32

As I turn 32 today, I came up with a list of 32 things I learned or realized in the previous year (or things I am still hypothesizing or predicting):

1. No matter how geeky I am, my wife still thinks I’m the bomb. And having said that, I hope she doesn’t recover from that concussion a few years ago.


2. There has to be a group of evil people running the Philippines (probably to the ground), and (some) good people are letting it all happen to save their own skin (shame)


3. Some cartoons on Nickelodeon/Cartoon Network are not for kids to watch without their parents (because I would miss out on all the fun of watching Spongebob with them)


4. I still like Heavy Metal every once in a while; and in that same note, I crave some hip hop and gangsta rap every once in a while too (so God bless Bram Cohen for creating Bittorrent)


5. The Tracy Morgan movies last year deserve more credit (this one and that one).


6. Your network/relationships can most likely trump other assets you may claim in your resume (i.e. it’s about who you know, dude, and not necessarily what you know)


7. Thank God for auld friends who stick it out with you through thick and thin


8. Slash can still rock; and he really is Guns & Roses.


9. “Lost” is practically the best series I have invested my time in


10. Selling talent (being a placement manager) is far more difficult than selling jobs (being a recruiter), especially if your talent is too talented to accept just one job offer (that should be taken as a joke, folks, pero bato-bato sa langit, ang tamaan wag magalit…)


11. Glee season 1 was interesting, and Glee season 2 is just over the top (too much drama and not enough Young MC)


12. Lebron James joining the New Your Knicks could have been the best thing to happen to the NBA (provided Cleveland got something out of it, like Eddy Curry’s expiring contract – that’s better than nothing, right? Right?)


13. Lebron James’ poorly executed and televised “Decision” and how it dramatically lowered his Q score will be a business case discussed in B-schools one day, regardless of how the 2011 season ends


14. Washing machines that ionize are redundant (and a total waste of money), because detergents are made to do that (ionizing I mean)


15. It’s good to know that sometimes a friend can be more like a relative, but then again some relatives can stink like feet.


16. The Walking Dead just might be the best comic I have read and beat out Y The Last Man or Bone (and I’ll make a list on that real soon; and again, God bless Bram Cohen and Bittorrent).


17. I should learn to trust (some) people less, but I’m glad that I trust (the right) people a lot


18. I need to go out and see more countries, for work and for my own benefit.


19. Indian food tastes even better in India.


20. You really can’t chew gum in Singapore.


21. Michael Jackson is timeless – as proven by my 9 year old son and 5 year old daughter listening to his songs and singing along


22. No matter how challenging, I love raising our kids - but getting our son to take a bath is still too much work. Seriously.


23. I still miss my sister Remah


24. I should have read “What Color Is Your Parachute?” ages ago


25. A Pacquiao-Mayweather fight won’t happen, and maybe for the better


26. 3D movies may be overrated, but Tron Legacy made me excited for the medium all over again


27. Marvel’s Siege is more entertaining than DC’s Blackest Night


28. Nitrogen-filled tires make the ride more comfortable


29. Even if we’re married I still feel like a schoolboy with a crush


30. I can rap really well in front of 2 hundred people and entertain the hell out of them (I keep telling myself this to not feel bad about the initiation that all new AIM employees have to endure)


31. Coming up with this list of 32 realizations or predictions/hypotheses is kind of a chore


32. …But I predict I’ll start writing my 33 for 2012 in a little while