let's go back to college

Ang mga ninuno...

Though it means going home at 2 in the morning, last night's UP Music Circle production at Purple Haze was a blast if only for the reunion of the org's ancient ones. Man, it's been loads and loads of fun seeing long-time friends again, after ages. And sitting at one table (exclusively for alumni) made us feel really, really old. All around us were kids not less than 5 years our junior! Like we could be their professors! Hahaha!

Well of course, we went tripping back to memory lane. Boy, it's been great. As if we really didn't get enough of each other's company, we headed right to Starbucks for our kwento continuation. Had it not been for work the following day, we could still be there yakking away.

There will be a next time and a next. Definitely.

iBaby a.k.a King Kong

Got this new baby last Thursday. Now all I have to do is restore it so I can make it compatible for both Windows and Mac. (I first plugged it in to Mac so now my Windows at home can't read it. I blame my over-eagerness.)

Thus, I shall name it King Kong. (Kindly address all queries regarding this alias to Francis.)

am i on the list?

Now I'm all confused with so many great series plaguing the boob tube. And my latest craze? Heroes. Wow, oh wow!

Also worth checking out is this tribute to the show.

W.O.W.

panda fever

Another panda affair. Teehee!

pick-me-up

Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Chanced upon this in Zig's LJ. Suuuuuuper adooooooraaaaable!!!!!!!!!

Francis, I know you're reading this. I want a pet panda. Now!

what happens to education now?

Met up with our friend Jun last week when Francis and I went to UP for his now regular jogging sessions (which I have to do, too, soon). It was fun catching up with Jun, who's now an instructor at the College of Science. Of course, we talked about the current issues plaguing dear UP, most disturbing of which is the tuition fee hike–a staggering P1,000 per unit for undergrads, which will take effect this coming June. Can you imagine, from P300 to P1,000? Whatever happened to "iskolar ng bayan"? Whatever will happen to UP's image of providing quality education for the masses sans a high tag price? The administration's take on this? A higher percentage of UP students now belong to the upper class, so they think it's just wise to take this step. But what about those who don't belong to the upper class? Is it the students' fault if they were born to the classes they belong to?

And for those upperclass men who won't be affected by this but still protest (because like I said, the hike will take effect this coming June and won't cause worry (hah!) to those with student number 06- and below), the admin says (drum rolls, please):

E hindi naman kayo maaapektuhan sa tuition fee hike e! (But you won't be affected by the tuition fee hike anyway!)

Yeah, right. So now they're teaching young minds to be indifferent? Para kayong di taga-UP!

I can now picture how things would be for our youth:

Anak: 'Nay, pag nag-college na po ako, gusto ko po kumuha ng Chemical Engineering sa UP.
Nanay: Hay naku anak... Di natin kaya tuition fee dun! Magtinda ka na lang ng yosi dyan sa kanto, kikita ka pa. O kaya sumali ka na lang sa Star Struck!

Such a sad, sad fate for a country who claims to put importance on education.

this isn't exactly a good feeling

With so many ugly issues cropping up lately, my desire to jump over the fence (literally) for a greener pasture (or should I say greener page?) is also surfacing. Fast. Like it was just hidden at the bottom of my own sea and has now found the right time to come swimming up the surface at neck-breaking speed enough to cause gas embolisms, which would in turn kill me.

And I think it's starting to kill me now.

back to the grind

Oh yes, yes, yes! Got back from an extended holiday "vacation" just yesterday. The vacation is nothing close to waves or pine trees, more like close (very close) to my bed (all day) and a 38.9 fever, plus sore throat and mild asthma. It seems that getting sick is my way of ushering new years into my life. At least, though, I managed to stay at home. So I'll just wait for my meager paycheck come the 15th of this month.

So how's everyone's new year?

Mine was spent with EBC and my little family–that's me, mom and sis–together with the traditional sleepover of my mom's youngest sister and her family. I think it's more fun to welcome the new year and say "tah-tah" to the outgoing year in number, in this case, there's 6 of us to do that. And of course, there were our neighbors, who welcomed their balikbayan relatives, who happened to be our playmates eons ago. You can imagine my surprise to see them all grown-up (and the boys grew to be cute guys! hahah!).

Shutter-happy EBC peeps


My tita Nene, sis, mom, cousin Jered and tito Obet


With Jerome and Joan, who's fresh from the US
and is now all grown up!


Me, cousin, and sis


Just like sisters!

Upon welcoming myself back to the office, I found that my Mac is having problems (and so I have a legal reason not to work) and that my mom would probably kill me. Remember my sis' oathtaking last December? Well, took loads of photos only to delete them without uploading them to my PC at home. I wasn't aware I haven't uploaded them yet. So now I only have 5 photos left here at the office. Five photos! My mom would really go berserk and tell me I'm no good. And I'm really hating myself for it. Like I'm responsible for documenting such a momentous event in my sis' life and I screwed up. If I can only ask her to take her oath all over again. Oh deary.

P.S.
I am sooo loving the big bag Francis gave me for Christmas. It's so roomy, I can probably hide in it when deadlines come whooshing by. Haha!

My desk doesn't look messy like that anymore! Congratulate me!

new beginnings

This will most likely be my last post for this year.

Every new year, I picture myself literally holding on to the December page of the calendar, trying to grasp whatever memories–good or bad–that the incumbent year has given me. But of course, I've no other choice but to let go. What with all the happy and crackling sounds around me, I'd probably be too distracted to even hold on to the page.

2006 is the year I would like to hold on to for long. This was the last year we spent with Nanay. I still miss her a lot. A LOT. But I know, as cliche as it is, that time heals. And time won't be able to perform its healing miracles if I continue to stop it from ticking.

Still, the next year promises so many new things for everyone. I just hope and pray that those new things would be mostly good, if not better. I say "mostly" because I would not want to wish everyone a perfect year, much as I want to. That's just not reality. Plus, if everything's perfect, appreciating better times won't be the same.

Yesterday, I got a new planner (I'm obsessed with getting/buying one every time the year ends). I feel like I have another set of pages on which I can tangibly record my hopes and my I-plan-to's. And when I did jot them down yesterday, I realized I haven't been as driven as I was supposed to be this year. I still wrote down a couple of plans that were supposed to be realized this year, but sadly, they remained as plans. I just wish that starting January, I'd be ticking off those plans I've written, one by one. Big and small. Probable or seemingly improbable. So yes, next year is another big opportunity to start things over, but I hope to have a better game plan. (I trust Him to lead me to a better game plan.)

Indeed, the coming year is something to look forward to. And this passing year, together with everything it brought, is something to keep as a precious memory.

Have a blessed and renewed new year, every one!

still feeling fuzzy

I've always loved the Christmas season. Everything just seems cheerful and warm and stress-free. Makes me feel real fuzzy all over.

Christmas Eve was spent with the pups (that's why I'm still not free from hives–I really think I'm allergic to something in them! Poor me!) and a visit from a handful of our church (Emmanuel Baptist Church) friends. I'm glad they loved my mom's carbonara–well, my mom makes the best! While having pasta, we all slumped down and watched Gothika. Unfortunately, the brady bunch had to get going back to church (or to another house to raid), so we weren't able to finish watching it. (Well actually, sis and I already watched it. We just liked to scare ourselves all over again.) Just lent it to Peewee so he and his bros can continue the Christmas Eve fright. (I love it when people from EBC drop by our place this time of every year. Teehee!)

Christmas is for kids!

It has been a wonderful Christmas Eve. Fuzzy, fuzzy, fuzzy. Hope everyone had a dandy and blessed time, too!

have a blessed holiday season, everyone!

It's just 3 days before Christmas and everyone's still out in the streets (and in the malls) doing their last-minute Christmas shopping (me included). Traffic's heavy and lines are so long. And I'm still here in the office trying to make up for lacking hours (lest I get shocked again with my salary deduction). I'm just feasting on chocolate mousse cake with lots of squishy marshmallows to console myself (more than half of the guys here at our department already went home early). Meanwhile, Francis is presently trying to enjoy himself at their company Christmas party. I'd be seeing him tomorrow because he promised to give me my present, so I look forward to that.

I wonder how it is to spend Christmas in Baguio. It must be fantastically and mesmerizingly cool!

The other day, a friend asked me why I'm so perky (well, I usually am. Perhaps I'm just living up to my name). And why not? It's the holidays–it's Christmas time, my favorite time of the year. Though come to think of it...this is the first holiday season that my family would be spending without Nanay. That's something to dampen my spirit. Still, I know she's very happy up there, enjoying her own Christmas celebration with the Lord Himself! (What a Christmas!)

So there. Got not much else to say save for: MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAVE A BLESSED NEW YEAR, EVERYONE! MUAH! *huggles, huggles*

"dying is an art"

Dying
Is an art, like everything else.
I do it exceptionally well.

I do it so it feels like hell.
I do it so it feels real.
I guess you could say I've a call.
-Lady Lazarus by Sylvia Plath

Last night gave me the chance to catch up on being a couch potato (it's so happy to go home early!), so I was able to watch Sylvia. Such a sad, sad story of a great female poet, Sylvia Plath. And somehow, I came to wonder why such gifted people end up committing suicide (in artistic ways, mind you). Such depression, such angst. But I do empathize with the poet–she was so in love with her husband Ted Hughes, only to end up in agony over his affair with another poet's wife, Assia Wevill (who also happened to be an aspiring poet herself). Add the fact that Sylvia suffered from bouts of severe depression after her father's demise. She first attempted to end her life by crawling into a cellar after taking a handful of sleeping (?) pills. But it seems as though Death did not want her yet. She was found by her mother and was given a second lease on life. However, Ted Hughes' affair was the last straw. Before gassing herself to death in her own kitchen, she made sure her two children (from Ted) were safe in their room. She prepared for them milk and bread and opened their bedroom windows for ventilation, after which she sealed their bedroom door with towels so the gas won't harm her children. The movie depicted her suicide act metaphorically, and this I appreciate very much (the depiction, not the suicide).

Like I said , watching the film (and reading other writers' biographies) makes me wonder if artists really bring upon themselves such catastrophic ending. (Anne Sextion, Plath's contemporary and friend, also committed suicide by shutting herself in her garage, consequently dying of carbon monoxide poisoning; Antoine de Saint-Exupery allegedly committed suicide by crashing his plane while on a reconnaissance flight; then there's Vincent Van Gogh, who shot himself in the chest with a revolver.) Did such creative genius push these artists to their own death? What could be happening inside their confused minds? And to think Plath and Sexton seemed so normal and happy before they suddenly ended their lives! It's just kind of depressing to learn that these people chose to end everything they have (though I'm sure they think they have none left for them), leaving posthumous awards and citations.

It's just so...sad...

(Image from www.culturapara.art.br/opoema/sylviaplath/images)

randomness is pretty

Due to lack of sensible things to do while waiting for the holiday break, let me share my thoughts...

1. I want to go home.
2. I'm still not done shopping for Christmas.
3. Buses stopping here in Galleria won't budge because the drivers bribe MMDA people with P10. How cheap! How baffling!
4. The call of an editorial job is haunting me. Every single day now.
5. I feel sooooo lazy ever since I got back from Baguio.
6. Christmas is a wonderful season to go broke, because you know you're able to share what you have.
7. A new haircut seems appealing. I'm seeing Charlize Theron's do in Aeon Flux. Hmmm...
8. It's forever exciting to give gifts to people you cherish dearly. Do hope mom, sis and Francis like what I got for them.
9. SM has it all for you. Period.
10. Sometimes, it's a pain in the pocket to work inside a mall. It calls for extreme self-restraint.
11. Two years seem so long for us to get married. But I can wait.
12. Lumpiang ubod is the best!
13. Wish I could meet my online friends.
14. I miss our puppies. We love them so much.
15. I need to really, REALLY start waking up early and moving fast and remember to NOT hit the snooze button so I can come to work as early as 9 or 9:30am.
16. Why are comfort room cubicles always full when you're in a hurry?
17. I'm bored. And happy.
18. Traveling is, I think, what I'd want to do for a very long time. I just need the resources.
19. Egypt is tantalizingly mystical.
20. Is the rafflesia edible?
21. Will this country ever make it?
22. Baguio is heaven on earth.
23. How free it is to see one's life in poetry.
24. Poetry is the song of the soul.
25. I'm afraid I can never be a full-fledged poet. Or maybe....

my sister won the lotto!

No, she didn't. But she's now a full-fledged engineer! And she even made it to the Top 20! Wahooo! Can't wait for her first-pay treat! Hahaha!

Congratulations, Erma! That's another of God's blessings for you!

Mom, Francis, RJ (sis' beau) and I went with her last Sunday to Manila Hotel to witness the oathtaking of this country's newest Chemical Engineers (or as the ticket put it, "Checmical Engineers". Man, a ticket costs 800 bucks and it has a typo? Duh.). We we're so afraid that we might not make it to Manila Hotel by 1pm, as there was an expected prayer rally near the vicinity. Thank God the traffic was still normal, we were able to make it on time.

The food served was good. Sulit ang 800! Though our table had to finish two cups of coffee before the creamer we requested arrived.

And being the aspiring photographer sister that I am, of course I took charge of documenting the event in pixels. Here are some of the photos. (Please don't expect them to be artsy.)

The oathtakers reciting "Panatang Makabayan". Nah, they're really saying "I am now an engineer so please
give me a job or else my parents would throw me out." And that's my sis with a rose in hand.

The UP Diliman "Checmical" Engineers! UP Diliman made it as this year's best performing school–
51 out of 51 board takers passed! UP FIIIIGHT!

Tres marias

RJ, sis, mom, moi and Isko

I miss you, grampa!

it's a sad, sad truth...

I felt relieved to have learned that Daniel Smith has finally been convicted of the rape of Nicole. But I felt nauseated to also have learned that there still are people out there who live up to patriarchal idealisms/perspective.

Months before the Subic rape case was resolved, I heard this man comment on radio (while I'm aboard an FX on my way to work) that it's the girl's fault that she was raped, and that women like her, who party until dawn under the influence of booze, doesn't really deserve sympathy. That women like her (assuming she's a prostitute) really deserve to be abandoned after being used, just like a tissue paper. The pig! I just felt vindicated when the radio commentators answered that pig back, saying that if he thinks women are like a sheet of tissue paper, then he must be the toilet bowl. Hurrah!

And then the other day, someone I know commented that he doesn't believe Nicole to be telling the truth; that if the girl doesn't want anything to happen, then nothing would; and how can someone as good-looking as Daniel Smith rape someone like Nicole? Besides, "no one gets raped nowadays." I felt aghast! How can someone like that person say something like that? I had to control myself the moment I heard those words. So does that mean that if you're not good-looking, you just have to shut up and sulk in a corner after being raped by a handsome guy?

The thing here is, it's more than being "rape-worthy" (I apologize for the term). No one, NO ONE, should ever be rape-worthy, regardless of whether she looks like Angelina Jolie or Bakekang. And it doesn't also follow that only ugly men are rapists. You must be living under a rock on some forsaken island to believe that.

Plus, as truth would have it, men are physically stronger than women, so when the assailant punches the victim (or does anything that would physically hurt her), could the girl do anything else aside from passing out?

And WOMEN and CHILDREN STILL DO GET RAPED. Statistics even show that there are so many unreported cases of sexual assault these days. Even wives get raped by their husbands, hence the term "marital rape".

Also, let's not miss another important point here: No matter if a woman is earning her living by selling her body, NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO RAPE HER. (Just to reiterate, "rape" means forcing someone to engage in sex. That means that even if you're a prostitute, and a customer forces himself on you WITHOUT your permission, THAT IS RAPE.)

Though I do understand the reason why some women are forced into prostitution, I do not vouch for it. Women are NOT sex slaves. But given the status quo, we still can't go on blaming those in this business when they get raped; it's not as if they feel so grateful for what they've been forced to do.

Forgive me for venting like this. It's just that such narrow-minded thinking irks me. Maybe it's partly my fault, thinking that at this day and age, people would be more clever–more intelligent and humane–to be gender-biased.

this is overdue

(This post is overdue by a week. Anyway, it's better late than never, right?)

So Francis did surprise me on our 8th Anniversary. The day before until the day itself, I was clueless as to where we're celebrating our big day. Though I did had this hunch that we're heading to Subic. And we did! It was fun, fun, fun! We had lunch at Gerry's Grill in Waterfront Drive...

I endured the heat for this shot!

After that...nah, let the photos speak...Teehee!

On our way to Zoobic, we chanced upon these families
of monkeys crossing the road.

Meet Nicole, the bear.

Allo!

Another ostrich shot of me

Si Puti!

Le tigre at the Tiger Safari (still in Zoobic)

They're such hungry crocs!

More photos here!

P.S.
Thanks a zillion, Pangga! You're da man! Heeheehee!

for Pete's sake

This is terrible news, indeed.

If Peter Jackson won't be directing The Hobbit, or any LOTR projects for that matter, then might as well dump any idea of putting this on the big screen. I can't imagine another director doing justice to Tolkien's work. It's inconceivable!

For my co-LOTR fans out there, please sign the petition here.

because this is our 8th and i'm more than happy

Tye-mela'ne, a’maelamin...

I wasn't a big fan of surprises, yet life holds millions of unexpected twists and turns.

I certainly didn't expect you.

But if life's surprises come falling down like the way you did, I sure don't mind getting one every single minute.

A blissful 8th anniversary, Pangga...You're another proof in my life that God does whip up miracles.

(26 November 2006)

ho-hum-dee-dee-dum

Today, as well as the past week, has been boring. Not that I'm complaining (because the last time I complained, I got what I wanted and it kinda sucked). Let's just say it's so hard to pass time doing nothing. Well, not exactly nothing – I surf the net while pretending to be busy. Again, I don't mean it as if it's a bad thing. Months of crunch time are now over, so I'm grateful for the peace and quiet I have now. Yehey!

---

I'm missing Ginger and Clapton again. Yesterday was a happy day as I didn't come to work due to that excruciating monthly pain. So sis and I lounged around the house and played with the pups. Of course, we took the opportunity to finish watching the first 12 episodes of Lost Season 2. We were planning on finishing the remaining episodes, but because work calls the following day (for me), we were forced to stop. Sad, sad.

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Last Monday's KATHA Songwriters' Night was a bang. Conspiracy Bar was jampacked. And Noel Cabangon rocks!!! Can't wait for Dec. 11 (it's Christmas-themed. There'll be a big Christmas pageant, and I get to be a reindeer. Yes, I'm kidding, but it'd be swell if it were true! Haha!) Seriously, if you're interested, do drop by and be amazed at the many talents we have here on our shores. (This is shameless plugging.) I wish to upload the videos of our performance, but I don't think I should: Uploading would take up lots of bandwidth, which would spell ISD trouble for me; then, there's IPR.

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Francis is posing a threat to my songwriting/poetry writing career. He's now composing his own lyrics (the new composition we performed recently at the KATHA event). And I must say his recent work is brilliant! So I must be prepared and more cautious. I should think of ways to outdo him.

So Francis, I know you're reading this, don't come to me for help with your syntax issues. Hahaha! Naah, I'm proud of him. Very much! Way to go! Here's to more word romancing! Teehee!

And because he's now into free verse, let me segue to this fantastic short letter/poem by e.e. cummings. He wrote this for his father when he was just, get a hold of this, SIX YEARS OLD!?!?!

FATHER DEAR. BE, YOUR FATHER-GOOD AND GOOD,
HE IS GOOD NOW, IT IS NOT GOOD TO SEE IT RAIN,
FATHER DEAR IS, IT, DEAR, NO FATHER DEAR,
LOVE, YOU DEAR,
ESTLIN.

Man, the guy must be such a nerd, and I'd give anything to have his brains and his pen. Hahah! But really, he's such a brilliant poet. Magnificent, awesome, genius! And did I say he's brilliant?

So I should work on my e.e. cummings creations now. --poof--

we got new babies and my sis is now an engineer!

Yep, yep! I got a new reason to want to go home early every day. We have two cute pups at home, loitering around and chasing each other and littering our terrace with their tiny droppings! Hahaha! I don't mind cleaning up after them, really. They're soooo adorable!

Nap time after playing and eating a lot!

Meet Clapton (the cream one) and Ginger (the chocolate brown pup). They're so hyperactive (especially Clapton) and I always get a kick whenever they would rush up to me and lick my feet! And when they're really hungry (they eat a lot), they'd jump at my feet as if begging for food. Teehee! So, so, so funny! I miss them already. And you won't believe how protective I can get. Whenever I hear one of them whimper, I'd rush to see if something's wrong. Like the other night, they each went a step down our terrace stairs and couldn't go back up, I had to carry them back to their "territory". And early this morning (as in 3:30am), I heard one of them crying out. I got alarmed by this crashing sound so I really bolted out of my bed, only to see Ginger trapped in this narrow space between my room and our terrace. It took the contortionist in me to get her out of there. I got so worried!

Yay, I could go on and on about these two babies of ours, but I'm afraid I might bore you readers to death. Hahah! Sorry, I just can't help it. It's been more than ten years since we last had a dog (now we have two soon-to-be doggies), and about two years since my beloved Netherland Dwarf rabbit, Gimli, passed away. I do hope to post lots of Clapton's and Ginger's photos in my flickr site soon.

By the way, thanks to my Pangga for suggesting such cool names inspired by the band, Cream – (Eric) Clapton and Ginger (Baker). Another dog and it'd be Bruce (Jack Bruce, that is). Oh yeah, and Ginger Baker (the human one) rocks!!!

Thanks also to my sis, Erma, for making the ultimate sacrifice – giving up her old pair of slippers just so the pups can have new toys to play with.

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Congratulations to my sis, who's now a new Chemical Engineer!!! Thank the Lord for guiding her during those crucial (not to mention mind-bending) days of review and exam. And come next Monday, she'll be another JG Summiteer (she'll be working at Petrochem)! Now we can look forward to more gift certificates! Hahahaha! Can't wait for her first-pay treat! Harhar! (I'm so full of exclamations here! Yay!) (Oh no! No one would be left to look after Ginger and Clapton! Oh dear...)