Quotable Quotes from UP Profs

1. 'The aim of policy making is to invoke action! Because action speaks louder than words! You do not just say I love you. You say: If you love me, enter me! ' -Dr. Alfonso Pacquing

2. 'Class, next week na lang ung result sa exam nyo. I am having a hard time checking it. I will seek first the divine guidance on what to do about it. Class dont worry about your grade. Let
me worry about it.' Sir de jesus,envi sci 1

3. (valentines day)
'Ano ba yan? Students ba kayo ng UP? Bakit ang bababa ng scores niyo? Siguro wala kayong date ngayong valentines kaya ganito kayo. Losers!!! When i was your age i had a date. Hindi
ba naapektuhan ng UP FAIR euphoria ng grades niyo? Parang di kayo masaya...' (sabay matching tapon ng quizzes sa sahig) 'I won't record this. Go find a date.' (sabay walk out.) -Sir Doliente,BA.

4. Ma'am: Many people believe that we, psychology graduates can read minds...
(silence) Actually, we can. Class: Weh.. Sample.. Ma'am: Right now, you think that I'm
bluffin -Ma'am Chei Billedo, Psych

5. 'I don't give surprise long exams. all exams are announced. Halimbawa, Class, mageexam tayo, NGAYON NA!' -Ma'am Chei

6. 'The human body is 70% water. Kaya wala kayong kasaysayan lahat. Pag may kaaway ka, sabihin mo sa kanya, TUBIG KA LANG!!! -Dr. Recio

7. 'Oo, nagpapaulan ako ng uno... baket? aanhin ko ba nun? di naman ako yayaman dun.' -Sir Atoy Navarro, histo I

8. (commenting on a thesis of a senior student) 'Yang thesis mo? .. Mamamatay ka!!
Mamamatay ka!!' - Dr. llanes, UPM.

9. 'Nasa bandang gilid ang fallopian tube. Kaya kung gusto niyong magka-anak ng asawa niyo, dapat nakatagilid kayo habang gumagawa.' -Ma'am Meggie, Zoo 10

10. 'Last sem was the first time that I gave a grade of 5, and it felt good!!!' - Prof Goldie, Comm II, circa 1998, first day of class


nung freshie ako: atheist ako, pero pag nasa bahay, nagro rosary kami ng Nanay ko, eh kung magalit sa kin yun. --Socio 11 Prof

'you do not fall in love; you rise in love. That's how you love rationally.' --Dr. FG david

'Try to die! Try to die!' - sir billones, on a student who is palpitating while taking the exam. He claims that after incident refreshed na lagi yung estudyante. If I know, pag naaalala ng estudyanteng yun yung moment na yun, kaya siya laging refreshed, kasi natatawa siya pag naaalala niya iyon.

'Anong molars? You don't say molars because it is an adjective! Do you say beautifuls?' - ma'am ilao, to a student who said 'n molars'

'Kahit magpakamatay ka pa di mo masasagot yang problem set na yan dahil pang-157 (phy chem II) yan!' - ibid

'Do not memorize! Analyze!' - doc nic, advising us, her students never to memorize reaction mechanisms

'Kaya nga ideal eh, hindi siya nangyayari sa totoong buhay. Pero an approximation is good enough' - sir engle, on ideal and real systems


'Don't take the BAR and yourselves too seriously. baka mabalitaan nalang namin na nag-o-oral summation kayo sa Luneta. O lumulutang-lutang sa Pasig River. Enjoy yourselves, relax, and read at least 15 hours a day. Nakakabobo ang sobrang tulog. MAg relax ka habang nagbabasa. Magrelax habang nagmi-memorize. '

'Pag nananaba ka sa oras ng exams, ibig sabihin di ka papasa.'

'Oh the BAR isn't scary. It's terrifying. It might even kill you.' and the unforgettable: 'Wow. Rape-able.' and 'Stand up Miss ___ so that I might see the contours of your body.'

alternately encouraging and disheartening ang drama nitong prof na'to.

Ito naman from our Prof. Ancient:
'Mga engineers? Nako. Bihira pumapasa sa BAR.'

'UP ka nag-undergrad? Bright ka ba?'

'Sa mga taga-UP lang ako bilib eh. Pagpasok nila sa lawschool, hindi sila disoriented. Bilib ako sa study habits na meron yang mga batang yan. Some of them look like they eat kamote thrice a day, pero ang utak, di ututin!' (ewan ko kung matutuwa ako dito o hindi)


sabi ng aming dean who is 80 yrs old,
'class you're laughing now, but i will predecease you all'


prof: O, meron na bang nakapunta sa inyong XXX
class: (tahimik)
prof: (medyo nadisappoint) Ano?! Puro na lang ba kayo aral? Aral na lang kayo ng aral, ha? Wala na kayong napupuntahan kakaaral niyo!


same prof: Nakita niyo na ba ang Hoover dam?
class: (tahimik uli)
prof: Hehehehe, ang yabang ko talaga!


Second day of classes
Same Prof: (kinuha ang box ng colored chalks) Ano ba naman ito... (tapos iniitsa sa lamesa yung mga dark colored chalks)
class: (tahimik na nagmamasid)
Prof: Class, sulatan niyo ang manufacturer ng chalk na ito, at sabihing tanggalin na ang mga walang kwentang kulay na ito... brown, green, violet. hindi makikita ito sa board. Convince them
class: (tahimik at gulat)
Prof: and .25 incentive sa final grade niyo!


terror prof after an exam (last day na din ng class..): ok class.. see you next sem!


'Ateneo is not a university, it's a diploma mill. Bakit ba nakangiti pa mga estudyante dyan kapag lalabas sila ng gate nila, hindi ba nila nalalaman ang nami-miss nila sa edukasyon?'


'The more wisdom you obtain, the more you shut your mouth. This is because the more that you learn, the more you realize that there are even more things that you do not know. The true mark of an idiot is a loudmouth, the true mark of a wise man is humility'
--Paraphrased galing kay PI100. Puta best prof sa CAL.

'IE? Di naman engineering yun e'
-Thesis adviser


Classmate: Ma'am, pwede po bang next week na kami mag report?
Ma'am: Alam mo, God is good. And I am God. So yes, pwede next week.


galing kay sir U eliserio during creative writing class...
'try everything once except incest'

and one day pumasok ng room, galit na galit. hinagis ang bag sa table, nagwawala sa harap ng room dahil hindi daw nasagot ng previous class niya ang question niya. kaya dapat daw masagot namin, ang makasagot may plus points. kapag walang makasagot, lagot kami.
ang tanong.... 'class, sinong lalaking artista dun sa TV show na wonder years'?


'Mamatay na mangopya...'
saka
'Ang hindi maka-100, bobo!'.


'im gay. so gay i could show you my penis because it is but an accessory to my body'
-jean navera, spcm1


FIRST DAY OF CLASSES: 'Kung may boyfriend o girlfriend kayo na hindi taga-UP, hiwalayan niyo na agad. Walang pupuntahan yan. Hindi kayo magkaka-intindihan. Tapos yung mga anak niyo, magiging bobo. Gusto niyo ba yun?'

ANOTHER PROF: 'Hoy girls, wag kayong kukuha ng boyfriend dito sa UP. Pare-parehas tayong mahirap dito. Kumuha kayo ng mayaman. 80% of the child's intelligence comes from the Mother naman eh. Kayo guys, wag kayo kukuha ng bobong babae. Kahit matalino kayo, magiging bobo anak niyo.'

'Class, Chinatown is not in China. And Ateneo de Manila University is not... a university.'


STUDENT: Sir, pwede po magpa-sit in yung friends ko?
PROF: From what school are they?
STUDENT: St. Scho po.
PROF: 'Go ahead. So they'll realize what they're missing. St. Scho, St. Scho... eskwelahan na ba yun sa inyo?!'


sa PHILO:
'I THINK THEREFORE I AM FROM UP!'


'Class, kaya mahal ang bayad sa mga professors sa ibang school kasi ang bobobo ng mga estudyante dun. Dyuskoh, I used to teach there... at lumuluha talaga ako ng dugo bago maintindihan ng mga students yung sinasabi ko. Ang mahal nga ng bayad, magkakasakit ka naman sa panga kakaulit ng lessons! Wag na lang! Dito na ko sa UP, at least nagkakaintindihan tayo. Diba?'


Dahil kami ang mga huling estudyante ni Dr. David at mahal na mahal namin siya, nag-compile kami dati ng mga quotable quotes mula sa kanya. Ito ang ilan:
'Meanings we find are the meanings we make.'
'WHAT YOU LEARN IN UP IS TO GO ON AND NEVER GIVE UP. THAT IF THERE BE ONE PERSON LEFT STANDING, LET IT BE ME. LET ATENEO FALL FIRST BEFORE UP...'
'The measure of a man is how many doors he has opened to other people, especially to those he doesn't know.'
'To be born is to die. In between they grow and multiply like flies. 6.2 billion people in the world. Kadiri, ano?'
'Why not life? Why call it soul? Call a spade a spade.'
'Earth is the only heaven we can know.'
'religion is a successful economic institution'
'Do not live long enough to be worthless.'
'Domestication of the human male is one of the greatest achievement of the human race.'
'I do not know many. I only know enough to teach my classes.'


'We do not accept anyone here in class except for those who are members of a certain minority group. For example, gays are part of a minority group, bakla ka ba? If you admit to this class that you are gay, then I'll admit you'
-Prof 'hail to the chair', to a guy student na nagpre-prerog


'kapatid ng sinungaling ang magnanakaw.
'ergo, gma's marriage to mike arroyo is null and void ab initio.'
consti law class, 1st sem, AY 2005-06


'running for summa ka? mapapagod ka lang.'


'Bilib ka kay Alan Peter Cayetano? E ambaba ng grades n'un e!'

'Si Miriam, crush ko 'yun dati. Muntikan na maging kami, kaso nasiraan ng ulo, kaya 'yun, iba ang asawa ko.'

'Class, gusto ko kayong i-train na mag-English, so when you're here in class, magsalita kayo ng English! Ako lang ang exempted dahil matanda na ako at ako ang teacher!'


Ma'am Vitriolo (2nd to the last meeting)
Okay class, next week, we start the lecture proper.


more of Ma'am Ilao
'Hindi mahirap makakuha ng UNO sa class ko. yung gumradweeeyt last year na Magna Cum Laude ng Biochem, uno siya sakin sa Chem 18'


Sabi ng Prof ko dahil may kaklase akong recite ng recite w/o raising her hand
'I think this is the first time i have a student w/ tourette in my class...'
Recite parin ng recite yung student
'Wow the ejaculatory comments just don't stop!'


from my socsci1 prof last sem: 'Birds of the same feather FLOCK together...don' t forget the L'.


'I'll strangle you, strangle you really hard, smack right in your jugular (pause ng mga 5 seconds), you do know where your jugular is?'


'Be ready with your speech because I am going to lambaste you!'
-namutla nalang yung classmate kong freshie after hearing sir navera sa spcm 1 namin


'bakit parang napakaligaya ng klase niyo? maging sad naman kayo, 5 mins.' - prof ko sa math 100.


'well of course when you sell your soul you have to make an elaborate justification to make yourself feel good.'
-Sir Walden Bello, Socio 127, this sem
^grabe ang galing ni sir bello. nakakaamaze.

'ano bang natapos mo? italian 8?'

'punyetissima! ' (sosyal pati mura italian!)

'look at me i'm 433 years old pero ang lakas lakas ko pa. eh kung walang gulay eh di kakain na lang ako ng damo. kung wala eh di tubig, kung wala mag-ipon na lang ako ng laway.'
-Sir Tiamson, Italian 11, this sem


When you graduate, then you begin to live.
-Dr. Carmen Jimenez, Psych 118


from Prof Soresca in my spanish 1 class
Prof:'Mr. Gatbunton, why are you late?!'
Student:'Sorry Mam, galing pa ako Las Pinas.'
Prof: 'Ladies, don't marry somebody from Las Pinas because they have bamboo organs!!'


'there are only two countries who still use Fahrenheit.. the United States of America and Liberia... a pathetic country in africa'
--Sir Argete


Marx is more Christian than Christ and Christ is more Marxist than Marx. - Sir Lanuza.


May kaklase ako, may jowang taga Ateneo
'Ateneo? How could you love someone from the Ateneo? '


sa geol11, ayaw mag-recite ng mga classmates ko..
sabi ni ma'am cathy
'wag na mahiya, you have nothing to lose but your face..'

si sir agapito..habang 2nd exam at malakas ang ulan..
'ang lakas ng ulan, ayos yan at least hindi halata pag umiiyak..'


Class: Sir, sa exams po ba nagbibigay kayo ng partial points?
Prof: Hmm, if I see partial wisdom.


'It's okay to smoke inside my class. As long as you don't breathe it out.' -Dr. Obsioma, Biodiversity

'Oh, this is good. It's poetic because it's perfectly stupid.' - Ricardo de Ungria last week on my classmate's work.


Prof: Did I remind the class last meeting that we're going to have an exam today?
Class: (dead air)
Prof: Ok, it seems I forgot to remind the class that we're going to have an exam today. I'm giving you five minutes then to buy a bluebook. We're going to have an exam today.


sir tiamson (span 11)
'ayan, di ka makasagot. yung bakal sa ngipin mo naapektuhan na yung pagsasalita mo'

thoughts on a busy week

I MISS PLAYING FUTBOL. Futsal (my current pe) is not the same. Futbol is also not the same when there’s no grass. Playing at the Sunken Garden is something else. It has something to do with my futbol experience. It’s been at least two months… Darn, injured foot. *feeling nostalgic after passing thru Sunken on the way home and it’s a nice weather for playing and ther’re kids taking advantage of the field*

I am like super busy, and I have like two mega exams next week, and a mega paper, and I have to be present at the Sikad AVP shoot tomorrow. Something’s gotta suffer. I got a feeling it’s the first long exam for Physics and the Spanish paper. Aarrgghh…

I should have started on my acad work last night, but yesterday being a Friday, it seemed such a shame to just head on home without getting a bit of fun with friends (of course, this afer holing up in the CHE lab for one five straight days (from 8 to 6 or 7 pm and returning home only to sleep). I was only thinking of eating out with friends (which I got to do for free with LIRA peeps), but then circumstances arose that led me to watching The Jerks (my first time to do so) at 70’s Bistro (my first time to be there), with beer, pizza, fries and cheese sticks, and for free to boot! My thanks to Macel for being the orchestrator last night. ‘Twas a great night. Great performers they are. And there were not very many smokers, so for the most part, we were breathing smoke-free air, or at least, only very little smoke. Alcohol does contribute to a fun experience. :D

to start with...

Another sem… a protracted stay here in the more famous public university of the Philippines. I don’t really mind that I’m staying here a bit a more (although I know a lot of it is my doing). It’s my parents who are. Mostly because they believe students should finish their courses in time, particularly those who had a history of being an achiever like in high school.

The first week came and went. The weather had been so hot, I couldn’t walk to class without releasing buckets of sweat. I realized I have plenty of time in my hands. Enough, I think, to get all my experimentation and hopefully, the paper for my thesis done by the end of the semester. Yes, there is a need to graduate, since my parents can’t rest till they know I’ve got my diploma. I greeted my dad yesterday (fathers’ day) and he mentioned that hopefully I would graduate by October. Am I much too stubborn? Well, I haven’t exactly given them the whole picture during all those years. They just assumed I was doing well in all my subjects except math. Now, it’s the thesis. FT theses are not the easiest to conduct. Some even take more than two semesters to do the whole thing. But I do plan to finish this degree. I’m not just keen on rushing, since I have an idea how it is. I’ll take it in stride, but I’ll make sure I get to graduate.

So getting back, I indeed have plenty of time. but I haven’t started completing the initial manuscript and delving on my research problem. First day blues. There was the French Film Fest (gone to watch there twice), reading Contact, playing Solitaire, Spider Solitaire and Hearts on the pc, and watching Ouran High School Host Club and Gensomaden Saiyuki. I was with mom last Saturday and bought things for Kevin. Sunday saw me sleeping till noontime. I finished Contact today. Thriving on nothing but biscuits, some chips and water, I didn’t go out of the boarding house since I came back Saturday. I only went out this evening, when I bought some rice for a more fulfilling dinner. I could’ve gone to the infirmary this morning to have my foot examined but I woke up late so I’m gonna postpone going there to Wednesday. I know, this should not go on. And it will not. I’ll start reading up on my thesis, now that I’ve finished the novel.

People are making appearances at my inbox. The recent Fathers’ day got my dad many expressions of happiness thought I wasn’t able to reply to the senders.

“If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always got. “ – Jim Rohn
- this message seems to be doing the rounds since I received it twice last Saturday

There was a message from cindy inquiring about me and Diana. Kris, my high school classmate, also dropped a line, as did jajo. Got an update on the fete de la musique from joyce. Received a missent text from Sally. She was supposed to send it to her sister ronah (I didn’t know before now she had a sibling named as such) and I was thinking about all the h’s that people have affixed to my own nickname (rona) and how appalling names which originally don’t have an h now sporting it look to me – like jhimmy, or rhose. I’m sorry, but the aesthetics of such names don’t agree well with me. Then sally invited me to watch a movie - either kung fu panda or incredible hulk starring Edward Norton (now this is could be interesting but I wonder why Hollywood made another film about the green muscleman) with a number of mc peeps probably. But I need to save up. If I am going to watch, I think I’ll go to the Shang instead for free French Films. grace informed me that there’s gonna be food tomorrow at the subol tambayan (I haven’t been there for a long time). chesca says there a book sale at the college of educ the whole week. This next one’s from raine:

“Opportunity Costs:
The cost of something is what you give up to get it.”

Are you taking up econ girl? I only thought of this before in economic equivalents. when I read it now, it’s telling me what I already know. I could’ve been making headway on my thesis instead of lazing around the whole three days. And it’s been a full week since I’ve checked the internet – my mails, the posts at multiply, blogs of people I know or frequently visit.

two days with nature

the first thing that people always notice about me which i would nonchalantly brush off is my getting red in the face whenever we're drinking something with ethanol. i've been in these sessions many number of times to know that thanks to my dad's unique genes (yes, he too turns tomato red and chats or sings the night away when he's drunk), my excesssive blushing won't escape the notice of my drinking mates once they've seen me in enough light. such was the case during my last drinking soiree last night. twas my first time to drink lambanog and in a bottle of mineral water to wit, and all the while traveling through quezon, laguna, batangas, slex and the rest of metro manila in an 20-or-so-seater jeepney. haha! all thanks to the efforts of ate ina, daughter of our PI prof, sir nilo ocampo. we were on our way home from a most memorable field trip from dolores, quezon, home of the rizalists.

it was two days of constantly getting wet, walking paths through the maze of stones big and small, mossy or not, and getting your whole body through some small, just-barely-(candle-)lit spaces. all the while, i've knocked my knees countless times enough to have some bukol on them after two days, scraping my elbows and arms (buti na lang i don't bruise easily) and have had to pull myself up so that my armpits kinda hurt (this tells me i need to strengthen my upper body and arms). and this getting wet portion - it's not as if we had any choice. we only found out when we got to the falls that we literally have to take a bath and not just get ourselves wet by passing through the river. as a sort of cleansing, we had to stand under the very cold waters of the talon ng sta. lucia. we went through four different cleansings, the last one done by our faci who scooped up plenty of cold water inside the cave where we went through.

it was my first time to bathe in a river, and nature is really something. those waters are sooooo cold. brrr! it was my first time to get inside caves. and my golly. nothing beats Husgado. you're really being tested there. thanks to our group leader lec, i was able to pass through the caves that needed passing. i'm kind of a dimwit when it comes to ascertaining the space and the size of my body haha. we were also supposed to climb the hill called Kalbaryo, but since we took plenty of time in the caves, it was getting dark when we were making our way to the top that we met sir ocampo on the way down. our group - taimis, and the other facilitated by ate ina - placido penitente - were the ones who were not able to make it all the way up to kalbaryo, only some 1/3 of the way. by the way, our faci was kuya alex, he of the violet-banded braids, violet bag, and almost-perenially rudy project-shielded eyes. hehe. we got separated from him on the way back to qc because he had to be the faci for one of the other jeepneys. anyway, he was an accomodating person - well, i guess he was, with the many demands or pangungulit that my groupmates were making.

on the second day, there was still a hole that we had to crawl through (for the fun or challenge of it - methinks that's the only reason we had to go through it) and one cave (the last cleansing for the trip), and a jump from 10-ft high into a 10-ft deep river below. i don't really know how to swim because i can't survive in bodies of water where my feet can't touch the bottom. but i took up the challenge. was actually nervous right before i made a jump. but i jumped. and i fought to burst through the water when i realized it was taking quite a long while for me to touch the rope that they provided for crossing. but it was a great experience. if only more field trips were like this hehe.

now, the religious implication of this field trip - Dolores, Quezon being home to many Rizalist groups... i'll leave that for another time. or maybe when you've finally enlisted the pinaghihirapang i-enlist na PI 100. hehe.

Elated. Excited. Relieved. [mahaba lang talaga akong mag-blog minsan, gaya nito]

January 31, 2008, 10:40 pm

I feel elated. Glad is an understatement, happy kind of requires something more than what I’m feeling right now so I’ll use elated. I felt like jumping, shouting, reaching for the sky some minutes ago while I was doing my laundry – and thoughts and some of the words you’ll read here are streaming from my head just as I was imagining things.

Yes, after a hiatus from blogging and any sort of personal writing in general, I’m back. And well, I can’t say there’s a better time to start blogging again. Now on to the main thought. All these things I’m feeling stem from my experience just tonight with blockmates Ariel and Imang. We won!

Hehe. We won 2^nd place in the Stat-en-ek-ek quiz show organized by UP StatSoc. Besides 6 bottles of Nestea Apple, we also received P2,000 in cash. Thank goodness. Quiz shows in UP are a good way to get some dough when you’re in need. It’s just that you’re not the only one and you have to battle it out with a number of other hopefuls, and hopefully, snag the prize.

From some 60 or so teams, we made it to the top of the 15 to get through the elimination, and, with a bit of luck in the questions thrown our way, we managed to score in the difficult round to go to the tiebreaking round which we won, thanks to the question chosen by the quizmasters.

We made it since we had Ariel. He knew almost or was that every question asked about UP. I salute you for being able to scan through all the pages of a newspaper and read through each and every issue. I know I should be doing that but when I read, it takes me a long time because there are a lot of articles which get my attention, so I feel that when I read, I’ve wasted a lot of time since I haven’t read much of the current news which are more important. And besides being able to read them all, he also gets to remember them. Wow, astig! Ang galling mo Ariel!

The trend was almost the same during the elimination and the final round, except that we didn’t emerge on top to be able to bring home the P4,000 but P2,000 is alright. At least I have just the amount to pay for the last installment of the yearbook tomorrow to Deb (o Deb, starring ka pa dito hehe). During the first round of the elimination, we didn’t score as well, managing only 7 out of 15 possible correct answers with each question worth 5 points. It was the questions in the second round that propelled us through the top of the rankings, although we only got 7 out of 15 correct, each was worth 10 points and not many of the other teams were able to answer. By the way, we’re Team Yap (Ariel’s doing). He’s always the one who chose our team names whenever we join quiz shows, which may make you wonder how many times we’ve joined already. If you’re not, let me just state that for the record, this is our fifth quiz show together. The first one was the 1^st ICUP Whiz Quiz last year, during their 50^th year. That was when our partnership started and we brought home the 1^st place with an accompanying P3,000. And this was the first time I ever joined quiz shows in UP. The second was in Cliptomania with Epay where we made it to the final around but didn’t make it to the top 3. Next was in CORE’s quiz show where we were not able to get past the elims, and the latest one before tonight was in ICUP’s 2^nd Whiz Quiz last week.

And may I add that besides the prize money, I have another source of elation from the events that happened tonight. I found a new crush. Hehe… Some engineering guy who expressed, um, his could I say admiration for us? Well, he did say “Ang galing n’yo” after saying that we topped the eliminations. Wihee…

Hay… And there’s a smile on my face while I’m typing this. Waah! I’m so thankful. Thanks Imang and Ariel and also to the otherworldly forces at work. Now I will remember the motto of the Olympics, which I first encountered during the first ICUP quiz but wasn’t able to answer. It’s “Citius. Altius. Fortius.” Or in English, “Faster. Higher. Stronger.” Is that right? I feel like I’ve mixed up the Latin words with their English equivalents. And the question about the fair coin seems kind of familiar, like I’ve heard it before, now that I think about it. And I thought the question about Anne Hathaway is showbiz-related. I was thinking, “Did she star in a lot of period movies?” But when I heard the choice that she’s the wife of Shakespeare, everything else clicked into place. It’s also a good thing that I’m from Pangasinan and my mom’s house was just beside the PANTRANCO terminal so I knew what it meant, although I don’t recall how I came to know about it.

Wow, I’m such a blabbermouth tonight.

Idadagdag ko lang na hindi ganun kadalian ang mga tanong. Kung detalye lang ang pag-uusapan, kailangan alam na alam mo ang lahat, hindi lang iyong pangunahing detalye tungkol sa nabasa mo (nag-Tatagalog ako. Naalala ko tuloy iyong haraya, Tagalog (o Pilipino?) ng imagination. Ang galing mo talaga Ariel!). Gaya ng buwan ng kapanganakan ng 97-year-old lang pala na alumnus ng UP na torchbearer nung Centennial celebrations. O iyong cell ID ng last cell sa rightmost corner na makikita pag wala pang data na nakapasok sa MS Excel 2003. Which sa case ng Excel 2007 ay XFD 1048575 (siyempre, kailangan talaga alamin). Mas madami na siya ngaun kumpara sa Office 2003 na hanggang IV lang ang inabot tapos mga 10 thousand lang iyong highest place value. O ano iyong parating ibinibigay ni Alice Longbottom sa kanyang anak tuwing binibisita siya nito. Ang naalala ko lang ay wrapper iyon ng kung alin, pero ang tamang sagot ay bubblegum wrapper. O magdadalawang pahina na tong sinusulat ko sa MS Word. Moving on.

Basta masasabi ko lang, salamat para sa araw na to. Iba pa sa pagkapanalo namin, naipresenta ko na rin ang aking thesis proposal – one hurdle overcome para sa FS199, na kahit di sa ganung kaayos na anyo (bilang may ubo at sipon ako, at nung nagsasalita ako ay may plema na hindi naman lumalabas) ay natapos din. And in record time of 7 minutes ayon kay Kurt. Ewan ko lang kung may tumalo nun nung afternoon session, na di ko na pinasukan dahil natulog nalang ako. Por dat, tapos na ang pagpupuyat para sa proposal at kung anu-ano pang kailangang i-type. Ilang araw na rin akong puyat ha. Medyo matitigil na rin ako sa pagpapa-photocopy ng kung anu-anong journal articles. Hay. Ang saya. Kailangan ko nalang linisin pa iyong konsepto. Konting pagbabasa pa. Tapos kailangan nang simulan ang preliminary study. Wah, thesis na ito. Pero bago pa iyon, may panahon na akong gawin ang iba pang mga bagay na naudlot dahil sa napipintong pagpriprisinta na ngayon ay tapos na. For instance, futbol. Na-miss ko to. Last training ko ay Wednesday, at nung weekend na nasa bahay ako sa Pangasinan, ang kaharap ko lang ay iyong mga journal articles. Tapos matatapos ko na ring basahin ang Anna Karenina (sana ha, ang kapal kasi, tapos mahigit isang linggo nang overdue pero ayaw ko munang pakawalan). Mababasa ko na rin yong mga nais kong basahin sa Kas2. Tapos kailangan ko na ring simulang aralin ang mga talakayan naming sa physics72, na kahit gaano ko masugid na pakinggan ang pagtuturo ng guro, hindi ko pa rin mai-konek sa isa’t-isa ang mga konsepto upang makasagot ng isang problema. Frustrating talaga. Kailangan ko ng tutor, isang taong kayang ipa-realize sa akin ang essence ng electric field, flux, magnetic field, flux, Kirchoff’s junction loop, mutual inductance at kung anu-ano pa, at bakit at paano sila related sa isa’t-isa at kung paano mag-isip kapag magso-solve ng isang physics problem. Nalalapit na ang pangalawang pagsusulit. At mukhang hindi ganun kaganda ang resulta ng unang pagsusulit ko. Reporting na rin pala sa Kas2 so kailangan bibo ever. At interesting ever. Bilang mga bata ang karamihan sa mga kaklase ko (feeling ko ako lang iyong matanda dun, meaning 3^rd year or older), mas mag-eenjoy sila sa isang masaya at magaling na presentasyon. Na hindi ko naman talaga naranasan ever dahil di naman ako usually ganun ka-creative. O pangatlong pahina na to. Na-eexcite tuloy ako sa mga mangyayari. Except sa physics exam. Thesis shoot na ni Dood Joyce nitong weekend. Continuity ako. Na parang ayoko nang ulitin bilang crew sa isang produksyon. Pero dahil wala naman akong silbi sa ibang aspeto ng produksyon bilang di naman ako film major at wala rin akong gaanong karanasan sa pagshu-shoot dahil ma-teknikal din ito lalo na sa lighting, gagawin ko na ito. Sana lang hindi ako makatulog habang nagshu-shoot upang walang laktaw sa dope sheet na kailangan sa editing. Patawad na lang kung makatulog ako.

Matagal ko na ring gustong mag-jam. Paging alessa, sally, tracey… Si Alessa tutugtog na kasi sa Fair. Astig! Sama-sama lang ako sa jam, kung pwede hehe.. kung kaya ng skills ko ang mga kagalingan na ipapamalas nyo.

Bilang isang napakahabang blog entry, ayaw ko paring tumigil habang nasa mood pa ako. Kahit wala pang ibang ideas. Kasi pag nawala ako sa mood, at wala na akong maisip, tingin ko matagal pa uli bago ako makapagsulat. Na-mimiss ko na ang ganito. Gaya ng pagka-miss ko sa Coffee Prince.

Oo, nanonood na rin ako nito. Una ko siyang napanood sa Crunchyroll, bilang sinusubaybayan ko ang Japanese series starring Jun Matsumoto na Bambino na tungkol sa isang wannabe chef from the countryside na nag-training sandali sa Tokyo. Tapos iyong Coffee Prince episode 7 ay andun sa mga listahan ng links so ki-nlick ko siya. At ayun, na-introduce ako kay Gao Encan at ang isa pa nyang goodlooking coworker sa shop ni guy. Bale Intsik kasi iyong pagkaka-dub so iba iyong pagkakakilala ko. Hanggang episode 8 iyong napanood kong Chinese-dubbed. Tapos sa rekomendasyon ni Kirsten, nagpunta akong mysoju.com kagabi, kung kalian dapat ay naghahanda ako para sa presentasyon ng thesis proposal pero nauwi sa panonood (isang oras pa naman iyon) pero blessing pa rin kasi natanggap ko rin iyong comments ni Mam Djanna sa powerpoint presentation ko para kanina. Dun sa mysoju.com, Korean-dubbed naman so ayun, nakilala ko si Han Soo Joo (siya lang kasi iyong maalala kong pangalan) at si Han Suk Kyul (ito si Arthur(?) sa Filipino-dubbed Coffee Prince). At bilang unang episode, nagalingan ako sa kanya kasi naipakita niya lahat nung mga importanteng tauhan at kung paano sila naging related sa isa’t-isa sila. Medyo astig-astigin pa iyong asta dun sa opening scene dahil meals delivery girl si dating Princess sa Princess Hours tapos coupled with the pseudo-bad ass shots while riding her motorbike, e you get the sense na she’s not like your typical character. And she’s not. Parang ang bilis lang ng development ng pagkakagusto ni Coffee Prince sa kanya dahil by episode 7 ay tsinatsansingan na niya ito nung ito’y nakatulog, at nung episode 8 ay niyakap na niyia ito sa pagnanais na matahimik ang kanyang nababagabag na loob, na hindi naman natahimik. Ayan, na-eexcite tuloy ako. Pati ang katuluyan ng Bambino at Gensomaden Saiyuki. Waah! Puro gastos itey. (Woah, pang-apat na pahina na ito).

Sana mapanood ko rin ang Sweeney Todd. Napalampas ko na ang Transformers, The Simpsons at Stardust sa big screen. Sana wag ito. Tsaka gusto kong mabasa ang Atonement ni Ian McEwan. Meron na b a nito dito sa Pinas? Kung may nagtitiyaga pang magbasa nito, pwede bang i-bertdey gift mo nalang sa akin? Sa Marso pa naman e. May isang buwan pa para pwedeng mag-ipon.

Hmmm. Sige, ititigil ko na dito. Kailangan ko nang matulog (pagkatapos maligo) dahil may klase pa bukas ng alas-siyete. Tapos training sa Sunken (na bagong araro) tapos futsal afterwards. Am excited. I love this life!

(bale natapos akong mag-type nito ng alas-dose nwebe ng unang araw ng Pebrero taong dalawang libo’t walo). J

[walang maisip na title]

if there's anything that this sem is becoming, it's that i'm starting to regret sticking with my course. i've finally surpassed the math series. i've just about made enough to get over with physics 71. and now, here comes physics 72. if what my prof said was true, my brain isn't interconnected enough for me to fully comprehend the ideas being presentd in all these science courses. my head just swims through the concepts in physics. and when it's time for recit or quiz - i usually don't remember a thing of what was discussed the previous day. and it's like everything's so simple during the lecture, but when the questions come raining in, i don't know what happened to what i knew then. it's like my brain isn't processing the data. it just looks at them and throws them out. nothing there to retain. awhile ago, i was thinking, i really lke to read so why hadn't i taken a literature-related course. food technology being a majorly technical course, i don't know if i can't make it in the industry. and more students are taking up the course nowadays. i'd be dead meat.

and now, it's time to think of a probable thesis topic and right now, i've had no good ideas.

mantra to self: must not invite bad vibes, must no invite bad vibes. just go, go, go.

yes, i was on a roll awhile ago, just looking up on anything that may possibly yield anything. the place left to scour is the net. and oh yeah, need to look through my notes, especially those during the food chem classes. might find something that'll set off a spark.


***

november just breezed through and gone, leaving me with an impression of having wasted the past month. to think that this sem is thesis proposal sem. it was like, my only real (read: serious) class was physics. in kas 2, sir neil was usually interspersing jokes and stories into the lesson, which comes in the form of carefully prepared handouts giving just a general overview of the topics. we could while away the time just laughing at what sir was saying. we had our first meeting in he 101 last wednesday. and i've got an essay due tomorrow about a treasured object (which i'm having a hard time identifying that's why i'm blogging for the lost time, haha). hrim 112 just serves to remind me that i'm no longer used to having 7am classes. there hasn't been a class day where i was on time. thankfully, our prof doesn't arrive at 7 on the dot, so at tleast, there's some leeway for me. although i forgot to anticipate the traffic caused about by the one-way policy in the acad oval, thus making the toki jeep's route further. but ma'am was later than me today so it's fine. as for fs 192, well, it has been so-so the past weeks. however, with the lessons in material/mass balance, i don't think it'll be easy anymore. analytical skills need to kick in. i just hope i have enough of those to serve me well in the exam on january 11.

will be studying for math in a while

yes, i will be after i'm done committing these thoughts to electronic form, eventually letting it make its way to digital obscureness...

would you believe it, the sem's finally at its last two weeks. and this sem of mine is unlike any other. i've never had so many exams in a single week. tomorrow is the last long exam for math (and i'm confident i'd be able to cram tonight since i've slept most of the afternoon off, waking up at around 10 pm tonight. all because of watching a few more episdoes of heroes last night, and then staying up till 4 am to make a private repeat screening of take the lead). so next week goes like this:
monday: third exam for physics 71
wednesday: finals for chem 150 and 150.1 (two different subjects, thus, two different exams)
thursday (eto ang madugo): finals for math 54, 3rd long exaam for FN 11, finals for physics 71

oha! well, i'm not really used to having exam-dense weeks. di naman kasi ako eng'g na madalas nakakaranas nito. it was only this sem that these things are happening. siyempre, mag-trinity ba naman. ayan tuloy.

for next sem, (yeah, buti na lang nakapag-crs na ko) medyo pangit ang sked. kelangan bang kainin ng isang major ang halos buong thursday ko? makes it hard for me to enlist in any more classes. either i would have no class on monday, or i'll jampack all my classes in the TF block. which is what i've done since i don't have any other choice. ay, i still have class on monday, since i'll be taking physics 72. my subjects for next sem looks like this:
Physics 72: MTThF 12-1
FS 199: Th 9-12 lab, 1-3 lec
FS 192: T 1-3 lec, F 1-4 lab
Eng 1: TF 8:30-10 (um yeah, i think i have to take this because of the intricacies in our curriculum which requires me to take 9 units on communication skills which includes this but not Eng 30 which i think would more beneficial; but because i've reached my quota for AH subjects, i am not able to take this subject)
PI 100: TF 8:30-10
HE 101: W 1-4
Sport Climbing M 8:30-10:30 and
Tennis: MTh 7-8 or 7:30-8:30

that's a total of 19 units. i'm pretty confident that i'll be able to take all of these subjects (well, not the two pe subjects but i'll be going for one of them) since i've indicated graduating on my profile - which i should be, in a sem or two.

i've also looked up other subjects, particularly in comparative lit and film. most film subjects have been restricted and in those that were not were skeds that i could not possibly enlist because of conflicts with either my fs 192 or fs 199 (darn subject). i'm also interested in the CL 121 which is like a start of a series since it's critical approaches to lit 1 (this is not really the course title but something like it) and the next two subjects are the same with increasing value of the number after the course title. but even if they'd be available for my sked, i won't be able to take now since i've other requried subjects to take such as kas 2, pi 100 and he 101. other subjects that i still need to take are another ge (mst - i'm targeting geol1), hrim 112 (which is not offered this sem - i should've taken it this sem). looks like i've only got 9 units left after the second sem. this includes my thesis proper. then that means i've got lots of time for film/CL/foreign language subjects. there are a lot of integrated 10-11 subjects for many foreign languages and i think that'd be fun. it's kinda like physics or math which you take for one and a half hours everyday.

am quite talkative, aren't i. i was spurned by this talk of subjects enlisted. still an eager student, but not really when i'm already taking those subjects. being a student, i practically tackle things on a day-to-day basis, that's why i'm cramming for tomorrow's exam - which is what i've been doing ever since high school. the reluctant student...

who, among other things, misses futbol. i haven't played in two weeks. the last game was during the milestone tournament. i didn't play that long since i'm not a very effective player in terms of getting our offense to drive the ball towards the goal - much less, making a goal myself. i was quite down after that game. after all the months that i've been playing, i haven't actually been able to progress that much. i take a long time to warm up to a game, and since the 5-a-side tourney lasts 12 minutes, i won't be able to unleash my full game which i'm wont to do during scrimmages at training. i think there's also that follower factor. i usually opt to follow the more dominant personalities in the my team, and since my teammates are also my orgmates who i hang out with, their personalities off the field are those that count - and i am a naturally timid person. i think i am comfortable with being the support of others, even to the point of doing things for others in an entirely non-futbol related way and not in any sort of green-minded way. when there are no other dominant personalities in the group that i'm working with, i notice that i sort of take the leader role. partial conclusion: i need a personality development course, and i also need more substantial training (like what kuya Carl has said).

song that's playing in my head: Rent from the movie musical Rent
current obsession: Death note cosplayers. see their poster at http://blackmage9.deviantart.com

in retrospect

as the year comes to a close, there's the ineffable probability that a sane, average individual like me would look back at how the past year has been. in short, a reevaluation of one's life. as i've said, it's much like what everyone else does when the new year comes. and for me to make a good one of it, i'm writing it down... which means it's gonna be published on the world wide web. ah! who reads this crap anyway?

it's been a year full of varied activities. i'm now a member of four different organizations, all having nothing to do with the degree i'm pursuing. i must say i followed my heart and my soul all throughout this year. i'm with a music-related org, our provincial org, a football club and an org for film enthusiasts (i joined the last two orgs only this year). they cater to varied aspects of my person and personality. i don't think i'll be joining any more orgs, seeing as i hardly have time for each and every one of those orgs. lots of my free time have been devoted to pursuing those other interests of mine. seeing as i don't get much pleasure from studying about microorganisms, food processing and such, i've taken time to feed my soul in the various activities the UP community has to offer.

i was in introduced to football late january and it has become an addiction. i finally became a member last december 14. just watching the different matches inspires you to do better. hell, you think you can actually do the feats the various players have accomplished. the club members are also great. you get to play with all sexes (ther're only two as far as i know), ages and nationality. playing the game itself is exhilarating. plus, there's the free workout that comes with the joy of playing.

film has been one of the things i'm really interested in. it's not only a form of entertainment, it's a medium for social change, an arena for creative expression. life or what life could be or what we imagine life to be like captured in film/video, it's a great collaboration of the different people making up the crew that takes to make a film. not to mention that different people i've met and come to know as i became a member of this org. it's really a great feeling knowing that there are people who share your passion and who you could work with in pursuing that passion. turning two years old this february, this org has me busy accomplishing its goals. it's great to be part of something and you're doing things to promote its aims.

there have been a lot of firsts for me this year. my first time to play soccer and enjoy the famous sunken garden, first time to play the kahon (and right smack during the performance), stay in UP for the summer (took up math53 and happily passed!), first to have a great responsibility laid on my shoulders (thank you to those who trusted in me to handle those things), first time to go to a formal ball since highschool prom (the up cinema ball), first time to be down with chicken pox (and hopefully the last time). i also got acquainted with the various people populating sociology/philosophy/political books, like plato, aristotle, locke, marx, st. augustine, st. thomas aquinas and hobbes. this christmas break is also my first time to go out the number of times i did than my other vacations like summer or sem breaks. amazing. i also got to visit the ukay-ukay in metro manila and what delightful finds i've had.

like always, i'm still struggling through my subjects. i'm taking the last of my math series and i wish to take this only once. no repeats. but math is antagonistic to a lot of people, and that includes me. i haven't had the time to practice integration techniques during this break. extra effort is needed for me to fulfill that wish of mine. my first exam is disastrous, even without seeing my blue book yet. i got a disappointing grade in my major last sem. i know i could've done better there. my biochemistry is also frustrating. accounting is quite complex. you really have to sit all of them out. that's one thing i haven't done last sem. it seems this sem's going that way too. but at least, no failing grades for me last sem. and oh yeah, i plan to sit on those subjects longer. i'm in third year already. i'm just riding it out, like lau. we don't really enjoy our courses but we have no choice. this is all we've got and there's no more turning back. three years will have been wasted if we do.

three years worth of classmates. four organizations worth of people to share college life with. many faces have passed. some quite memorable, some there just sitting at the back of your mind, your memory triggered by your presence. others you don't feel like greeting when you cross paths, others you've shared something long-lasting with, others there to bring a smile to your face and a sunshine to your day. but nevertheless, i'm still lacking in people or socializing skills. i still shy away from the male sex. in fact, i ignore a lot of those people. even if we're both familiar to each other and the other seems keen on getting to know me (yes, the subject of some posts here in my blog), i just look straight ahead pretending not to notice when i see them. the bane of my life. having a lot of pride is it? or being insecure enough to warrant a silence notice on my head.

i was (this was some two hours ago) and still am wistful, remembering the days gone by. i'm glad that there have been a lot of laughs and meaningful moments. disappointing things have happened, bad things have come and gone, i've been faced with various challenges which seemed insurmountable but eventually looked easy after you've gone through them. there's been a lot of introspection, particularly these past few months. talks with ate jet have made me realize things about me and life in general. i've been on the verge on trying to give up on life as i know it and just concentrate on what's expected of me. just about. but then, i got back on track. i enjoy my life right now. it's not perfect, but it's just right. there's no radical change that i want to happen. ONLY that i have more MONEY and have MORE TIME. did i say i'm ambitious?

i feel. but i don't think i feel enough. friends are close to me when i'm literally close to them - that i get to see them and we get to talk about life. it's quite difficult for me to maintain something with people quite far away or out of touch with me. yes, there's that somehting you've shared, but it's not that easy for me to open up to them unlike to those people i've been seeing more regularly. and because i don't like to use the telephone, and do not have much money nor time to text them, communication is on a hiatus. and because of that, i said i don't feel enough. i may be aloof. but i could be unfeeling sometimes.

i love my family. everybody's grown up with the times. i think i'm the only one not living the way to do, seeing as i'm alone and about 212 kms away from home. but it's been a year of great bonding between me and my siblings. we spend a lot of time together, and i do like to be with them and have fun with them. just yesterday, we watched king kong in a movie theater, all expenses on me. i love them. i love my mom and dad. this family's the best. even if we're quite "cut off" from the rest of the world, there's no other place i'd rather be.

a digression: you can't always show all aspects of your personality. when you're talking with someone about something you really like or are interested in, what that person will see is a nice picture of you. the varying circumstances are what brings out the other sides of personality, whether nice or nasty. i just remembered this, coming upon the thought when i remembered somebody in the movies saying someone has finally showed his true colors. and the action sequences in king kong are amazing which could be trimmed so that the movie won't run for 3 hours.

so what now? well, i'm turning 20 this coming year. a whole new decade, a whole new beginning - it's like this is the time when i officially get inducted to the adult world. but i don't dress grown-up enough by today's standards but i don't care about those. i'll wear what i like. i'm still discovering myself little by little. thank God for tiangges and ukay, there are a lot of cheap places to go to to satisfy one's experimentations and tastes. of course, surprises are welcome. a guy in my life would, i guess, be interesting and probably welcome. various opportunities for self-betterment are sought after. i'd like to be able to make a film, to be a better football player, be able perform on stage playing the guitars/keyboards/percs, be a more active leader, a more diligent student and a more critical person. the list of hopes and wishes is long, the coming year is there to make memories out of, time is of importance but it's all in my hands. i'll just have to live it day by day, hour by hour. do with whatever comes along and just keep my head up during high water.

life is immense. the million beings connected by this phenomena have much to share with each other. possibilities are endless.

soar to greater heights and grab opportunities. be a better person this 2006. happy new year! to me and to you who's taken time to absorb this. thanks y'all!

epiphanies from the days

ang ganda ng night sky. went out just awhile ago. if only you could keep it in a snapshot, forever embedded in one's memory. when you're feeling down, you'll just have to look up and lo and behold, the wonders of the cosmic vastness. wala lang, ang ganda lang talaga kasi.
***
did i say that i was stoned on the night of the lantern parade? we were supposed to watch the umc concert but then, my companions didn't really want to watch. they just wanted to hang out, and with only four of us remaining, it woudn't really be much fun. we were talking about things we wanted to do. i broached the subject of having a good time with some gin. and there we were, formulating a plan. minutes later, we were off to board a jeep that would pass through east ave. so that we could buy some at 7-11, near jo's and ace's house in maaralin st. franco, a subol applicant and binong's (mr. promil kid - galing magpiano nyan!) older brother, was particularly excited about it, especially with the thought that we'll be drinking gsm blu. haven't tasted it before. it was a first time. and it was already close to 9pm by then. he was going to be picked up by his dad by 9.30. anyway, besides all that, he's a great person. he's the only applicant i've been seeing, bearing in mind the fact that i only get to pass by the subol tambayan around 5.30 pm during tuesdays. and he was with the subolites during the lantern parade. he's really bonding with the members which is really great. and since i got to know him when we were all walking towards the shopping center for dinner, i can say he's a great person to talk to. i don't think there'll be a boring time with him. and with this new intimacy with a new person, there goes my defensive/coward attitude again. i tried to distance myself from him some moments afterwards.

now to continue with the more significant story... we had orange juice with the gsm blu, a perfect mix and then some boy bawang and munchers, a brand of green peas he strongly recommended. and i'm recommending it to you, too. sarap! we were through with the whole bottle 30 minutes later. just in time for franco's dad to come by and pick him up. i was into the 4th round at ang lakas na ng tama ko. grabe iba talaga. ang lakas! pulang-pula pa ako. mas heightened ang senses. you feel the coldness in the cold sweat of the juice container, the rubbery feel of my slippers, everything... i passed on the next round and had one during the last. i guess there was about 6-7 rounds. afterwards, i just wanted to lie. ace was still watching programs on gma while jo was already upstairs. i eventually went up to the room. both jo and i are having massive headaches and we were telling each other stuffs we don't normally talk about when sober. yeah, drunk again... tagal ko na ring di umiinom. the whole first sem, there was no opportunity for drinking. na-miss ko. pero grabe, di ko talaga kinaya iyong sakit ng ulo. di ako nakauwi. slept there. i woke up early in the morning. naumpisahan ko pang basahin iyong american gods ni kuya jeff which he hasn't read yet. interesting the book sobra. love his storytelling. hooray for neil gaiman!
***
the next day, i dropped by the tiangge at the chapel for the bilin of my bros. i wasn't able to buy everything at the tiangges at the acad oval. after a morning of trying to fix the things i'm bringing home, i had lunch and then tried my luck at looking for the tiangges at the acad oval. well, wala na nga talaga sila doon so i walked back. ayos lang iyon kasi i got to exercise for a bit before getting to the tiangges. i bought a pair of dangling earrings - a single-stranded bead column of around 4 colors - for P10. see how inexpensive trinkets and holiday presents can get? ang galing ng mga tiangge. maganda na nga, mura pa. i can say the same for greenhills. napadpad ako dun to look for something to wear to the up cinema ball. boho heaven siya... pero i only got to buy a pair of slippers like those of alessa's. hours of walking around for nothing much. pero okey kasi ang dami kong nakita mga bagong designs at styles. ang galing talaga. tiangges can be the solution to almost anything - to household equipments, uber hip clothes, school stuffs, toys, fashion accessories, etc.
***
helter skelter is a song from the beatles' white album. here's the lyrics:

when i get to the bottom, i go back to the top or the slide
where i stop and i turn and i go for a ride
till i get to the bottom and i see you again

do you, don't you want me to love you
i'm coming down fast but i'm miles above you
tell me tell me tell me come on tell me the answer
you may be a lover but you ain't no dancer

helter skelter, helter skelter
helter skelter

do you, don't you want me to love you
i'm coming down fast but i'm miles above you
tell me tell me tell me come on tell me the answer
you may be a lover but you ain't no dancer


look out helter skelter, helter skelter
helter skelter
look out, case here she comes

why this song? well, there's this movie helter skelter that i got to watch during the weekend. it's an adaptation of the real-life murders of la bianca/tate. the latter, sharon tate, is the 8-months old pregnant of wife of director roman polanski. at the forefront of these brutal killings is one man: charles manson. he is head of the family and he is regarded as jesus by the members of the family. his character was effectively portrayed. his manner, the way he speaks and most everything else about him exudes his charisma and his statements about life can really inspire people, leading them to his side. but behind all the inspiring words is a twisted mind bent on conquering the world. he says that's the message that's been given to him by the beatles through that song, as well as the entire white album, and the bible. they intend to incite violence between blacks and whites. meanwhile, the family will go into hiding in the desert. when the war starts they'll be safe there. and after there's been a winner, they're gonna emerge from the desert and defeat those who were triumphant in their initial war. and that's when they'll get to rule the world. twisted, demented, outrageously brutal. going about murdering people and then writing messages on the walls. it took months before police from different states got to connect all the murders happening in their jurisdiction. pretty explosive. and really saddening especially to the families of the murder victims, the least of which is director roman polanski. i wonder what the beatles had to say about this, particularly john lennon. i recently learned that he was alive until december 1980. and all the shooter had to say after doing the act was "I shot john lennon." there are many aspects about the guy i also learned just recently. but there, i just want to know his view regarding the white album and charles manson's claims of world domination as the message of the album.
***
ang saya siguro nung feeling na nai-express mo lahat ng nafi-feel mo on a certain moment or your views on a certain thing. hell, it would be great if you've got your mind made up over many things. hindi kasi ako ganoon. i could run out of things to say. i'm often undecided or i haven't thought things over about present situations regarding myself. hindi ako critical mag-isip. tinatamad pa akong isipin ang ilang bagay na gusto kong mahanapan ng sagot. iyong mga nadidiscover ko tungkol sa akin, usually spontaneous iyon. napapaisip, napupunta sa iba't-ibang direksyon ang utak ko at voila! epiphany. hindi conscious effort. so well, what's the point?

i finally got to watch before sunset although hindi ko siya naumpisahan. ang galing ng connection ng characters ni julie delpy and ethan hawke. after 10 years, most things haven't changed. binitin tayo dun sa prequel na before sunrise. now, involved na sila sa iba't-ibang tao. may asawa na si ethan with a kid, julie has a bf she doesn't see often. pero when they talk - actually si julie usually gumagawa nun - andun pa rin iyong connection. may spontaneity. ang galing. anything and everything ang napag-uusapan. ang cute pala nung waltz ni kinanta ni julie for ethan. the actress herself wrote and composed it. it was really cute and really nice. ang galing niya. imagine, only two characters for a two-hour movie and yet you've got their chemistry and the movie goes on, taking the viewer through the ups and downs of their emotions and the changes in their lives. and once more, binitin uli tayo. ethan may or may not have missed that flight. ang galing nung last shot. ethan smiling while julie was imitating nina simone when she performs. then she says he's gonna miss his flight. and he says he will and he smiles - a smile that beams of happiness and contentment right then and there. ang ganda. if only nagkatuluyan na sila noon pa. pero sobrang galing talaga. i love it! sino nga uli director? here's to more character-driven films and spontaneous conversations of the absurd and the mundane.
***
btw, my monitor's still horrible. the only effective color/shade here is black. and look at my blog at http://funkysoul.blogspot.com - it's orange! this is supposed to be brown.
well, it's already 10:13 am. almost an hour typing all this out. i love this release. i love to write. i love my blog. i love the people who read it and extract a little of me bit by bit of information that i give out. super galing ng technology. now, i can write better and faster. naiiwan pa rin ang ilang sinusulat ko sa aking mga naiisip pero at least, mas madali na silang habulin ngayon. hindi madalas na magasawa akong mag-type dahil fresh pa iyong mga sinusulat ko, unlike sa sulat-kamay na ang layo ng narating ng isip mo, nasa unang destinasyon pa lang ang sinusulat mo.

traditions

traditions do have a lot of the brighter side of life in them. for one, you anticipate things to happen; you wait for that certain time of day or month or year
so that you could experience whatever is traditionally done/celebrated on that
certain day.

christmas is one of those traditions that most everyone looks forward to. of course, for most, it's the season of gift-giving. for the students, especially those in college, it's something to look forward to because after the brief second sem, it's time for another break. and besides, christmas has been tradiiton in our country. no christmas would be complete without the food and the fun that accompanies the celebration.

the up community has its own share of christmas tradition. the last week of classes
is dotted with events that have been synonymous with up life. there's the apo
fraternity's oblation run (one i haven't watched yet but i have had the
inconvenience of seeing some guy's balls last year at that same event although i wasn't going to watch it). there's also the eng'g week, the highlights of which are
the acoustic jam eng'g, smokers' night and of course, ms. eng'g. theirs is really a
very vibrant, not to mention very active, college.

and then there's the lantern parade. for years, the college of fine arts has been
participating in this lantern parade but is no longer up for the various awards
given to deserving lanterns and their respective colleges. given the fact that
they're from FA, it's no surprise that they're already in the hall of fame of
Lantern Parade winners so they just might as well strut their stuff and be
acknowledged as the best among the lanterns, and in doing so give the other colleges a chance to shine.

massive budget cuts on education has greatly affected the conduct of everyday
activities in a state college such as up. and so is the budget for this year's
christmas celebration. so there will no longer be lanterns for each college. the
college of fine arts will lead the parade with the theme earth, air, water, fire -
the so-called four elements - and then pick up the parols from the booths in the
acad oval as the parade continues on to quezon hall. that's what's said in the email that's been circulating. nevertheless, not every college is required to make one so ours didn't have one due to lack of money.

well, this is the first time that i've been able to watch a complete lantern parade. i've seen all the lanterns go by. it actually started quite early, i guess around 4pm because darkness has not yet set in. when it ended, it was dark already.
there were a lot of tiangges in the acad oval. you could buy a lot with P100 there,
especially with the earrings, necklaces, etc. which could cost P20 and below.
besides being able to watch the whole lantern parade, i also completely enjoyed the
christmas celebrations here in up. that's because i can say i've been able to
participate in most of the celebrations. enjoying the acad oval is one way, though i got into it late; like it was thursday already, the last day, when it has been
carless since monday. many people complained about it though but it's a great thing
that was done. yes, enjoying it is one thing. being with people close to your heart
is another. well, this gives me ideas for another topic i've been wanting to burst
about but i won't do it here. till the next post.

tapos na ang haggardness!

yes, exams are over! although first week come january, i think i already have two lined up. at least, the rest of the week will be smooth sailing already.

ang saya-saya talaga nang tapos na ang mga exams. pero siyempre, hindi masaya ang results pero at least ayus na. makakatulog na ako nang maayos tonight. ay! basta pala matapos ko iyong assignment sa 125 na siyang ipinunta ko dito sa computer shop. a blessing this computer shop is. for only P20 you get an hour of good surfing speed with an all Windows pc (as well as ms office - you know naman how hard it is to work with the open source applications; they're just not the same) and headphones for better listening experience.

now, enough of the pcs here. so many stimuli! i'm listening and at times viewing videos at launch. and what a consistent treat they're showing me right now. after mr. big's to be with you, i viewed/listened to a long walk, cornflake girl, a new song by rob thomas, oceania by bjork (visual candy, mind you) and now black balloon.

but this is not the main topic of my post. actually, there are more things boiling beneath this. haha!

well, as luck would have it, saw him again. yihee! at the library. even heard him speak lots of times. i was browsing in the same section of the lib as he was and he was speaking to some people at the tables, walking back and forth the shelves and the table saying comments.

he was also hurriedly browsing through a newspaper afterwards. anyway, it was nearing 4:45 pm already, our college lib's self-proclaimed closing time (read: time for everyone to get out and away!) and so after photocopying some pages i needed (this reminds me, i have to rush this or i won't be able to make my assignment), i got out. contemplated looking for ate joyce inside the college building but decided against it. saw her at the fishball stand. and she treated me to fishball. and there, not trying to be obvious but obviously caught in the act of trying to hide something, i learned his name. ate joyce is a 5th year already, of the 01 batch and his student number starts with 00. so obviously, older. anyway, ate joyce said he was repeating his thesis. too bad, pero hmmm... not too bad. at least, (an) extended semester/s for me. hehe.. selfish. pero tang-ina, ito na nga lang kasiyahan ko sa buhay. pagbigyan na. malay natin... wishful thinking =)

alam ko na ang nickname niya. iyon lang kasi sigurado ni ate joyce.

then she was gonna go to the sunken garden to speak with ate sandra. went with her, at nainggit ako sa mga andun na maglalaro. btw, the sikad girls were 2nd place in the tournament held yesterday. ang galing! gusto ko na ring maglaro. pero futsal iyon. at haggard sa pag-akyat at pagbaba ng field gaya ng nangyari kay candy. this reminds me, i need a soccer-related artwork quick.

then after making kuwento with the peeps, uwi na rin si ate joyce so sumabay na ako. so napunta kami sa may balara and ate some isaw. grabe na-miss ko iyon. galing. sayang, ngayon ko lang nakasama si ate joyce.

may isa pa akong ikukuwento pero hindi fit sa mood nito. another post na lang. and i need to finish those fatty acids quick hehe...

buenas noches

it's been raining almost the whole day. didn't see a ray of sunlight. the temperature and temperament it brings about in me reminds me of the coming holidays. it's almost this same mood, without the rains though. and yeah, i'm looking forward to christmas. something new for this year. something fun and intimate and joyous.

things i've done for the past month or so:
- watched the fourth harry potter movie. twas' alright. the scene where he came back with cedric's dead body to the pitch cried out to me. i could feel his anger and sadness. besides that, you thought he, ron and hermione are old enough already. but against the other champions, harry is still very young. cedric is good looking in some angles. and fred and george are still the perfect tag team!

-got a new pair of umbro soccer shorts from muroy, on a monday the week i started training again. i used it on wednesday though, hehe. it's reversible, by the way. blue and pink!

- watched DUP's sepharad. of course, it was required in my comm3 class. i also found arbie watching there, also required in the same class. late takers hehe.

- the POV last friday, december 2 was a success. not only did we fill up the whole cine adarna, there were still people standing or occupying monoblocs. too bad i wasn't able to watch all the films. the ones i did get to watch are "frou frou" - panalo sa comedy - and "anong petsa na?" and they're both great. looking forward to this weekend to be able to watch the others. ang galing talaga ng CINEMAsters. ang galing nina bebs and ace. grabe, gusto ko na rin makagawa ng film ko. concept muna, and then some peeps to help me out and a camera, ok na. go na. mahirap nga lang na part iyong concept.

- dec. 3, watched the women's championship match in football in the 23rd sea games at the marikina sports complex with sikad peeps. buti na lang sumama ako after nung training, although kawawa naman ako, didn't bring any pants so i just reversed the shorts i used haha! ang galing ng vietnam and myanmar! they could vie for the world championships. galing nung mga defense tsaka trapping and dribbling nila. kawawa naman myanmar; vietnam and got a penalty kick (i think that's what it's called) and won the game with 1-0. pero astig, i wanna be able to play like that someday. and after that, i will be playing like ronaldinho hehe.. what if? astig.. by the way in that training, karen and i made a pact that we would be committed to sikad from that day on. yes, sana nga tuloy-tuloy na ito. induction na sa wednesday. i need a soccer-related artwork (of course, that won't come out of thin air - got some brainstorming and hand twisting to do) plus a 30-minute batch presentation. keri sana.. my batchmates are planning to play instruments.

- watched ang pagdadalaga ni maximo oliveros last monday with alessa. it was cute and funny but for me it was on the same level as pepot artista. i was expecting for more but i guess that's the problem with an award-winning film. but it was nice. something new yet close to our cultural context.
***
other thoughts...

*well, got 3 exams on monday: bio 11 lec, bio 11 lab (had a mock exam awhile ago - hope it helps) and math 54. yes, the shock of my life when i learned only last monday when our prof finally arrived that we're gonna be frying our brains on monday. tagal na kasing dinelay ang pag-aaral. ayan tuloy.

*hindi ko na siya nakita uli *turo sa ibaba* mali ako dun sa assumption ko. two times lang, no more. hindi na ako natutuwa pag nakikita ko siya pero ngayon, hmmm, hinahanap ko ang fez niya.

*cinema ball bukas. dress pa lang ang meron ako. how bout footwear? ha! hanapan mamaya hanggang bukas.

*nainggit ako kay marj nung nalaman kong nakapag-shift siya. buti pa siya, nagawa niyang iwanan ang halos tatlong taon sa ba at sinunod ang passion: film. grabe, gusto ko rin ng film. pero there are so many factors, the greatest of which is the financial constraints. besides that, hindi rin ako sure kung mage-excel ako dun. i wanna be sure naman kung nag-shift ako. pero hindi naman talaga ako masaya sa course ko. ang dami-dami ko ngang org, puro varied. hala, gusto ko naman ng specialization.

*physical activity no longer has the same effect on me. i think i need to take it to a higher level. nung last time kong nag-jogging, hindi sumakit katawan ko. kahapon naman, 3-aside iyong game ng girls nung training, minimal lang ang sakit although may pasa ako kasi natamaan ng spikes (walang shin guard). pero dati, masakit na talaga ang katawan sa ganoong activity.

*ukay is great! got a lot of cheap stuff. ang galing!

kailangan ko talagang mag-aral. nasa umpisa pa lang ako sa math. di ko pa na-aapply. so eto na lang muna. uwi muna ako, tapos lalabas para sa meeting. sa mc na lang ako hindi pa nagpapakita. medyo nahihiya na. pero mc squared sa tuesday, punta ako. tapos ep launch ng makopa sa jan 27, aabangan ko iyon.

so happy new year!

last night, i wanted someone to accost me and do something brazen to me. that thought started without any particular person in mind but eventually ended up with the image of one person. the stuff daydreams are of. wishful thinking at its purest.

--

days ago, i watched the foo fighters' video of walking after you. although in mini-screen mode only, i promptly fell in love with dave grohl. yes, joseph, he is hot. thanks for opening my eyes to that fact.

--

right now, i wish i had been a diligent student like kirth. that i study everyday when i get home and retain the pieces of knowledge i hear in class.

exams are raining down on my lap. the earliest one is the fourth long exam for biochem on saturday. although what is only covered is what was tackled after i recovered, there are still incorporations of previous lessons which my brain pointedly refused to retain at the time that i should have studied them.

yes, two weeks more. two most excruciating weeks. i hope i survive and emerge at least a bit triumphant.

i'll post this before it gets lost.. lessons in UP

1. Ang buhay ay parang IKOT jeep. Ang iyong patutunguhan ay siya ring iyong pinanggalingan.

2. U.P. lang ang may TOKI, sa buhay wala nito. Pero nasasaiyo na yon kung nais mong pabaligtad
ang takbo ng buhay mo.

3. Sa IKOT, pwede kang magkamali ng baba kahit ilang beses, sasakay ka lang uli. Sa buhay, kapag
paikot-ikot ka na at laging mali pa rin ang iyong baba, naku, may sayad ka.

4. Sa U.P., lahat tayo magaling. Aminin nating lahat na tayo'y magagaling. Ang problema dun,
lahat tayo magaling!

5. Kung sa U.P. ay sipsip ka na, siguradong paglabas mo, sipsip ka pa rin.

6. Sa U.P., tulad sa buhay, ang babae at ang lalake, at lahat ng nasa gitna, ay patas, walang
pinagkaiba sa dunong, sa talino, sa pagmamalasakit, sa kalawakan.

7. Sa U.P. tulad sa buhay, bawal ang overstaying.

*by Prof. Ryan Cayabyab
from Commencement speech given on April 24,
2005 before the Class of 2005, UP Diliman,
Quezon City

camownst!

it seems like a long holiday. but somewhere, there's a time that's swiftly coming near, and when that time comes, i know i would regret a lot for treating what free time i have right now as holiday. sick leave is what you might call it. but of course, there's plenty i have missed already.

cruel trick. only three weeks more before the end of classes and i'm struck down by that virulence known as chicken pox. i didn't have an inkling i'd be having it - i've had almost two weeks of exposure to a friend who had it and no sign or symbol of it coming. i wasn't feeling very well on wednesday afternoon and thursday comes bringing a murderous headache and a very unfriendly feeling so that i had to skip my last class so as not to make things worse. and lo and behold, friday rolls around to find me sprouting vesicles in my face and in my hand. after much hoping that it won't end up that way, there's the confirmation and it's the dreaded thing alright.

so quickly as i could, i hie off to cubao to board a bus back home. there were a number of familiar faces boarding the bus with me - ate anne, a fellow subolite, retchelle, a fellow dagupeño and iska - in the same year as i am and extremely intelligent - although we pretend we don't know each other since we haven't really talked during those competitions we were participating in together back in high school (at least i do, i don't know about her :), lorra sayson, kim's cousin (kim is my classmate in elementary), with her parents, i believe. i couldn't tell kim's mom from her sister so i just assumed since she's with lorra, she's the mother of that girl who i know is out to impress the world, just like her cousins. we were all there on the same line buying a ticket when i saw them all. the last three people just probably realized it when we were on the bus already. lorra's mom recognized me since i was going to sit beside lorra, based on the seat numbers assigned to us.

i don't know if my seatmate noticed but when i got home, the vesicles in my face increased. i just hope she's had chicken pox already or else, i'm to blame if she got one right after she got home. and her mom was so warm to me. she even bought me a cup of hot choco when they bought one for lorra. unfortunately, i was pre-disposed not to accept it since i just had one myself when i went down the bus. the air-conditioning was really cold so that i stayed long outside the bus, until the time when boarding time came. it's probably got something to do with my condition, or the fact that i easily get cold. but whatever it was, i was so glad to get off that bus.

a movie was also shown during the trip although it's one i've never heard of before, the illuminator my seatmate said, although she might be mistaken. it's supposed to belong to the group of blockbuster action films but it's a big disappointment. there's nothing brilliant or new in the story. the prejudices make it all the more a sucker. it's a formula movie, a complete waste of time. i just wish they showed a more interesting film than that one. it's a good thing there wasn't any famous name there that would get destroyed because of the outcome of the film.

since i didn't get to sleep during the whole five hours to get home, lots of ideas ran freely through my mind and i did entertain a lot of them. one thing would be the many lessons, reports and exam i'd miss and one i think i would flunk since i'm absent during the days leading to it and i have no notes with me. i thought those things would be a blessing since i realized i do want to pursue filmmaking. and flunking grades in subjects needed for my major would be an added push if i told my mom about it. of course, i think i'll only be flunking one 3-unit subject, but i didn't think of it that way that time. my heart was really set on finally shifting to another course. i'm really drawn to doing it. i did not entertain any thought of economic or financial gain and i believed the only thing that mattered was where i was happy. i wasn't enjoying much examining the efficacy of the heat process and what-nots. i want to make films. of course i planned out a course of action. i'd ask the film students i know about what it takes to be a film major, inquire at the college of mass communication for the requirements and tell my parents in time before the second semester starts. i thought i'd probably get away with it, that my parents and my aunt, who's giving me financial assistance, would readily approve. it's probably not that very easy, seeing as i'm already on my third year and have had plenty of lab classes along the way. and my mom told me during my second year that my course was final already - i told her so that time - and i'm not going to shift anymore.

anyway, just in case, i'm posting these questions for anyone to answer. pitch in a thought and you might help me.

- do you have to be creative to be in film school? what's your standard of creativity in a person? cite qualities and personalities we both know.
- can you go to film school without much money? do you have to have your own camera and pc to do all your requirements? will you survive if you just borrow stuff from people you know?
- what's the mortality rate in the UP cmc-film institute? (for film students in UP diliman)
- will the teachers kill you for want of better film proposals?
- will a soft-spoken person thrive in such a course?
- do you have to know how to operate a video camera when i get there or will there be a prof who's willing to teach you the basics of videocam operation? (since in this family, i don't think anyone has operated one yet)
- will you do well if you don't have a critical eye, if you just see on the surface or a little below it and not all the way down?

these are some of the questions that's been bothering me. i couldn't think of the others, but these are my main concerns. well, adieux!

what's the first thing i can say

ok, what just happened today? today was like a trip back to my younger days.

i didn't have any class today. i arrived for my first and only class on time only to find out that our prof has cancelled class today because she's in a seminar. of course, she didn't bother to tell us yesterday. we just needed to have the surprise of our lives. i could have used the precious time to sleep. i've been missing sleep for days. so there we were, talking and doing more important stuff before we decided to leave the room. and i went to the library. i'm back to haunting the library again. i couldn't start writing for our formal report so i read the papers. it was my first time to read conrado de quiros' column. i also read a compilation of all the claims of the latest whistleblower of the opposition with the name michaelangelo zuce. so much for this country.

and then, since i had no one to hang out with, i went back to the boarding house to eat for lunch. then i walked to casaa for my buddy day-out with ariz. that's my second buddy day out. i brought him to likha diwa and since we're both still full, i just ordered banana choco crunch for both of us. then we went back to the tambayan since we didn't like the feeling of overstaying there.

well, i had to drop by the boarding house first and change to a more comfortable pair of slippers since i needed to reproduce two more sets of app kits for our dear apps in up subol (i still need another set by thursday).

the apps needed to meet first so those more concerned with them (i.e., the president and the applicom head) participated in the meeting while the rest of us... harked back to our more active younger days and we played some game called shake-shake shampoo. d'you remember that? since there were plenty of us, there were two its. they had to touch every one and say "shake" and the one touched will shake his/her body. the others who haven't been reached by the it yet will try to touch those who are shaking while saying "shampoo" so they can stop shaking and run again. since there were more than 10 of them and only two of us, we decided to play another game but it was still the same game of "tag." since we all were worn out by running around, we decided to play "shaggedy-shaggedy-shapopo". i'm not sure with its spelling... but we didn't last long with that game. we decided to just listen to the meeting. afterwards, after a long hour, we finally had our intra-org quiz show. the applicants were distributed to the different committees. besides ek, july, ice and i, we also had my two buddies mark and ariz, and cha. the questions were of varied origin. we reached the tie-breaking round and, we won! yehey! since it was already raining, we didn't stay anymore to chit-chat. everyone headed straight to the jeepneys to get home. and so soon after everyone has ridden a jeepney, i went straight here and i'm still having grand time now, even though my fingers are starting to feel numb from the freezing cold.

i'm gonna wait for alessa. surprise, she spent almost the entire day with one person. and the mc peeps are having a grand time drinking, she said.