Where've you been?

Those lyrics from Taylor Swift were the first words that came to mind after seeing this:

CU is a big convenience store chain in South Korea, and it's all over the place. You can walk a few blocks without seeing one.

So, it's easy to see you in CU.

But I'm feeling...

Twenty-two!

To be exact, 2022!

And while I've written about this Taylor Swift song before, I think it deserves an encore on the 1st day of the New Year!

Happy New Year and a blessed and bountiful 2022 to all!

FMM: Turn it back to 15!

Let me "Turn back the Clock" a little bit. It's a Friday Magic Madness after all.



The first time I heard of blogging was through Arnie. She's a close-friend, creative-collaborator and co-writer, and she told me about this on-line journal where you can jot down your thoughts and keep them for future use. It was called "Blogger."

It was in the early 2000s when I first tried to blog. If memory serves me right, I was still with DY&R-Alcantara that time, our office was still in Vito Cruz, and I tried blogging on my rickety old Mac computer. After an entry, I forgot all about it.

Then, I tried it again, this time when I was with Y&R Manila, and our office was already in Wynsum Corporate Center in Ortigas. I tried blogging on a slightly upgraded Mac computer. After an entry, I forgot all about it.

Cut to 2005. I was now with Harrison Communications, and our office was in LKG Tower in Ayala Avenue. I was fairly new with that agency, and didn't have any projects assigned to me yet. So, out of boredom, I opened another blog. My third, actually, and wrote this first entry.

After that entry, thankfully, I didn't forget about it!

Now, it's 15 years since that fateful day, and I'm still blogging! Imagine that!

One of the reasons why this blog lasted as long as it did was the fact that 2005 was also the year that I moved from MNL to HKG for work. Since I was living alone in such a high-speed city, blogging was a way of having someone to "talk to", and slowing me down. That HKG life lasted for more than 3 years, and led to SHG, led to a job for a company on Guam, and led me back to MNL.

Needless to say, those 15 years were very colourful and eventful, which is why I was able to write consistently for all those years. Aside from jotting down those events that happened, those blog entries helped me look back and track what I've been doing, where I've been going, - and what I've been shopping for - for a decade and a half. Which is fun to read and look back at.

So, since my blog is now on its 15th year, let me celebrate it with another semi-Friday Magic Madness song. "Semi" because the song isn't that old yet (it's 12 years old) but is tres relevant and tres apt. Plus, it's a song that I also wrote about twice in this blog! Talk about a recurring theme (song)!



Hey blog! You're fifteen!

The 15th came swiftly

Whoa! It's the 15th of February already? That was fast!

In honor of the date today, let me call Taylor Swift to render a song that's relevant and catchy.



Ah yes. Taylor has a song for everything.

Swift Surprise

Okay, so I love Taylor Swift.

And I love surprises.

Now, put them together, and you have this:



My. Mind. Is. Blown.

Taylor Soft

"Delicate" - Taylor Swift's latest song, definitely lives up to its title.

She sounds so frail and calm in this ditty. Which is a nice departure after her series of fast, angsty ones.

Even the video has this sense of quietness, but without losing her Taylor quirk.

Well played, Taylor. Well played.

That was Swift

After a short hiatus, Taylor is back! With a vengeance!

She's set to release the first MTV from her new album, "Reputation" this weekend.

I'm definitely looking forward to this.

Pretty. Bad.

Two of my favorite singers just dropped their new singles. And now I find myself shuttling between two songs on youtube.

First is "Pretty Girls." The newest collaboration between Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea.



I'm loving the 80s references in this music video.

Second is Taylor Swift's much ballyhooed "Bad Blood."



The song is very catchy, and the woman empowerment theme of the video is good. My only beef with this is that it looks like a mash-up between "Toxic" and "Womanizer" - both videos of Britney that's directed by Joseph Kahn. (Who directed this video.)

Now I don't just have an LSS, I have two LSSes!

LSS: Lovin' Swift Syndrome

Some folks think that Taylor Swift shouldn't move too far away from her country roots. But after hearing "Shake it off," I'm glad that she did.



This song is everything! Catchy, happy, easy-to-groove-to, makes-you-want-to-stand-up-and-dance, and most importantly, LSS-inducing.

The last one is particularly true since I've been listening to this song - non-stop - the whole day! In fact, it's my anthem as I wrapped my first batch of Christmas gifts today.

Looks like I'm not going to shake off this song anytime soon.

Two times the Taylor

Call it fashion deja vu, but Taylor Swift is on the cover of InStyle in the same month, one year apart.

Here she is in last year's November issue.

And she once again graces the cover on the same month of this year.

She must have that November vibe.

At 22

It's nice to listen to a Taylor Swift song that's not too heavy on angst or ex-boyfriend references. Her latest song - "22" - has that fun sound of Taylor's early years, but the lyrics are a bit more of Taylor now. (Yes, she can't help but make references to ex-boyfriends.)



After listening to the song several times, the question I asked myself was: "What was I doing at 22?"

At 22, I was:

- on my second job at San Miguel Corporation
- given my first management job
- handling a team composed of my Dad's old team members
- traveling to 3 countries in 1 month for work
- traveling around the Philippines for work
- editing my own videos
- making new friends who eventually became long-term friends who I still hang out a lot with up until now
- doing so many things at the same time, I would stay at the office until Sunday!

Gosh, it looks like a was a very busy 22-year old back then.

One, two free!

Yesterday, I went to The Podium to buy the latest issue of Elle with Taylor Swift on the cover. What can I say? I really like Taylor Swift. Hahaha.

While I was paying, the sales clerk pointed me towards a rack of back issues and said: "Sir, kuha po kayo ng dalawang back issues 'don. Libre po 'yon."

So, I ended up with two free magazines!

How's that for a great deal!

That's Swift

It's true that I'm more partial to old songs from the 70s and 80s. As I've written on this journal so many times, the 60s to 80s must've been the golden decades of music because everything was well written and beautifully sung.

But there are times when some younger singers surprise me. Some of them have songs that are nicely written and very catchy. One of those younger singers who I like to listen to is *drumroll please* Taylor Swift! *insert canned laughter here.*

Fine. It's a guilty pleasure. You got to admit, though, the girl does come up with catchy songs. Not only that, she writes and composes her own songs, too. So it's no wonder that most of her songs are about young love. (Or lack thereof.)

"Love Story" first caught my attention courtesy of the trailer of the film "Letters to Juliet." I've been listening to it ever since.



"Should've said no," is her attempt at angst, which she delivers.



And speaking of angst, her latest song "We're never ever ever getting back together," sounds so bitter that it's sweet!



From her first album until her latest, she's pretty consistent in terms of the theme and subject matter of her songs. It makes me wonder what's next for her.

Taylor better be swift in writing those new songs. I can't wait to hear what she'll come up with next.