Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself
Greetings. If you know me, great. If not, let me introduce myself.
My name is Antonio Conde. I am 25 years old. I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I was born and raised in the Philippines and emigrated in June of 2010. I’m currently a student taking some IT course called Software Development. Honestly, I don’t know what I’ll do but I do know I’ll be doing some IT job. Ideally, I wanna take a job that involves a lot of UX and UI. I love talking to people and getting to know their perceptions on certain things. I love researching and exploring whatever can be researched in a multitude of ways. And most of all, I love creating things, especially those that will make people’s lives better. I am also a LeBron James and Matthew Tkachuk stan. And I am also a follower of God, a son, a brother, a relative, a friend, and an explorer of ways to live life to the fullest. Let me write to you a specific few things I love in great detail.
First, I love the Calgary Flames. Let me tell you a short story: I was hired to be a cashier at the Scotiabank Saddledome during the 2014–15 season, and I forced myself to be “in the know” when it comes to this team. I saw the need to do this so that I would be able to converse well with concession customers. Then came the 2015 playoffs, which was magical. I casually cheered for the team and celebrated every win as if I were a real fan. I literally remembered jumping off a couch after Matt Stajan scored the game-winning goal in Game 6. That was the exact moment where I no longer became a bandwagon fan. I became a real fan.
Since then, I’ve experienced a lot of ups and downs. It’s fun just watching games live, meeting fellow fans, buying memorabilia, getting autographs, and unearthing every old video involving the Flames on YouTube. Deeply getting to know the team’s and its history has also been fun, except for historical recollections involving the team’s countless first round exits. And it is heartbreaking to go through a few playoff disappointments myself. Nevertheless, I can’t help but still cheer for the Calgary Flames. I yearn for the day they win their 2nd Stanley Cup. And I better be in attendance when that happens.
Second, I also love R&B and jazz music. I fell in love with the former when I was in the Philippines. Growing up, I listened to Monster Radio RX93.1, Magic 89.9, and Wave 89.1. Those FM radio stations often played R&B. It felt relieving listening to those songs after long days of school. My love for the genre built from there. I started downloading MP3 songs on LimeWire and have them play on my MP3 player. A few iPods later, I discovered Spotify. Spotify encouraged me to explore beyond the scope of the R&B I know and discover sub-genres like neo soul and alternative. Shout out to Mint Condition, Craig David, Jon B., Joe, and Brian McKnight. Major props also to Stokley for his uplifting live stream on Twitch, even though the stream runs once a week every Saturday morning. And by morning I mean, 12am onwards.
As for the latter, I became fascinated with jazz because of a song by Stokley and Brian Culbertson called “No Limits”. I discovered the song midway through my time at the University of Calgary. It felt right listening to it. It made me explore the notion of listening to the genre as a relaxing way to study course content. In the process, I also got to be more appreciative of the genre to the point I was listening to artists like Kim Waters, Ken Navarro, and of course, Brian Culbertson. I never envisioned myself listening to artists like that, but here I am. I sure loved music.
Third, I love Piattos, specifically the Cheese flavour. Ever since I was a kid, I always made sure to eat that junk food when I want. It came to a point I slept one night and my left hand was covered in Piattos cheese. I was probably trying to finish it when I slept out of nowhere. Don’t worry, my current self won’t do that. I know better and I also know I have to eat less of it. Despite that, I still love munching through every chip of Piattos cheese. It is simply delicious.
Fourth, I love going out and walking to places alone. I know it is unconventional to do such thing, but I really enjoy unraveling my curiosity on my own. What began as a stress reliever from post-secondary work became a lifestyle as the years went by. I often walked around 17th Ave, Downtown, Kensington, Inglewood, Mission, Marda Loop, and many more places in Calgary to check out local shops, local cafes, and local attractions. I sure miss doing that given the COVID-19 pandemic we are currently experiencing. All said and done, I can’t wait to be in those places again when life resumes to normalcy. To be clear, I’m willing to go with anyone, but there’s something relaxing about walking to those places alone. I’d like to thank my sister for introducing me to this lifestyle. And that ends four of the things I love with a passion.
Truth be told, this is my fourth time trying to write a blog on a consistent basis. I’ve written on Blogger, WordPress, and Tumblr when I was much younger, but I cringe reading through most of the content I have written. The grammar was terrible. I used big words for the sake of it and not because I truly know the meanings of those words. And some of the content weren’t just worth writing. I’m surprised my younger self found those content worth reading. Simply put, they were bad. They’re still posted but I won’t share them. I choose not to.
But hey, sometimes you have to give second chances to what were let go, right? This is why this blog was made. My hope is to write on here more consistently. We will see if my time permits to do that. But for now, I’m glad to be back writing on public display. It’s been awhile.
If you want to get to know me more, feel free to click this website.
And this has been Antonio Conde. I am creative. I am inquisitive. And I am cooperative.
*drops mic*
