and probably not as an artist either.
The album is quite long and there are some hidden gems like By The Grace Of God, It Takes Two and This Moment. The whole album is listenable but I am greatly disappointed with it. Most tracks sounds the same and they all seem to be riding on the same sound of her previous album which I'm not surprised to see happen as it was her most successful of her career so far. Even her most pop and catchy tracks on this album seem to be disposable and quite forgettable. She seems to be confused on what sound she should take right now but I hope she finds it soon and not so similar with the one on the current album.
It's the second day of the long weekend and yet I still don't feel it but that's alright. I went to the gym earlier and I didn't expect that there were a lot of people, well there weren't but not as many as it usually is on regular days. There's also a lot of people in the mall which is quite comforting. It's good that I didn't have a hard time to travel back and forth despite the almost empty roads. After workout, I roamed around the stores for a while to look for speakers which is on my agenda of things to buy since my current one is showing signs of breaking down already which is disappointing since it was expensive and it still looks like it's in good condition, it even has its plastic covering on which I haven't took off upon taking it off the box. I have so many things to buy and I really need to save up on money. Something I couldn't do before because of my constant treating of my colleagues but now that I have a different mindset at work, I hope that I will be able to save as much like I used to especially now that it's almost the end of the year and it's time to buy gifts and also the time where shops go on sale.
It's the first day of November!I can't believe how time flies by so fast! In just two months, the year will be over and in a few months more, I'll be working in my company for a year already! Time really seem to pass quickly when I've been doing so much unlike last year when I was pretty much a bum. I'm really looking forward to our Hongkong trip at the end of the year. This year has been quite a mediocre one for me, with work consuming most of my personal life but the trip is something that will take my mind off of it, hopefully. I've also become a moderator on one of the music forums I go to frequently. It's nice to have that responsibility of keeping things in order. I am worried that I won't be able to fulfill my duties at my best since I can't be doing it 24/7 but I am taking it as a challenge to prove to myself that I can be a leader as well.
So sad I missed celebrating Halloween this year! But that's alright. Today had some good news and bad ones as well. One of my clients supposedly had to be paused yesterday because they weren't paying their dues but just today, it was announced that we didn't have to pause their campaign despite the problem. I though I was getting a sigh of relief since I won't have to feel the heavy load of that client but it turns out that it will continue. Even though it's good news for the company, that client has been quite problematic for me and almost didn't care or show my emotions when they told me of the news. I guess it's back to a hectic sched again next week.
