It’s almost 9:30pm and it feels like the world is ending. Is it ending?
While I admit that I am prone to bouts of dramaticism, I don’t think that I am indulging right now. On top of a deadly pandemic ravaging the world, the Philippine government has decided to shut down ABS-CBN. It’s not a new topic – the ABS-CBN closure has been talked about for years now and it was literally the highlight for the whole of February 2020. I wasn’t incredibly invested in the whole thing, to be honest, because whatever right? If the franchise is set to expire, then it expires. But for the government to enforce this closure (which I believe is still pending somewhere in the bureaucratic swamp) in this manner is kind of chilling. The masses are under enforced lock down and they declare that one of the biggest continuous sources of news in the country should shut down by close of play.
I was born after the martial law but people who lived through it draw a sharp comparison to the events of 1972 and I can’t help but be a little bit scared. There’s been a precedent to this sort of thing and the outcome was’t very pretty.
Anyway.
What I really wanted to write about was my 33rd birthday! Even though I don’t act it or (at least I’d like to think that I) don’t look it, I turned 33 today! I don’t really fuss about my age; we’re all growing older, that’s just how the world works. This birthday is quite special though and not only because of the pandemic.
This is the first birthday that I spent at home! I haven’t spent a birthday at home since 2012, how crazy is that? I’ve always been on trips somewhere either with friends or with family. If the pandemic didn’t happen and the work trip to the UK pushed through, I think it would have been the first birthday that I would have spent abroad by myself.
Oh well. I know that in the grander scheme of things it’s literally not a big deal but I think it deserves some sort of commemoration purely because it’s been so long since it happened. Also a point of commemoration? The heat index that said it felt like 41 degrees in Manila earlier. I ask again, is the world ending? Are we all entering the gates of hell?
Anyway.
Another thing that I wanted to bring up was my newfound unhealthy obsession with a KPOP boy group. Sure, it gives me a fun distraction from the burning ruins of the world but I already feel the need to wean myself off. When I say I OBSESS, I do mean quite literally that I obsess and jump into the proverbial rabbit hole. I’ll give it a couple more days before I unfollow all of the fan accounts on Twitter though; I am still enjoying their content, LOL.
Anyway.
I just received word about the possibility of me not coming into work until July. I don’t know how to feel about that. While I have found myself to be busy with pointless things (see above topic),I have subconsciously prepared myself mentally to go back into the office on May 16 when they lift this ECQ thing in Manila. While other peope might rejoice at the prospect of essentially being paid to stay at home for another couple of months, I am having flashbacks of my 2008-2009 days when I was unemployed after finishing college. Hmm. I want to try to get some sort of part time job but I don’t have a working laptop that can handle that kind of workload. Hmm.
Anyway.
I’m off to bed. Hopefully tomorrow will bring better news