6/28/14 - The Bad & The Better

After the lead single, Give Me Your Hand (Best Song Ever),was released almost two years ago, The Ready Set finally had his album released this year. The Bad & The Better is a collection of radio-friendly songs that should catapult him into the mainstream scene, something that his previous hits like Love Like Woe should have done. Unfortunately, that won't happen. But that doesn't really matter as any fan who will listen to this album will surely enjoy this masterpiece. It's his strongest piece of work to date.

His lead single is actually one of the weakest song on the album. Carry Me Home is no doubt the best track on the record with its infectiously catchy beat and chorus. It's fiery rhythm would keep you on your toes and the fun doesn't stop there as other tracks comes close to it. Tracks like More Than This, Higher and Freakin' Me Out defines the album's positive-sounding vibe.

He collaborates with upcoming rapper, Jake Miller on Castaway and creates the perfect rap/pop song.

His previous releases were good enough but this album just takes him to another level and I can listen to it without skipping any song.

Top track/s: Carry Me Home, More Than This and Freakin' Me Out

6/26/14

The rainy season has definitely started and this makes me worried about the problem that it will cause. This season always gives me reasons to worry about and I can't afford to have them right now.

6/24/14

I am starting to feel comfortable in my shift. I still don't like going home late and having no life but it has its perks. I can even do a lot of stuff when there's not much work to do such as stream videos. In fact, I just caught the season premiere of True Blood last night and I'm surprised with the shocker they pulled off with one of the major characters. I am also surprised by the length of time that it takes me to get home. I still expect it to get worse in the coming months especially when the heavy rains arrive.

6/22/14

It seems like I'll be spending the rest of my year saving my money. I need to buy three things and all of them amount to more than 50k. I don't know where to get that amount of money or even half of it but all I know is that it won't be easy. It's not like I can find another part time job as I'm already preoccupied with my day job.

6/21/14

Here I am on my first work day on a weekend!

6/19/14

So here I am going back to work tomorrow and I've already created some unnecessary problems. I have somehow managed to break some keys on the keyboard and it's getting difficult to type.

6/18/14 - Gypsy Heart: Side A EP

Colbie Caillat surprised her fans with the release of her latest musical project, an EP titled Gypsy Heart: Side A which contains of 5 songs including her next single, Try.

I am personally disappointed that we're only getting an EP after much anticipation for another full-length album. Her previous single, Hold On was promising but sadly, it failed to make an impact on the music charts which I assume is the reason for the delay of another LP.

But despite the shortage of tracks, there is certainly no lacking of quality in terms of quality as each song on the EP is such a wonderful gem that I can't help to feel good when I listen to it.

The EP starts with Blaze, and true enough, it is none fiery track that will grab your attention with its infectious beat and lyrics. Another standout track is Live It Up which is another upbeat song that has strong hooks. It's perfect for a sunny afternoon jam. Try is a lower tempo song that is quite underwhelming but it has a good message and probably the reason why it is selected as the next single.

The Side A part of the EP shows promise that there will be more to come in the near future but a full-length release is still very much welcome at this point.

Top tracks: Blaze and Live It Up

6/17/14

Can't believe I'm having my first day-off tomorrow. I would still miss having my weekends off but I'll have to deal with this for now. Work has been insane today unlike yesterday when things were so light. I almost didn't get to finish my tasks but I still managed to do so.

6/16/14

Here I am typing past 1 am just to pleasantly say that I survived the first day of my new shift. The workload wasn't hard but the traveling was such a nuisance but I'm so blessed to come home earlier than I expected and safe. But it doesn't mean I'm already comfortable with the shift. I still want to switch.

6/15/14

I'm still quite unsure of how I'll go home from the office starting tomorrow. I suppose I would take the bus in EDSA like how I usually go home when I watch concerts but I am hoping I could find an easier way. If only the shuttle I take extends its operating hours, then maybe I would have a safe ride home. Not only will I have to shell out more cash for commute, I'll have to suffer longer waiting time and feel the heat unless I get lucky to ride an airconditioned bus. It's a good thing my mom gave me extra cash for commuting but knowing how I'm not good in handling cash nowadays, I'm not sure how big of a help it would be, but it's still a huge support.

I'm also gonna have to adjust working out in the afternoon under the glaring heat or under the drowsiness from lack of sleep. I'm also trying to figure out a better schedule but it looks like I'll have to use one of my rest days to go to the gym so that's another additional expense.

6/14/14

I went on a little shopping spree today. Bought some CDs at Fully Booked in BGC to take advantage of the remaining weeks of its sale. Then I headed back to Ayala and got myself another pair of shoes. I also wanted to buy a backpack but I was already feeling bad about spending too much today so I ended up buying some socks instead.

I get the feeling that I'm doing this just because I might not have the chance again while I'm on my new shift schedule. I shouldn't even be spending too much since I'll be paying more for public transpo going to and from the office. Tomorrow's the last day that I can enjoy a weekend and I hope to be able to do a lot even if I'm just here at home.

6/12/14

Today is probably the last holiday that I'll enjoy for a while. I am lucky that this day still falls under my probationary status as an employee or else I would have been stuck in the office right now.

Though I should have spent this to rest, I tried to keep myself busy. But the rain at the start of the day wasn't encouraging. I still went out with my mom and younger brother and went to the mall. Both of them had errands to do while I watched The Fault In Our Stars for the second time. It was a movie worth seeing more than once and I still feel good about watching it and digest everything that happened in the movie. The music even sounded better now that I'm more familiar with the songs used.

We got home quite early and I liked it since I won't get to experience this again for quire some time, especially going home with my mom and saving travel expenses at the same time.

I'll have to maximize tomorrow since I'll be changing schedule next week and my new shift will leave me feeling totally stagnant and unmotivated.

6/10/14

This is the part where I tell myself "I told you so". My hunch was correct. I got the schedule that I hated the most. The worst part is that not only do I have to work on weekends, but I'll most likely have the same schedule until July. I am so pissed off right now and my mind is filled right now of memories of the time I had a similar shifting sched in my first job and how hard it is to go home. I can't believe I'll experience the same fate again.

6/9/14

I keep on thinking of all scenarios that will happen when the worst predicament in scheduling is handed out to me. I still have my evaluation to worry about and I just found out that I almost committed another misops last week. I can't believe how many errors I keep on getting when I should be doing well.

6/8/14

Tomorrow starts my final week of having a regular schedule and it's already starting on a bad note. I just acquired a flu and now I'm feeling very sick. I would hate to file for sick leave or a half day since it ain't that serious and the salary cut is huge. Our evaluation is also coming up this week and I should probably be worried about my status.

I watched a movie called And While We Were Here and it stars Kate Bosworth. It's a movie about this couple whose relationship is not stable until the woman, played by Kate, meets this young man and falls in love with him It reminds me a lot of The Lifeguard as it has plenty of similarities. I was surprised that this movie was released around 2 years ago. I wonder where these lower-budgeted movies go since they have decent actors and stories on the film.I hope we see more of these kind of movies.

6/7/14 - The Fault In Our Stars

By now, every John Green fan is talking about the latest romance movies that hit the screen which is adapted from his novel, The Fault In Our Stars. The book has garnered a huge commercial and critical success that gave the movie such hype that anything subpar will be a huge disappointment.

Fortunately, as I watched it on its opening day here in my country last Thursday, the movie did the book justice. From the characters, to the storyline up to the music, the movie did a great job in delivering one of Green's best literary work into the big screen.

The movie tells the story of two sick teenagers who met at a support group and found chemistry in each other despite having different interests and outlooks in life. Hazel, diagnosed with thyroid cancer and metastasis, have come to terms with her disease and have adjusted with the way of life even if that means having to carry around an oxygen tank and have tubes up against her nose just so she could breathe. She is quite close with her parents who have supported her all the way. Augustus, or Gus, is also a cancer victim and is sporting one fake leg but he is more outgoing and one of his main goals in life is to be remembered by everybody. He is a gamer and likes to read zombie and action films while Hazel would rather read her favorite book, An Imperial Affliction.

As Hazel and Gus get to know more of each other and their interests, we see them grow closer to each other. The theater was fully packed, mostly by fan girls and all the gushes, laughs and tears were heard clearly.

The movie has plenty of things that people will root for but it's mostly the characters who help the story move forward. Shailene Woodley plays Hazel and despite my disdain for her acting skills, she executes a decent job opposite Ansel Elgort who plays Gus and does a convincing execution of his character as many girls are swooning over him everywhere right now. Coincidentally, they have played as brother and sister in their previously released film this year, Divergent. Ansel has the perfect combination of wit and charisma that just displays on screen effortlessly. Nat Wolff plays Isaac, Gus' best friend and a typical funny sidekick who is a bright spot in the film with his funny remarks in his scenes while playing a teenager battling a defect in his vision. The cast is also supported by Laura Dern, Sam Trammell and Willem Dafoe.

One of the highlights of the film is its soundtrack. One review even said that this will be the soundtrack of the current generation. Though I believe that is a overstatement, many people have indeed pointed out the film's excellent choice in its song selections. The soundtrack includes the likes of Birdy, Lykke Li, Jake Bugg, Kodaline, Tom Odell, Grouplove, Ed Sheeran and M83, whom I believe has one of the most standout tracks in the film with their song "Wait". They have been the perfect soundtrack artists so far, giving life not just in this movie but in others, particularly Divergent.

I won't be surprised if we see more John Green novels come into life as another one of his novels is already in production for a movie release. This may also be Elgort and Woodley's easy ticket to fame. I would definitely recommend this film.

6/6/14

So I missed Taylor's concert earlier today. I feel bummed about it but after seeing how short the setlist was and how many few songs I like made it, I am feeling a bit better. I'm currently watching the Speak Now Tour DVD so I can have my own concert experience at home. I think this tour was better and I even got to watch her back in 2011 I just wonder how many more concerts I'll start to miss out on because of work :(

6/5/14

I watched The Fault In Our Stars today and thought I would do a mini review but I started experiencing major headaches on the way home and can't really focus and lost energy to write so I'll hold it off for now. The weekend is coming and I will try to get plenty of rest!

6/4/14

June has started and I am becoming more anxious of what's to come in the second half of the year. Training at work is almost over and we're about to embark as official employees, assuming that we pass the evaluation. I've already committed several misoperations that could be detrimental to my advancement but I will accept my fate knowing that I tried.

6/1/14

These past few weekends have been so tiring when I should be cherishing them before actual work starts and my rest days will be on other days of the week.

I've spent yesterday buying CDs from Cartimar as well as returning to the Universal tower sale for a second look. My trip to Cartimar was quite fruitful while I only ended up buying 3 DVDs from the Universal tower sale. I might return to Fully Booked next weekend since their sale has been extended up to the end of June.

I received my first salary last Friday. It was a struggle to find an ATM so I only got the chance to withdraw money yesterday since I was in Makati. I am terribly disappointed with how much I got this cut-off, even if I only had one half-day which was even approved.

Three weeks into the company and I'm already seeing some cracks in the company that I might dislike in the future. But like I always say, I'm always aiming to stay for at least a year in the company. My worry this time is that it's not the actual job responsibilities that will drive me out but it's the company policies and operation procedures, such as salary concerns, attendance, schedule, etc.

If they were paying so high, maybe the time and effort I spend so much on work won't be such an issue but even my previous work is starting to look better but I'm trying to be optimistic that it won't reach that point.