I am a bona fide NPA – No Permanent Address. I have moved a total of four times in the past 12 months. First, I stayed with some college friends in an apartment in Remedios. I left the Batingawers around February to stay in a tiny boardinghouse in Guijo, Makati. Only lasted for 3 months, since the insect life in that old house were aggressive and gave me a severe allergic reaction. In May, I stayed for a few weeks at the condo unit of my officemate; maybe squatted is the more appropriate word. Finally, by the end of May I was able to move to my own place in Makati.

I love living alone. Everything is quiet, nothing to disturb my sleep and my reading, and I can opt to clean my mess just once a week. My lack of cooking skills ceased to be a problem when I discovered the cheap eating places around Makati. And I can sing outside the shower at the top of my lungs with no one shushing me.

But alas; all good things must come to an end. Due to a lot of reasons, I have to say goodbye to my current place, and say hello to another boardinghouse. It’s the same boardinghouse where my brother is staying, and just a few minutes from UP Diliman. I’ll have my own teeny tiny room across from his. Hmm, reminds me of Cosmo. We’ll be putting up the Makati condo for rent/bedspacers… anyone interested?

My main to do list right now is packing, and reminding myself of the lessons learned in a decade of being a nomad:

1. Have a permanent address. Weird advice for someone always on the move. At the least, have one to refer to for official purposes like mail, proof of billing, identification, etc. Last December I had to borrow my mom’s cable bill to open a bank account. When I applied for my MA, I had to give our church address for the exam results since I was hopping all over the city then. Right now, I do not have a permanent address again. Uh-oh.

2. Keep it simple. Excluding food, the things I need for daily living can fit into 2 back packs and a plastic pail. Just like the stuff I used to pack when going to a weeklong camp in college (I miss LCDC). Then again, by the time I leave a place I would have accumulated 2 carton boxes of clutter. Know what to keep, give away, and what to consign to the rubbish bin.

3. Learn the art of letting go. I get to meet a lot of new friends, but I have to say goodbye to most of them after less than a year. I rarely get sentimental about it though; people come and people go for a reason. Good thing someone invented texting.  Also, my schedule gets a quarterly overhaul as I adjust to my new commute and travel time. I’ll have to reconsider my committments, the when, where and how’s.
 

Less than a fortnight to the D-Day… and a lot more drastic changes are coming my way this 2008. I choose to be excited about it though, instead of antsy about getting my world turned upside down again.

To help, here’s the current focus of my LSS (in Kuya Albert’s voice), Something’s Coming from the West Side Story:

Could be
Who knows?
There’s something due any day
I will know right away
Soon as it shows

It may come cannonballin’ down through the sky
Gleam in its eye
Bright as a rose!

Who knows?
It’s only just out of reach
Down the block, on a beach
Under a tree
I got a feeling there’s a miracle due
Gonna come true
Coming to me

Could it be?
Yes it could
Something’s coming
Something good
If I can wait

Something’s coming
I don’t know what it is
But it is
Gonna be great!

With a click
With a shock
Phone’ll jingle
Door’ll knock
Open the latch!

Something’s coming,
don’t know when
But it’s soon
Catch the moon
One handed catch

Around the corner
Or whistling down the river
Come on – deliver
To me

Will it be? Yes it will
Maybe just by holding still
It’ll be there!

Come on, something, come on in
Don’t be shy
Meet a guy
Pull up a chair

The air is hummin’
And something
great is coming
Who knows

It’s only just
Out of reach
Down the block, on a beach
Maybe tonight
Maybe tonight…