Page 24 of 366 Book 2012

Hello. My name is Choi and I am a Foursquare addict. Yes, I am an addict. I have an extra blackberry battery to make sure that my check ins are prompt and accurate. I abhor conditions where I cannot get a decent BIS and I spend time engaging in Twitter War with my service provider if I cannot check in. I hate deadspots, inaccurate GPS coordinates and mishandled check ins.

I get mad if I am ousted as mayor of a venue and I always plot my revenge to reclaim such mayorship (though I still know not what the benefits of it are other than the extra points. Mind you, there aren't a lot of establishments offering privileges to mayors). I will go to great lengths to maintain such mayorship even if it exhausts me. Worse, if someone ousts me, I make sure to oust that person from all of the venues he is mayor of.

I love leaderboards, though, it does not sit well with me if I am not on the top ten. I mean, common, who cares about 11? Or 12? You gotta be in the top 10. I make sure to bypass all others that hinder my way on reaching the 10th spot. And when I do, I shout victory to the top of my lungs.

I love points and more special points. Though, I know not what to do with these. I love badges to the point that I research on how to acquire a specific badge and make sure that I follow the steps religiously for that coveted badge. If I don't, I will not stop until that badge is posted on my profile page. Yes, I have to have that badge, even if it is specific to a certain product, show or entity.... or what have you....

But I hate being stalked. I hate being monitored, and I hate that my whereabouts are being questioned. 

But what about the points? The badges? The friends?

Man, I need a Foursquare rehab!

Page 16 of 366 Book 2012

Now I bet everyone else is wondering why I always put a tag 'Background Music" in every post.Simply put, it's the music I am listening to at the time I am writing something. Parang 1+1 lang divided by PI x the numerical coefficient of XYZ after finding the value of Z. Ganyan. Ang sagot dyan, look ka na lang sa sky at tumili nang walang sound.

Now repeat after me: "Kick and cross, and kick and cross, look up the sky and bend"

These are one of those Mondays where my oil glands are overly active and I am not yet certain as to what to have for lunch. Dati, pwede namang rice + ulam lang. Ngayon, kadaming choices! Minsan sa sobrang dami ng choices, nakakawalang gana na ring kumain. But for sure, sa McDonald's na naman ang punta ko in a minute, bilang aagawin ko ang mayorship doon. May hidden agenda lang.

Speaking of Foursquare, ay caramba! I think I lost a lot of mayorships lately. Nakakatamad na rin kasi mag check-in nang mag-check-in. I mean seriously, which normal person broadcasts to the entire population where he is? Naka broadcast na nga sa Foursquare, naka-tweet na, naka-post sa FaceBook, nakalagay pa sa BBM status. Wagas di ba?

Buti nalang hindi ako normal. Cge, byers na muna! Check-in pa ko McDo, will make agaw muna the mayorship eh. #ConyoProblems.

Kaon ta!

Background Music: The rumbling of my stomach...

I am "NORMAL"

Tupac (my white BlackBerry Bold 9700) is beyond repair. I suppose if I summon enough powers and provide more offerings to the BlackBerry gods, they will and they might resuscitate the poor thing. However, to save me from enough heartache, I decided to let Tupac go....

I am not only letting go of a unit per se. I am letting go of all of my BlackBerry Messaging Contacts, my 24/7 Twitter and FaceBook via SocialScope extravaganza, and not to mention my addictions to Foursquare and GetGlue. I am not sure how long I will survive.

Enter Halifax, the iPhone 3G I am temporarily using until I can get a decent replacement for Tupac. While I like the shimmy of the iPhone (who uses shimmy anyway) to the tune of Bam-Bam-Bam with all its animations, the poor battery life of the poor thing is beyond comprehension. I get 15 hours of juice from Tupac's battery not to mention that I carry a spare battery all the time (that being said, I am covered for one day of social networkpalooza). The signal is so poor that I get Edge when I should be getting 3G... yada yada yada.

I had tons of complaints and a lot of hangups with the loss of my BB Service, until Bryan, my friend simply told me this: "Couldn't this be another chapter of your life unfolding?"

Could it be? 

I miss the noise that Twitter mentions and DMs create on my Tupac, the over the top ringtones and music playlists, the BBM Messages of friends and coworkers (including my bosses), and I miss the round the clock emails. But more importantly..., I have come to realize that I have been missing on quality time for myself, on being more "human" and less of a BlackBerry slave, on appreciating SMS and its less stressful approach...

I miss being  "regular", I miss being "human".....

Might as well enjoy this sojourn then..... before I decide to get Solstice (yes, that's the name of my next BlackBerry).