coins – The Diary of The Deranged Writer

Song of the Moment CVI: Saliva’s “I Walk Alone”

On New Year’s Day (2024), the first song I heard on Spotify was my favorite song of all time, “The Pretender “ by my favorite band, Foo Fighters. On New Year’s Day (2025), it was “Cult of Personality” by Living Colour, CM Punk’s WWE theme song, and one of my first Songs of the Moment.

But this year, 2026, I wanted to do something different. Because of the ridiculous barrage of fireworks outside, I started the year 2026 by opening the house’s smart TV and then searching on Spotify for Saliva’s “I Walk Alone”, the theme song of WWE wrestler-turned-actor Batista (real name David Bautista). Upon finding the song, I played it at full volume, jumped with my coins for good luck, and screamed along to the song’s first line:

YEEEEEEEEEEAH!!!

Side note: For context, please watch the video below. It’s Batista’s entrance at WrestleMania XXXIV featuring his theme song.

What a way for me to kick off the new year and cleanse the bad spirits. It was like I recreated Batista’s epic entrance at home. And that’s why it’s my first Song of the Moment for 2026.

Saliva’s “I Walk Alone”, from the WWE soundtrack compilation Wreckless Intent.

To all, have a fruitful, happy, and safe year ahead!

Header image: DreamSky of Pexels. Edited in Adobe Photoshop 2025.

Batista’s video: WWE. The featured video is for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement intended.

II: The Deranged Writer’s Money Challenge (2023)

For the past few years, I tried to keep up with money challenges. I tried to save up to PHP 1,000 in the 1st week, PHP 2,000 in the 2nd week, and so on until I failed. I tried to save up to PHP 500 in the 1st payout, then PHP 1,000 in the 2nd payout, and PHP 1,500 in the 3rd payout, but I failed. I tried saving up 1s, 5s, 10s, and 20s over the past few years… and that is going well so far. But I lost track of how many coins I earned.

So, this 2023, instead of following other people’s money challenges, I decided to create my own. And it’s simple: in a month, I deposit a minimum of PHP 1,000 times the number of the month.