Some of the Best By Lea Salonga

On My Own



Disney Medley



Her Audition For Miss Saigon




* I soooo love her!

My Favorite Things

As of today...

Round trip plane tickets to Manila for February (hehe these, i already have)
Concert tickets to Lea Salonga's Adamson University Jubilee Celebration (will get this one when they announce the details)
A 5mega-pixel (at the very least) digital camera, preferably Canon or Olympus (hmmm... maybe next year! haha)

Sigh... sarap mangarap..

Keeping it short

it just dawned on me that the web can be a source of valuable research materials and not just a place for playing online scrabble and making chika with friends. Today, I was able to introduce myself to the many facets of writing short stories and i got acquainted with the great ANTON CHEKHOV. I'm looking forward to more stuff to learn and more stories to read. Hopefully, these will all help me in my elusive quest of making a half-decent short.

Drained

I am a tired artist
Exhausted of dealing with canvasses
Some blank
Some brimming with creatures
Of my imagination

I am a weary explorer
Bored with the conquest of territories
Some deserted
Some bountiful of the fruits
Of nature's generosity

I am a defeated hero
Frustrated by causes fought for
Some trivial
Some crucial to the survival
Of the human race

I am a heartbroken lover
Grieving for sweethearts loved
Some in passing
Some claiming to be owners
Of my weakened heart

Pinoy Dream Academy and Shrimp

I am now hooked to ABS-CBN's Pinoy Dream Academy! Will be posting more stuff on this later. For now, I urge everyone to email the following message to pinoydreamacademy@gmail.com...

"I would like Panky to sing Stars are Blind by Paris Hilton"

Go! Go! Go!

***

I met up with my high school bestfriend yesterday. It's been a year since we last saw each other and a lot of catching up was done. We got into a debate about same-sex partnership and her take on it. People close to us were into it hence the discussion.

Her argument: The bible says that same-sex relationships are sins in the eyes of God.
I say: Do you mean to say all that the bible says is wrong should be accepted without any question?
She says: Yes.
I say: Then that means all of us shrimp-eaters are committing sins based on what the bible says.

She proceeds to argue that we all make sins but that's ok as long as we are sorry for these sins and as long as these sins are not as grave as (shudder!) same-sex relationships.

I feel sorry for people who are too hypocritical to see the mistakes other people make while overlooking the ones they subscribe to.

Bedlam

I'm up to my ears in removals, minutes-making, completion requirements and spirit-breaking 5.0's, but I still managed to sneak in a little blogging time (mercifully!).

I came prepared for this, of course, since I spent the weekend with very minimal tutorials and a lot of self-pampering. On Saturday, after spending the entire morning over at the Kabayao's (Gil's back with a great battle over his scientific calculator. A battle which we eventually won. Ha!), I had lunch over at Rod's place and went to see "The Banquet," a film which starred the heavenly beautiful Ziyi Zhang. It was a nice film over all, with Ziyi portrayed as a power-hungry empress who was supposed to be torn between love and power. In my opinion, it was very clear what she wanted -- power. Her supposed love for the Crown Prince was not clearly established. What was clear, though, was that the emperor did love her so much. Sigh! Kahilisa!

Anyway, we were supposed to go to the spa after the movie but we were so hungry that we decided to postpone the spa experience til the following day in exchange for a satisfying dinner. We went to the foodcourt and feasted on pork bbq (which I think caused Rod's revolting stomach), bihon, fried chicken wings, mashed potato and free soup. The meal cost us only a little over a hundred bucks so we were definitely satisfied. We had McFlurry before going home to watch the Expulsion Night of Pinoy Dream Academy. Earlier in the day, while waiting for the 4:30 showtime of The Bangquet, Rod and I headed to one of our most favorite pasttimes: videoke! WE sang songs that were sung by Rosita, "in memoriam." Haha We ended having very paiful throats which were eventually soothed by my current favorite, Kettle Korn. Well, Rosita wasn't expelled that night. It was Chai who got the boot. I didn't have much energy left to surf the net that night, and I didn't even dare since I had early turorials the following day so I hit the sack before midnight.

I spent the following morning with my La Paz tutees and had lunch with my family the later. I opened up about my apprehensions about being sent to school by the University the following year and that I might decide instead to go to Manila to seek employment and pursue higher education (still a bit undecided! MS Applied Math... Law... Journalism... Creative Writing.... aaah...). I guess that was the first moments that my mother realized that I would be leaving the following year and be gone for months. Hehe I'm quite positive that's why she took in two puppies (we named them Rosita and Budong!) because we're moving away one by one. Last night I asked her if she'd prefer if I leave her with an apo before I go. She just sneered. Hehe

After lunch, I went over at Rod's (Is it too obvious that she's the only friend I have left? Fre, Perper, Baron! Apas na kami da!!!!) and gave her some Hydrite Salts and Imodium. (The pork bbq, remember?) We watched some DVDs and had corn on a cob while watching The Buzz and then went to the spa.

Ah, the spa... I had a full body scrub (which lasted for 10minutes tops! I better have a talk with the counter girl for their inconsistent service..), clay facial (I thought it would be the type which would strip me of my blackheads and whiteheads. Instead, they put some milk concoction on my face and let me wait there for a loooooong time -- they were waiting til Rod finished her foot scrub, I guess --- while the milk thingy hardened on my face. It was a good thing that my massage was absolutely heavenly. My therapist had the softest and smoothest pair of hands that was very adept in loosening the kinks all over my body. It was just embarrassing that Rod accidentally kicked her in the face during the session --long story, don't ask!).

Rod and I had dinner at JD, fried chicken with ensaladang langka, beef and mushroom rice toppings, and tuna and mushroom casserole paired off with an oatmeal bar (i want oatmeal cookies!!!) and carrot cake. These didn't manage to fill us up so we ordered fetuccini alfredo and stuffed our faces full.

I headed home after dinner, watched PDA, saw Michelle expelled and went to bed, full and satisfied.

And now, I'm guessing that I'll need another one of this weekend pampering at the end of this week... but I probably won't get to til next month.

My favorite quote for the day...

Love is fluid.

Science: It’s History, Our Story

I think it was a popular philosopher or a rock band member who said that you won’t know where you’re going until you know where you’ve been.

History is truly an integral part of virtually anything that exists and a body of knowledge as systematic as Science definitely cannot do without it. People since the dawn of civilization have been interested in the field of Science perhaps since the day they’ve learned to ask, “Why?”.

And why not? Science assists us, guides us, sometimes even haunts us every single day, every single moment of our life. It governs the air we breathe, the earth we tread on and even the places and elements no mortal has ever laid his eyes on.

Studying the history of Science is definitely a daunting feat because the history of Science is the history of a continuous process of learning --- a process that has begun since the beginning of time itself. People need to know the history of Science so that they won’t be clueless on where Science and Techology are taking us right now. We learn a lot from the past, and we can use these learnings to keep us on the right track. The history of Science would tell us that accomplishments such as the discovery of the atomic bomb and TNT brought Nobel Prizes to the discoverer but are used as destructive forces today. They were meant to help mankind. Therefore, we should learn that a lot of inventions and discoveries may pose danger in the future if used improperly. But this should not hinder the advancements of Science. Rather, we should be working double time to ensure that advancements in Science are used for the betterment of mankind.

There is definitely a need to recognize the limits of science. A precautionary principle ought to be applied and ethical and social concerns to policy formulation and decision-making should be considered. Because of a number of cases illustrated where harm has continued to be done even after negative consequences have been demonstrated, the public’s trust in the benefits that sciences hold have somehow diminished.

Furthermore, a deeper knowledge of the history of Science and Technology will show us that Science was never meant to isolate itself from all other branches of knowledge. Achievements on Science and Technology must also be geared to achievements on Society.

Learning the history of Science will show us that most, if not all, achievements in this overwhelmingly vast body of systematized knowledge is littered with disagreeable discoveries, adversities and consequential remedial action. It is up to us to translate these misfortunes into beautifully crafted triumphs for the good of the human race.

Lost

I'm now at a loss on what will become of me when June 1, 2007 comes... A good friend and mentor said I should pray. Dammit, why didn't I think of this before?

Googling my name

i googled my name without the quotation marks and it returned 125 hits..

Singko

Hindi na naman siya makatulog. Isang buong lingo na siyang inaabot ng madaling araw bago tuluyang dalawin ng antok. Samu’t saring bagay ang gumugulo sa kanyang isip --- sa kanyang buong pagkatao. Balot sa nakabibinging katahimikan ang paligid. Makalipas ang ilang sandaling pagtila ng ulan, tumigil na rin sa wakas ang mga palakang kani-kanina lamang ay tila nagkokonsyerto sa labas. Malamang ay napagod na rin sa pagkokokak sa kalaliman ng gabi.

Sa kabila ng kadiliman ay kanyang naaninag ang selepono at dagli itong kinuha. Nang ito’y kanyang buksan ay tila binaha ng liwanag ang kanyang munting silid.

“Mam, salamat sa singko. Titigil na ako sa pag-aaral. Bagsak sa DOST.”

Makailang beses na rin niyang nabasa ang mensaheng iyon na hindi niya magawang burahin. Pero sa bawat pagbabasa’y naroroon pa rin ang kirot, ang panandaliang guilt. Sariwa pa sa kanyang isipan ang isinagot niya sa mensaheng iyon.

“Wag mo akong pasalamatan. Ikaw ang may gawa ng grado mo. Taga-lista lang ako’t taga-kalkula.”

Wala nang isinagot ang nagpadala ng mensahe. Iilan ding estudyante ang nabigyan niya ng singko sa semestreng iyon. May hinala siya kung kanino galing ang mensahe pero hindi siya sigurado. At pinili niyang huwag nang alamin pa.

“Walang guro na nasisiyahan sa pagbigay ng isang bagsak na grado sa kanyang estudyante. Kalimitan pa nga’y nanghihinayang at nalulungkot ang may ari ng kamay na hawak ay pulang bolpen sa pagsulat ng marka sa gradesheet. Minsan din kaming naging estudyante. Hindi rin minsan nang bumagsak.”

Ito ang sinabi sa kanya ng kanyang professor nang minsan siyang nakapagbitaw ng mararahas na salita patungkol dito. Binagsak siya ng professor niya. Nang mga sandaling iyo’y halos isumpa niya ang kanyang professor. Buong magdamag siyang pinagalitan ng kanyang nanay. Ilang beses siyang pinagbantaan ng kanyang tatay na patitigilin sa pag-aaral at iuuwi sa probinsya kapag naulit pa ang markang bagsak.

At ngayon nga’y bumaliktad ang sitwasyon. Siya na ngayon ang namamagsak. Siya na ngayon ang kinamumuhian.

***

Oo, mahirap ang maging estudyante. Lalo na kapag bumagsak ka sa kursong kinukuha mo. Ngunit kahit gaano man ka-demonyo ang pag-uugali ng guro mo, tandaan mong tao din yan --- tao lang yan --- taong naatasang maglista at magkalkula ng gradong ginawa mo’t binigay sa kanya. Tingnan mo muna ang sarili mo bago mo ibunto sa kanya ang lahat nang pagsisisi. Baka kasi may pagkukulang ka rin.

The End

Have you ever been so absorbed in a tv show that you get to relate to the characters?

Well I have. And I've been so absorbed in the show that I feel so cranky when my favorite characters have a conflict to deal with. I've been watching this TV show through dvd copies and I felt my heart lunge, sink and soar with the stories that intertwined in the five seasons of the show.

Tomorrow, I'll be watching the last two episodes.

Sigh... some good things never last.

Unfinished

Sa tuwing ako’y mapapadaan sa harap ng bintana ng kanilang tahanan sa pagsapit ng dapithapon ay laging may munting kandilang may sindi akong masisilayan. Kandilang nagbibigay liwanag sa munting altar kung saan ko siya malimit na nakikitang nakayuko, pikit ang mga mata at umuusal ng munting panalangin.

Ang kanyang mga labi ay parang puspusang bumibigkas ng mga panalanging matagal nang minemorya. Mga kahilingang matagal nang naghihintay ng katuparan.

Sa umaga’y tunog ng lumang karaoke ang maririnig. Madalas ay mga kanta ni Sharon Cuneta ang sinasabayan niya ng pag-awit.

“Balutin mo ako ng hiwaga ng iyong pagmamahal…”

Ito ang pinakapaborito niya sa lahat. Ito rin ang pinakapaborito ng nanay niya. Marahil kahit natutulog siya ay kayang-kaya niyang kantahin ang awiting ito. Napanood na rin niya ang pelikula. Marahil ay ilang daang beses na niya itong nakita dahil sa paulit-ulit na panonood nila ng nanay niya sa betamax. Memoryado niya na halos lahat ng linya ng mga artista sa pelikula.

Minsan sa paaralan ay narinig ko pa siyang mag-Inggles.

“You’re nothing but a second rate, trying hard copycat!”

Ito ang sinabi niya sa kaklase naming nagsabing mas magaling daw itong kumanta kaysa kanya. Hindi ko naintindihan ang kanyang sinabi. Inggles kasi. Pero nang ang mga salitang ito’y namutawi sa kanyang labi, pakiramdam ko’y daig pa nito ang mga paborito kong tula ni Kiko Baltazar. Sa pagkakasabi niya’y para itong sinaliwan ng mga huni ng ibon at ihip ng malamig na hangin. Kahit na ang kaaway niya’y natigilan. Nakakarinig rin naman kami ng Inggles sa klase. Pero parang hindi pa kami natuturuan ni Mam ng mga sinabi ni Katrina.

Last day high

Been on blog vacation these past few weeks. School's been verrry hectic and I'm really so thankful of the fact that today's the last day of school. Yippeeyay!!! Final exams are scheduled next week, and boy, do I have a lot of papers to check! Aaargh! Can't wait til this is all finally over. Wonder how I should spend my sembreak aside from my usual going from house to house to feed hungry minds.. I really, really wanna go to Manila to be with my friends! They all get together, at least during the weekends, and I wanna go too! I hope some kind of event comes up so that I could spend some time with them in gimiks, etc. Hehe

Yesterday, a hearing was conducted on the construction of stairs leading to the national highway. The administration has decided to close the stairs from the CUB down to the highway which earned the ire of a number of people. GOod thing we had an incredible "lawyer" yesterday. Looks like we'll be climbing the same hill afterall...

Ryan Dancesport Video

Faculty in charge

I've been sort of the unofficial faculty in charge of the faculty computer lab since Ian, our system administrator went MIA. i don't mind really as long as im getting the internet access that i need. hehe

three weeks of school to go! YEHEY!!!

Yehey for YouTube!

I've been having the time of my life downloading from YouTube using my video downloader software which I got absolutely free from Firefox! Hehehe

Can't wait to get home and view the videos I've downloaded!

Yipeeyay!!!

I even uploaded a personal video! Harhar!!! Go Godspeed!

My Scrabble Words

I'm playing online scrabble right now and i'm listing down the words i've formed as i form them. (Is it pretty darn obvious that I've nothing worthwhile to do?)

cope - 14pts
zo - 42 pts
zone - 17pts
woke - 20pts
den - 6pts

at this point, my oponent resigns.

Ebooks anyone?

i have ebooks of dan brown novels. if you want any, email me and i'll send u a copy...

Zzzzzz....

my mind's been hibernating for a more than a week now... thinking and writing are two of the most strenuous jobs as of the moment...

Under the (terrible) weather

I hate it when I don't feel well. We've got a game coming up on Saturday and I'd really love to be in good condition for that. I hope we won't have any more harsh rains, it's draining the energy out of me!

Wacky Weekend

The recent three-day weekend was quite awesome coz I didn't spend the whole time slaving away with my tutorials. I actually got to do a lot of fun stuff, stuff that I actually enjoy doing.

We had two elimination games in basketball, one on Saturday and another on Sunday. After playing for Elektrons at the very bottom of the list for six years, our first game proved to be quite a challenge. I've always been used to facing the Skimmers team for the first elimination game and we always claim an easy victory before we succomb to our second and third games to teams who actually know how basketball is played. We finished fourth last year, though, a very impressive feat which we never would've accomplished without our then freshman star player, Duyduy. But advancing on the standings had some pretty tough consequences. Our first game was no walk in the park. We battled head-on the Tycoons, a team with really strong players. Fortunately, we also had quite a number of players who performed pretty well. So after a bleeding lip, two encounters with the dirty pavement we call a basketball court, and two points that came straight from heaven, I joined my teammates in our first victory.

The second game wasn't quite as pretty, because we faced a team who placed second last year. They had tall, stocky, experienced, fast, and skillful players (did I mention they placed second last year?) and we didn't even come close. Nothing very notable happened on that game, except that I scored four out of the nineteen points we had. That's 21% (yes, I'm a math freak)! Not bad from someone who came off the bench and was panting heavily after five minutes of game time. I'm pretty sure they were just a bit cautious about whacking their teacher so they gave me four easy points.

Yesterday, I woke up to a text message from MM, saying she was in the city (she works in Makati) and wanted to hang out. We got to do just that. We spent around four hours at Zuba where she downed four bottles of Red Horse while I sipped (yes, sipped) a short glass (yes, those short glasses that cost five pesos) of SanMig Light and gorged on two servings of french fries.
We talked about a whole lot of things which made me realize there was a lot of things that I didn't know about the person who's supposed to have been my best friend since freshman year in high school. I'm just glad that she's finally come to realize the things she's supposed to realize, and I'm really hopeful that the next time I agonize over a short glass of SML, we'll be sharing happy stories.

Now, I'm back in the place I call my office (our faculty computer lab). And it's time to face my work.

The beauty of Firefox

I just installed a freeware add-on from the Firefox website. It allows me to download videos from YouTube and it's really neat! The videos end up quite small, though and sometimes you can't rewind or fastforward the clip. But then again, I'm able to watch and listen to videos by my fave idol Lea Salonga over and over.

Check it out by clicking here. Oh, and you still have to download a flash player but it's really just quick if you've got dsl.

Washed away

The constant rains and winds for the past week have finally taken its toll on the weak entities of this world. People are now getting sick, trees and electric posts have fallen, mountains and roads are being washed away. Just yesterday, the inevitable happened.

The soft soil behind the UPV New Administration Building in Miag-ao fell on the beautifully engineered and ingenuously positioned New Admin Building, bringing with it trees, rocks and grave danger to the staff and personnel of offices located above what we fondly call Mount Olympus. Fortunately, none of the gods or the mere mortals that were there that time got hurt. Physically, at least. Because on my bus ride this morning, I heard tales of terror and traumatic experiences caused by the incident.

Today, affected offices were relocated in order to clean up the debris.

Maybe when the offices are cleaned up, the staff and personnel will go back there and perform business as usual. But will it be so easy to forget the time when your life was literally at risk because of an incomprehensibly located office building? Will people there continue to work knowing the fact that (God forbid) another rain or perhaps a tremor can possibly cause more damage? Will they be so lucky again next time?

Maybe the gods atop Mount Olympus can do something about the risks that their subjects, and they themselves, face each day. After all, they're not exactly immortal.

Rain, rain go away

It was pouring very hard earlier this morning and it's been this way for a few days now. The winds are also tremendously strong. I swear, if I weren't so overweight, the winds would fly me off to a faraway plaace!

So, as I was saying, the downpour's been quite heavy but classes were only suspended when everything was already back to normal --- no more heavy winds, no more torrential rains, the sun is already shining. I remember when the same thing happened last year, I woke up to news of cancelled classes and work altough the sun was high up in the sky.

I'm not sure which ones are more unpredictable, the weather or admin's minds?

Of cars and houses

On a much lighter note, I spent yesterday tagging along and being tagged along with marichu's landlady. she was a nice lady and she turned out to be a real estate agent. she was convincing me to purchase a house and lot at SAVANNAH. Hmmm... That's something to put some thought to.

I saw three different kinds of automobiles up for sale yesterday. A volkswagen, a nissan patrol, and ... i dont knwo what the other one is. basta, it's the type with four dours and looks similar to the ones used as taxis. the volkswagen was priced at 50k. Hmmm.. too expensive for my taste especially since I'd still have to give the thing a face lift coz I wasn't too excited about the way it looked. Plus, it looked almost like junk to me.

Maybe in the proper place and time...

More sad news

i missed my classes yesterday to attend the burial of marichu's mother. the church was packed even though it was a work day. of course it probably had to do with the fact that marichu's father is the vice mayor of their municipality but i'd like to think it's more because marichu's mom was truly loved by a lot of people. she spent 31 years of her life as a teacher, she was only 53 when she passed on. she had cardiac arrest and never made it more than two days. it was all too swift and i can just imagine how devastating it must have been for marichu and her family. i admire the way marichu handled the ceremonies yesterday. she's tougher than most of us think she is. i hope she knows she isn't alone in her pain even if she hid it well, too well even.

Just on Monday, I also heard news on one of my friends' father passing away. This friend is actually my younger sister's classmate in high school but I've always been close to my siblings' classmates and even family. In Danielle's case, I got to spend a day in their house when I came over to tutor her on her math subject. That was only two years ago. Her father was quite a figure, so full of life, able to contort his face in the funniest ways. That time, he kept on teasing Danielle and telling me stories which only made me think how proud he was of his daughters.

I'm very emotional when it comes to these news because they really hit home. I was only seven when my father passed away due to a vehicular "accident." It crushes my heart right now to think of how my friends must be feeling the pain that I felt then. But I was only seven and a seven year old was too young to really feel the pain that my friends now feel. But still the news hit too close to home.

And I hate being sad.

(In) Passing

The mother of one of my classmates in high school passed away due to cardiac arrest last week and will be interred tomorrow, at 9am at Lambunao. Some of us found out about it only last night despite the fact that another one of our classmates was an intern at the hospital where Maret's mother expired. Two things made me extremely sad about this incident.

First, when we were still in high school, we spent an overnight stay at Maret's place where we were all accepted with warm hearts and such hospitable ways that can only come from a Filipino family who live in the countryside. Yes, Filipino families are hospitable in general, even the ones who live in highly urbanized places, but none as hospitable as those you's find in the province. I clearly remember how we were treated to the best food, how Maret's siblings indulged us in playing basketball and in mountain climbing, leading us to swim in the only waterfalls I've ever swum in my whole life. Not the resort kind where water was directed by mechanical schemes, no. It was real, honest-to-goodness waterfalls. And though I honestly don't remember Maret's mother in our visit, I'm pretty damn sure she was one of those in the family who welcomed us with open arms. I only remember Tita from the very few times we've seen each other at school. One at a party, another at a PTA meeting and I think the last one was during graduation. She was kind, much like her daughter. And Maret (her real name's Marichu, we call her a variety of names--- we were all called a variety of names back in high school --- March, Kuba, Nanay Marichu), ah, how do I even begin to describe this wonderful person? Marichu was undoubtedly the kindest person in class. A lot of us had evil hearts, not just evil in our hearts but EVIL hearts, but Marichu was not one of those. She was always there ready to help someone out, ready to listen, ready to be the butt of any joke thrown at her. And believe me, we were pretty harsh in high school. She was President of our class three times out of four, and we were led well in all her terms as class president. In elementary, the smartest or most popular was almost always voted class president. But in high school, we become a bit more mature, a bit more conscious in choosing the person who would lead the class to High School Week championships, Palabas awards, and religious direction. And Maret fit the role perfectly. All these make me feel really sad for the loss that she encountered. I just hope I can make her feel even a bit comforted when we see each other tomorrow and not make a complete ass of myself as I always do in awkward situations.

The second thing that's made me sad about this incident is the fact that one of us who belonged in what I thought was a closely-knit group could've informed us earlier about what happened and maybe we would've been able to visit Maret earlier instead of just attend the burial. Only eight of us from UPHSI Class '99 managed to be in the star section from the First Year to the Fourth Year (yes, it's a big freaking deal!) Marichu was one of us. Our intern classmate was the other one. But in this incident, none of the six of us knew until last night. So much for being closely knit. If my intern classmate sees this, I'm pretty sure he'll be angry as hell with me. But for the moment, I really don't care. A Close-Up commercial comes to mind, about how people all over the worldwere kept busy by texting all day long, how the world was made smaller but not necessarily closer. Yes, it's a sad fact. While it takes only a fraction of a second for news (as trivial as Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston's breakup) to travel from the other side of the world to where you're sitting at, it took almost a week for this crushing news to travel a few measly kilometers. I know how busy our intern classmate is, he's doing nothing less than saving people's lives every day. But if he could show compassion for these strangers, was it too much to ask for the same compassion to the mother of a person who went the distance to make each one of her classmate's life a bit more comfortable. Again, I know how busy he is, but sending a text message to one of us wouldn't have taken more than a minute of his precious time. He said that he also only knew about it two days after Maret's mother passed away and MOST knew about it already. MOST? Who were these people who were too many to be considered MOST? If this didn't concern death, I'd be close to infuriated!

Of course, some of us have to be more mature about the situation and concentrate on the more important matter at hand. I just wish that the internet, mobile phones, landlines... I hope all these did make the world smaller AND closer. And I just wish we still cared for each other now even if we don't hear much from one another the way we did back when we met each other every single day...

MILLION MILES AWAY

by: Sarah Geronimo

I'd love to make you mine
'Cause it's the only way to hold you
In my wild imagination 
Still I don't know how 
To grab a chance and spend some time 
In just a simple conversation 

Just give it a try 
Though I'm not chasing rainbows in the sky 
I wanna hold you in my dreams 
And make believe that it's true 
Although I know, I know 
That it's impossible to do 
'Cause you're a star 
People love you as you are 
You're a million miles away from me 

I wish that you were here 
Coz it's illusions everytime you're close to me 
And sing my love songs 
And it's the only way 
I could tell the world I love you 
Although you're a million miles away 

Just give it a try 
Though I'm not chasing rainbows in the sky 
I wanna hold you in my dreams 
And make believe that it's true 
Although I know, I know 
That it's impossible to do 
'Cause you're a star 
You're a star 
You're a star 

Just give it a try 
Though I'm not chasing rainbows in the sky 
I wanna hold you in my dreams 
And make believe that it's true 
Although I know, I know 
That it's impossible to do 
'Cause you're a star 
You're a star 
You're a star 
You're a million miles away from me 

Author's Note: Hay, I sooo love this song!

Captivating

I enjoy reading radical pieces, the most radical of which so far, has come from a student in my Math 1 class. I know that all the hullabaloo about the friggin' Da Vinci Code is over and done with (thank GOD!) but a documentary on it was shown as part of an Alternative Class Learning Experience that I let my students watch. I wrote it down here (editted some very minor spelling and grammatical errors not affecting the beauty of the piece) so that other people may enjoy. Oh, and I inserted in some comments too..

Da Vinci Code Deception
Reaction Paper
by: Jose Ruel L. Garcia (BA Broadcast Communication 1)

"I know I belong to those students who never had an idea about the Da Vinci Code. I'd rather choose to attend my Math 1 class than waste my time to that alternative class" (No, his sucking up didn't make me like his piece more. Haha)"

These thoughts bothered me after hearing the gossip of enjoyment from my classmates. i knew it, they were much more interested in attending the documentary of the Da Vinci Code than to sit and listen in our Math 1 class which I was really interested in (again with the suck up! Haha). I knew it was unfair but I cannot convince them to stay. I cannot also afford to lose points for not attending the alternative class (as if they needed extra credits for my class! Math 1 is a breeze!). Then I decided to go with the group, heavy hearted and not interested at all.

Half an hour had passed. The documentary was becoming boring (it was shown at 2:30 in the afternoon, what could you expect from a growing boy?). I started yawning and my eyelids started to drop. Slowly my vision became blurry. All I could see was light coming from the TV but still I could clearly hear the dialogues from the documentary, the comments and everything! In a split second I realized that I was sleepy (uh, I thought you said you were sleepy half an hour ago? hehe). I tried to resist and to my great surprise, I finished the documentary half-awake.

Indeed I did not enjoy watching the documentary (sorry for putting you into so much agony, but learning's all about pain! hehe). It was all about debunking the Da Vinci Code. COunte attacking Dan Brown's idea of Jesus Christ having an intimate relationship with Mary Magdalene. Nothing more! Nothing less! All was nonsense! (uh, i get the feeling he's really irate...)

I am concluding that it was nonsense because the documentary was just a mere book advertisement. It's like a virtual book show, masquerading as an informative documentary to get the people's attention. The main purpose was to buy books about decoding the Da Vinci Code, counteracting its false ideas and destoying its principles. To sum (finally, a math word!) it up, making money was its main objective. They made Dan Brown's novel a starting capital to their book business (i didn't quite understand what this meant...).

I thank Dan Brown for writing the Da Vinci Code. His bravery to expose his dangerous ideas about religion was worth emulating (obviously, this author did learn something about the documentary --- make something out of the ordinary and get noticed. ah, i love it when young minds learn...). His novel serves as a great test for the Christian faith and its believers --- will they recoil (i had to look this word up in my dictionary) and revolt against their religion or will they stand together faithful and true to it? Well, it's up to them (Amen!)!

To cap it off, Religion is indeed the most debatable aspect of academics (aren't you glad Math is much easier to deal with? Hehe). It runs through the minds and hearts of every person, each with a stand to his or her principle. A stand which they will fight for till death. Kudos to those who stand firm in their faith and congratulations to those who still seek. Religion is indeed a long journey to find the captive truth, but if you're confused, there's the Bible, read it!

Soggy and addicted

i hate having to go to school or work or anywhere when it rains. i always seem to manage being drained to my underwear like a soggy french fry. and the bottom of my pants always look as if i stepped on poop. it's a good thing i only gave out exercises for my classes and i didn't have to do a lot of lectures.

all of us (bright minds) in the office are addicted to a new game online. it's actually an old game which we've rediscovered --- scrabble. we play it every time we're free. we've all been hooked to one online game after another --- text twist, magic vines, bounce out... i wonder what will come next to catch our attention.

One of the best by The Dormitory Boys

This is a video of the Dormitory Boys, a chinese duo that makes people's lives a bit brighter and happier by making awesome clips like this one here. They lipsynch to the tune of some pop western songs and they've practically taken the whole YouTube community by storm. This is one of their first videos, "I want it that way" by the Backstreet Boys. It also features some bloopers at the end of the music video. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Check out their site www.twochineseboys.blogspot.com for more of their wonderful, smart-*** flicks!

Unbelievable!

I find it unbelievable how some people snap back at others when they're having a bad day just so everybody else would. Sheesh!

I reall have to be able to sleep earlier than 1am coz it's sucking the life out of me! Especially when I'm sleeping in the dorm. I keep hearing these weird noises and I keep imagining the scariest things that it's driving me nuts! Sometimes, I even have to keep my lights on just to keep my mind in peace. Either that or do something until my eyes practically drop from drowsiness so that I'd be too sleepy to get scared.

Monday blues

It's six o' clock in the morning and my mother's rushing all over the house, cooking breakfast, doing the laundry and hollering at my short-haired, cuddly big little sister to get her behind moving and get ready for school. My sister, drowsily gets off from bed, takes a bath, eats a hasty meal and leaves for school. My mother leaves for the office thirty minutes later to give her classic snide remarks and sermons to locked up guys over at the police station.

Through all this, I was oblivious to the world, lost in my own subconscious, feasting at the wonders my mind has to offer. It's Monday morning, practically the busiest day of the week for mortals all over the civilized planet, that is, except for us self lauded gods atop the Mount Olympus known to most as Miagao. For us, Monday could very well be the laziest day of the week for all we care. Because Monday is our third day of the weekend. The day when we rest our weary bodies, exhausted from family gatherings, express shopping, all night partying and endless channel-surfing. That's because for most us, Monday is not of any significance. We don't have classes on Mondays.

I remember the good old days when routinary weeks were normal, when I would wake up knowing exactly what I was going to wear, where exactly I was going. Mondays were special. It would usually be the day when I'm loaded with classes, hence, it's the day when I wake up earlier than usual, when I choose to wear that special blouse paired off with those special pair of pants and socks, capped off (hmmm... a bit ironic) with my recently cleaned pair of shoes. I would wear my favorite brand of cologne on that day, and spend a little more time in front of the mirror instead of the usual two-minute hairbrushing technique that I find handy.

Ah, but those days are long gone, buried in the depths of my social history books. Because it's Monday, high noon, and all I'm wearing are my ever comfortable house clothes and ehermm... I haven't even taken a bath yet.

Sigh, the week will never be the same. Until maybe when I finally get used to this new scheme, or when Mondays are back to where they're supposed to be... the start of the week!

News Article

Mam Lyncen Fernandez of UPV IPO wrote a neat article about me and my winning the Essay Contest of Panibagong Paraan 2006. Here's one from a local paper.

Say what?

My ever addicting internet surfing activities were recently interrupted because a bunch of students wanted to interview me for a Humanities class assignment. They wer supposed to look for accomplished artists who would share their glorious achievements with them. And they went to me??? I can write, sure, with a handwriting that's barely legible (thank God for the dawn of computers!) but I never thought writers were artists! Artists are people who can craft creative creations, and I'm not one of them! Yesterday, a different bunch of students also approached me and asked if I could be adviser of their musical group. Musical group!!! I couldn't sing a proper note if my life depended on it! Aargh....

Before you know it, someone would be asking me to join a beauty contest! That would be awesome! (Boisterous sinister laugh caps this piece.)

This made me smile today

Thought I'd post a funny piece that one of my friends sent via SMS.

"A biologist, physicist and chemist went to visit the beach for the first time and they were all amazed.
Physicist: I wonder how much force the waves of the ocean can produce.
So he dived into the the water to find out but he never returned.
Biologist: Behold! The ocean must possess so many life forms below!
So he dived into the the water to find out but he never returned too. The chemist took his pen and paper and wrote down:
The physicist and biologist are both soluble in water."

Maangas + Publication chance

I really dislike people who are maangas. That's why I dislike some of my students in my Math appreciation class and I dislike a student in the senior year. Because they're maangas. It's really so irritating when they seem to be shouting to the entire universe just how great they are when, in fact, they're not. I admire people who are reserved yet deliver. Way better than maangas people.

Yesterday, Mam Gg said that she downloaded my essay for her aunt who lives in Australia. Said she'd be publishing it in Dyaryong Filipino there down under (say what?). Well, would be nice if this would materialize! =) It's already been published in Newsbreak Magazine and it would be awesome to have it read abroad. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Head Over Feet

Artist - Alanis Morissette

Album - Alanis Unplugged

I had no choice but to hear you
You stated your case time and again
I thought about it

You treat me like I'm a princess
I'm not used to liking that
You ask how my day was

CHORUS:
You've already won me over in spite of me
Don't be alarmed if I fall head over feet
Don't be surprised if I love you for all that you are
I couldn't help it
It's all your fault

Your love is thick and it swallowed me whole
You're so much braver than I gave you credit for
That's not lip service

REPEAT CHORUS

You are the bearer of unconditional things
You held your breath and the door for me
Thanks for your patience

You're the best listener that I've ever met
You're my best friend
Best friend with benefits
What took me so long

I've never felt this healthy before
I've never wanted something rational
I am aware now
I am aware now

REPEAT CHORUS

from: lyricskeeper.com

*** Alam na niya na para sa kanya tong kantang to... =)

Of mathematical writers

Just finished the orientation for BS Applied Mathematics freshmen and they looked like a fine batch. I'll be handling their Math 17 (College Algebra and Trigonometry) this semester so we'll see if they truly deserve the DOST scholarships that they enjoy. I also found out that most of them were writers for their school paper. Hmmm.... Maybe this will allow me opportunities to make them join literary events. Nice!

Template relief

Well, whaddaya know... My blog's perfectly fine when I view it in the campus computer... Yippeee!!!

A wonderful, wonderful song

Brad Kane, Lea Salonga---A Whole New World lyrics
Artist - Aladdin soundtrack
Album - Aladdin
Lyrics - Brad Kane, Lea Salonga---A Whole New World


(Aladdin:)
I can show you the world
Shining, shimmering, splendid
Tell me, princess,
Now when did you last
Let your heart decide
I can open your eyes
Take you wonder by wonder
Over, sideways, and under
On a magic carpet ride
A whole new world
A new fantastic point of view
No one to tell us no
Or where to go
Or say we're only dreaming

(Jasmine:)
A whole new world
A dazzling place I never knew
But when I'm way up here
It's crystal clear
That now i'm in a whole new world
With you
Unbelievable sights
Indescribable feeling
Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling
Through an endless diamond sky

(Jasmine:) A whole new world
(Aladdin:) Don't you dare close your eyes
(Jasmine:) A hundred thousand things to see
(Aladdin:) Hold your breath- it gets better

(Jasmine:)
I'm like a shooting star,
I've come so far
I can't go back to where i used to be

(Aladdin:) A whole new world
(Jasmine:) Every turn a surprise
(Aladdin:) With new horizons to pursue
(Jasmine:) Every moment gets better

(both:)
I'll chase them anywhere,
there's time to spare,
let me share this whole new world with you

Ver 2
(Aladdin:) A whole new world
(Jasmine:) Every turn a surprise
(Aladdin:) With new horizons to pursue
(Jasmine:) Every moment gets better

(Aladdin:) A whole new world
(Jasmine:) A whole new world
(Aladdin:) That's where we'll be
(Jasmine:) That's where we'll be
(Aladdin:) A thrilling chase
(Jasmine:) A wonderous place

(Both:) For you and me

Pinoy Big Brother Teen Winner

The pretty and talented girl from Cebu... Kim Chiu!!!

And here we go again

Summer was a blurred memory of fulfilling summer classes, trips to two awesome waterholes, and another feather on my cap (or, more aptly, another expensive dust collector on top of our old cabinet). Summer is officially over now that the enrollment for the First Semester of academic year 2006-2007 has come.

I saw a lot of new faces as I came to school this morning. A new batch of Iskolar ng Bayan, a new source of Filipino pride. I just wish all these kids realize how fortunate they are to be schooled in the country's premier university. I just wish all these new wunderkinds feel how blessed they are to be considered among the cream of the crop. I just wish all these new blood know the responsibility that they will bear for they are sent to school not only by their parents or relatives but by every single taxpayer --- every single citizen --- of this nation.

Enrollment is generally tough in this campus, especially since we all still have to get used to the CRS-IS, a computerized registration system which, with the proper management and implementation, is supposed to make the enrollment process a whole lot easier. But when these kids start going to their classes, they'll probably wish getting a UPV education was as easy as registering... especially if they have me as their teacher. (sinister laugh follows)

Conan O Brien's Speech to the Harvard Class 2000

Conan O' Brien is my favorite late show host. I like him way better than Jay Leno or David Letterman. I never knew or thought that he was a Harvard graduate. I first read this speech at the lobby of a hotel. A lobby filled with people who looked bewildered when I started giggling at my seat while reading the paper. This speech is classic Conan from start to finish. I wish he were our commencement speaker too!


I'd like to begin by thanking the class marshals for inviting me here today. The last time I was invited to Harvard it cost me $110,000. So I was reluctant to show up. I'm going to start before I really begin by announcing my one goal this afternoon. I want to be half as funny as tomorrow's Commencement speaker, moral philosopher and economist Amartya Sen. That's the job. Must get more laughs than seminal wage-price theoretician. By the way, enjoy that. Bring a calculator. It's going to be a nerd fest.

Students of the Harvard class of 2000, 15 years ago I sat where you sit now. And I thought exactly what you are now thinking. What's going to happen to me? Will I find my place in the world? Am I really graduating a virgin? Still have 24 hours. Roommate's mom very hot. Swear she's checking me out. There was that Rob Lowe movie.

Being here today, on a sincere note, is very special for me. I do miss this place. I especially miss Harvard Square. Let me tell you, you don't know this, Harvard Square is extremely unique. Nowhere else in the world will you find a man wearing a turban and a Red Sox jacket working in a lesbian bookstore. I'm just glad my dad's working.

It's particularly sweet for me to be here today because--this is true--when I graduated I wanted very badly to be a Class Day speaker. Unfortunately, my speech was rejected. So if you'll indulge me I'd like to read a portion of that speech. This is the actual speech from 15 years ago. "Fellow students, as we sit here today listening to that classic A-ha tune which will definitely stand the test of time, I would like to make several predictions about what the future will hold. I believe that one day a simple governor from a small southern state will rise to the highest office in the land. He will lack political skill, but will lead on the sheer strength of his moral authority. I believe that justice will prevail and one day the Berlin Wall will crumble, uniting East and West Berlin forever under Communist rule. I believe that one day a high-speed network of interconnected computers will spring up worldwide, so enriching people that they will lose their interest in idle chitchat and pornography. And finally, I believe that one day I will have a television show on a major network seen by millions of people at night which I will use to reenact crimes and and help catch at-large criminals." Then I had a section on the death of Wall Street, but you don't need to hear about that.

The point is that although you see me as a celebrity, a member of the cultural elite, a demigod if you will, and potential husband material, I came here in the fall of 1981 and lived at Holworthy Hall as a student much like you. I was, without exaggeration--this is true--the ugliest picture in the freshman facebook. When Harvard asked me for a picture the previous summer, I thought it was for their records, so I jogged in the August heat to a passport photo office and sat for a morgue shot. To make matters worse, when the facebook came out, they put my picture right next to Catherine Oxenberg, a stunning blonde actress who was expected to join theclass of '85, but decided to defer admission so she could join the cast of Dynasty. Folks, my photo would have looked bad on any page, but next to Catherine Oxenberg, I looked like a mackerel that had been in a car accident.

You see, in those days, I was 6 feet 4 inches tall and I weighed 150 pounds. True. Recently, I had some structural engineers run those numbers into a computer model, and according to the computer, I collapsed in 1987, killing hundreds in Taiwan.

After freshman year, I moved to Mather House. Mather House, incidentally, was designed by the same firm that built Hitler's bunker. In fact, if Hitler had conducted the war from Mather House, he would have shot himself a year earlier. Saved us a lot of trouble.

1985 seems like a long time ago now. When I had my Class Day, you students would have been seven years old. Seven years old! You realize what that means? Back then I could have beaten any of you in a fight. And I mean really badly. Like no contest at all. If anyone here has a time machine, seriously, I will kick your seven-year-old butt right now.

A lot has happened in 15 years though. When you think about it, we come from completely different worlds. When I graduated in 1985, we watched movies starring Tom Cruise and listened to music by Madonna. I come from a time when we huddled around the TV set and watched the Cosby Show on NBC, never imagining that there would one day be a show called Cosby on CBS. In 1985 we drove cars with driver's-side air bags. But if you had told us that one day there would be passenger-side air bags, we'd have burned you for witchcraft.

Of course I think there is some common ground between us. I remember well the great uncertainty of this day, the anxiety. Many of you are justifiably nervous about leaving the safe, comfortable world of Harvard Yard and hurling yourself headlong into the cold, harsh world of Harvard grad school, a plum job in your father's firm, or a year abroad with a gold Amex card and then a plum job at your father's firm. Let me assure you that the knowledge you gained here at Harvard is a precious gift that will never leave you. Take it from me, your education is yours to keep forever. Why, many of you have read the Merchant of Florence, and that will inspire you when you travel to the island of Spain. Your knowledge of that problem they had with those people in Russia, or that guy in South America--you know, the guy--will be with you for the rest of your life.

There's also sadness today. A feeling of loss that you're leaving Harvard forever. Let me assure you that you never really leave Harvard. The Harvard fundraising committee will be on your ass until the day you die. This is true. I know for a fact that right now a member of the alumni association is at the Mount Auburn Cemetery shaking down the corpse of Henry Adams. They heard he has a brass toe ring and they aim to get it. These people just raised $2.5 billion and they only got through the Bs in the alumni directory. Here's basically how it works. Your phone rings, usually after a big meal when you're tired and most vulnerable, and a voice asks you for money. Knowing--you've read in the paper--that they just raised $2.5 billion, you ask, "What do you need it for?" There is a long pause, and the voice on the other end of the line says, "We don't need it, we just want it." (Sinister laugh).

Let me see--by your applause--Who here wrote a thesis? That's nice. A lot of hard work went into that thesis. And no one is ever going to care. I wrote a thesis--this is true, I don't lie--"Literary Progeria in the Works of Flannery O'Connor and William Faulkner." Let's just say that during my discussions with Pauly Shore, it doesn't come up much. For three years after graduation I wanted to show it to everyone, and so I kept my thesis in the glove compartment of my car, so that I could show it to a policeman in case I was pulled over.

What else can you expect in the real world? Let me tell you. As you leave these gates and re-enter society, one thing is certain. Everyone out there is going to hate you. Never tell anyone in a roadside diner that you went to Harvard. In those situations, the correct response to, "Where did you go to school?" is "School? I never had much in the way of book learnin' and such." And then get in your BMW and get the hell out of there. Go.

You see, kids, you're in for a lifetime of "And you went to Harvard?" Accidentally give the wrong amount of change in a transaction, and it's "And you went to Harvard?" Ask at the hardware store how the jumper cables work, and hear "And you went to Harvard?" Forget just once that your underwear goes inside your pants, and it's "And you went to Harvard?" Get your head stuck in your niece's doll house 'cause you want to see what it's like to be a giant, and it's "Uncle Conan, you went to Harvard?"

So you really know what's in store for you after Harvard, I have to tell you what happened to me after graduation. I'm going to tell it simply, I'm going to tell it honestly, because, first of all, I think my perspective may give many of you hope, and, secondly, it's such a cool, amazing rush to be in front of 6,000 people and just talk about yourself. It's just great. It's so cool. And I can take my time.

You see, kids, after graduating in May, I moved to Los Angeles. I got a three-week contract at a small cable show. I got a $380-a-month apartment, a terrible dump, and I bought a 1977 Isuzu Opal, a car Isuzu only manufactured for a year because they found out that technically it's not a car. Quick tip, graduates--no four-cylinder used vehicle should have a racing stripe.

So I worked on that show for about a year, feeling pretty good about myself, when one day they told me that they were letting me go. I was fired. I hadn't saved any money. So I tried to get another job in television as best I could and couldn't find one. So with nowhere else to turn--true story--I went to a temp agency and filled out a questionnaire. I made damn sure that they knew I had been to Harvard, that I had written this thesis, and that I expected the very best treatment. And so the next day I was sent to the Santa Monica branch of Wilson's House of Suede and Leather.

When you have a Harvard degree, and you are working at Wilson's House of Suede and Leather, you are haunted by the ghostly images of your classmates who chose graduate school. You see their faces everywhere--in coffee cups, in fish tanks, you think you're going crazy, and they're always laughing at you as you stack suede shirts no man in good conscience would ever wear.

I tried a lot of things during this period. Acting in corporate infomercials. Serving drinks in a nonequity theater. I even took a job entertaining at a seven year-old's birthday party. In desperate need of work, I put together some sketches and scored a job at the fledgling Fox network as a writer and performer for a brainy show called the "Wilton North Report." I was finally on a network and really excited. The producer told me the show was going to revolutionize television. And, in a way it did. The show was so hated and did so badly that when four weeks later news of its cancellation was announced to the Fox affiliates, they burst into spontaneous applause.

Eventually, though, I got a big break. I had submitted along with my writing partner a batch of sketches to Saturday Night Live, and after a year and a half they read it, and they gave us a two-week tryout. The two weeks turned into two seasons, and I felt, hey, this is success, I'm successful now. Successful enough to write a TV pilot for an original sitcom. When the network decided to make it, feeling good, I left Saturday Night Live.

This TV show was going to be groundbreaking. It was going to resurrect the career of TV's Batman, Adam West. It was going to be a comedy without a laugh track or a studio audience. It was going to change all the rules. And here's what happened. When the pilot aired, it was the second-lowest-rated television show of all time. It is actually tied with a test pattern they show up in Nova Scotia.

So I was 28 and, once again, no job. I had good writing credits in New York, but I was filled with disappointment and I had no idea what I was going to do next. And that is when the Simpsons saved my life. I got a job there and started writing episodes about Springfield getting a monorail or Homer going to college. I was finally putting my Harvard education to good use--writing dialogue for a man who is so stupid that in one episode he forgot to make his own heart beat. Life was good.

And then an insane, inexplicable opportunity came my way, a chance to audition for host of the new "Late Night" show. I took the opportunity very seriously, but at the time--I have to be honest--I had the relaxed confidence of someone who knew he had no real shot, so I couldn't fear losing a great job that I could never hope to have. And I think that actually that attitude made the difference.

I will never forget being in the Simpsons recording basement that morning when the phone rang. It was for me. My car was blocking a firelane. But a week later I got another call and got the job. So this, finally, was undeniably it. The truly life-altering break that I had always dreamed of. And so I went to work. I gathered all my funny friends and poured all my years of comedy experience into building the show over the summer. I gathered the talent, figured out the sensibility, found Max, found Andy, found my people. We debuted on September 13, 1993, and I was really happy, really happy, with our effort. I felt like I had seized the moment, that I had put my very best foot forward.

And this was what the most respected and widely read television critic, Tom Shales, wrote in the Washington Post. "O'Brien is a living collage of annoying nervous habits. He giggles and jiggles about and fiddles with his cuffs. He has dark, beady little eyes like a rabbit. He is one of the whitest white men ever. O'Brien is a switch on the guest who won't leave: he's the host who should never have come. Let the Late Show with Conan O'Brien become the late Late Show, and may the host return to whence he came." There's more, but it gets kind of mean.

Needless to say, I took a lot of criticism, some of it deserved, some of it excessive, and, to be honest with you, it hurt like you would not believe. But I'm telling you all this for a reason. I've had a lot of success. I've had a lot of failure. I've looked good. I've looked bad. I've been praised. And I've been criticized. But my mistakes have been necessary. I've dwelled on my failures today because, as graduates of Harvard, your biggest liability is your need to succeed, your need to always find yourself on the sweet side of the bell curve. Success is a lot like a bright white tuxedo. You feel terrific when you get it, but then you're desperately afraid of getting it dirty, of spoiling it.

I left the cocoon of Harvard, I left the cocoon of Saturday Night Live, I left the cocoon of the Simpsons. And each time it was bruising and tumultuous. And yet every failure was freeing, and today I'm as nostalgic for the bad as I am for the good. So that's what I wish for all of you--the bad as well as the good. Fall down. Make a mess. Break something occasionally. Know that your mistakes are your own unique way of getting to where you need to be. And remember that the story is never over.

If you'll indulge me for just a second, I'd like to read a little something from just this year. "Somehow, Conan O'Brien has transformed himself into the brightest star in the late-night firmament. His comedy is the gold standard, and Conan himself is not only the quickest and most inventive wit of his generation, but quite possibly the greatest host ever."

Ladies and gentlemen, class of 2000, I wrote that this morning. As proof that when all else fails, you always have delusion. I will go now to make bigger mistakes and to embarrass this fine institution even more. But let me leave you with one last thought. If you can laugh at yourself, loud and hard, every time you fall, people will think you're drunk. Thank you.

Winning and the Xmen

Last Thursday, I flew off to Manila for the awarding ceremonies of this essay writing contest I joined. I stayed at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Conference Center for the duration of my stay in Manila. It was one of the fanciest places that I've stayed in and I had a really cool lawyer-environmental activist mother of two as roommate so I had no problem whatsover.

During the awarding ceremonies, the fact that I was a finalist still hadn't sunk in. So it was quite embarrassing for my mouth to drop when they announced my name as the winner. I got really nice prizes so I'm really happy with the resluts. The best part of the ceremonies were the discussions about "Development with Equity."

This afternoon, I watched X-Men 3: The Final Stand and got totally blown away by the movie. Now I'm really excited to see the next servings of Spiderman and Harry Potter!

A movie and a few days out of town

I managed to watch the movie The Da Vinci Code on the last full show of its first day of showing here in the Philippines (May 18). Though I feel terrible to admit it, my expectations of this much-hyped film was not met. The movie that I made up in my mind was way more intense. Tom Hanks was too plain, the French girl was too boring and the movie was either too fast or too dragging. Perhaps the only saving grace of the movie was the performance of Paul Bettany as Silas. Also, I think religious activists and conservativists should really be stopping all these crusades against the film because really, its not worth it.

The next day, I was on my way to the beautiful province of Aklan. I enjoyed myself at Basang Cold Springs (not too cold in the morning, close to freexing in the afternoon!) and got pissed off with a lot of things in Boracay. The place is really too commercialized for comfort! The people (locals and non-locals who do business in the island) of Boracay ought to do a personality check of themselves coz if they continue the way they do business, Boracay might be turning from a paradise to a dump!

Good news

I just got two pieces of good news over the weekend which, ironcally made the good stuff complicated...

Hmmm...

I'll be back as lecturer for EAR (Exemplary Academic Review) Center starting Monday May 22 til May 31. I really miss that place so much. It's one of the places that has molded me into an acceptable educator in the hallowed halls of UPV. They needed a math lecturer for their HSET (High School Entrance Test) Review and RCET (Review for College Entrance Test, this name I personally contributed! hehe) so I accepted the task so that I could help out. Anyway, summer exams will be over by Wednesday so there wouldn't be any tough times juggling the schedule.

Until....

I received the second piece of good news jsut a few minutes ago. I'd like to keep this one to myself for the moment. Bottom line is, if I decide to pursue this second good news, I might have to embarrassingly turn down lecturing at EAR. Waaaah!!!

But, we'll just see how things turn out. I'm really excited so I should be seriously getting some Zzzz's now!

My "old" bestfriend

This girl right here was my bestfriend in high school. Though this picture was taken about a year ago, this is exactly how she looked back in high school. But this isn't how she looks now. Now, she always dresses up like she's off to a night in a party or something. Haha... She has this unbelievably awesome voice that actually made me speechless the first time I heard it. Up to now, my favorite singers on this planet are her, Lea Salonga, Sharon Cuneta, and Sarah Geronimo. Heehee... Not an elegant list but she does make the cut. Right now, she's busy with reviews, work and her boyfriend. Haha We were inseparable for three years and now, I haven't even met any of her boyfriends! We've somehow drifted apart and all that keeps us together are text messages once or twice every couple of months.

People really do change. For me, it was putting on 20 extra pounds, for her it was putting on a different attitude --- not that it's a bad one. Sometimes though, I wish I had my old bestfriend back. The one who looked and acted like the person in this picture. Guess I'd have to travel almosst ten years back in time to have my wish granted.

Here's the testimonial that I wrote for her in her Friendster account:
a lot of things remind me of this freakishly special person. most of the 90's songs, dunkin' donuts, hordes of helpless boys competing for a not-sot-helpless-damsel's attention,corny letters and hallmark cards,sappy love articles,tears ... to mention each one would flood her testimonial's pages. a rainbow of assorted emotions overcome me when i'm reminded of her, happiness, frustration, nostalgia, and above all, gratefulness. i'll never be the person that i am now if it weren't for the brave, intelligent, overflowing fountain of tears that i had for a bestfriend back in highschool. we rarely get together anymore, sometimes, i feel like she's a whole lot different. but then again, i just listen to "just when i needed u most", eat a choco-web, talk to alfons, rolee or babby, open my box of yellowed cards, pictures and letters, and my memories of her become more real, our friendship becomes more than just journal entries filling 4 diaries..

Breakaway

Just one more day and I'm off to my weekend escapade to the different water spots in Aklan ( Cold Spring and Boracay!). I'm glad to have received my mid-year bonus today so after I leave some aside for my sister's college tuition fee and some for the purchase of a new printer ( eventually, I'd have to save up for a new PC! ours is seven years old already. sheesh!), I was able to scrape off the humble remains to go to a place a lot of kilometers away.

I really need this break. Last year, I wasn't able to enjoy my summer vacation so I really felt burnt out when classes started. By the second semester of last year, I felt so much tension that I wasn't able to concentrate on my classes as much. That's why now that summer classes are over, I really want to give myself a much deserved break.

Hmmm... I just hope mother nature would cooperate and cut me some slack. I'd really love to have some --- well, a lot! --- of fun under the bright yellow sun.

Insomniac Blues

The only time that I slept before midnight these past few months was last FRIDAY during the height of typhoon Caloy, when there was a blackout. I slept at 8pm that night and got out from bed at ten the following morning!


I'm not quite sure why I have difficulty sleeping. Maybe it's coz I get so engrossed with THE SIMS or with surfing the net that I completely lose track of time. Well, my body's not reacting well. I'm a grown woman suffering from zits!


I really do hope I break this habit once class starts. Or else I won't have the energy to get through the day...

Titik ng "Bituing Walang Ningning"

Kung minsan ang pangarap
Habambuhay itong hinahanap
Bakit nga ba nakapagtataka
'Pag ito ay nakamtan mo na
Bakit may kulang pa
Mga bituin aking narating
Ngunit langit ko pa rin ang iyong piling
Kapag tayong dalawa'y naging isa
Kahit na ilang laksang bituin
'Di kayang pantayan ating ningning


CHORUS 1
Balutin mo ako ng hiwaga ng iyong pagmamahal
Hayaang matakpan ang kinang na 'di magtatagal
Mabuti pa kaya'y maging bituing walang ningning
Kung kapalit nito'y walang paglaho mong pagtingin


CHORUS 2
Itago mo ako sa lilim ng iyong pagmamahal
Limutin ang mapaglarong kinang ng tagumpay
Sa piling mo ngayon ako'y bituing walang ningning
Nagkukubli sa liwanag ng ating pag-ibig
[Repeat 2nd Stanza] [Repeat CHORUS 1]
[Repeat REFRAIN 2 except last line]


Nagkukubli sa liwanag at kislap ng ating pag-ibig


Author's Note: I wonder if there will ever be a person worthy of my addressing this song. It's a song that typifies just how much lengths a person would go for a loved one. Sacrificing one's dreams to dream with the one you love. Sigh... Damn, the words really do hit home.

Bituing Walang Ningning

Loved the song, loved the singer, loved the movie... Now, what else could make it better? A teleserye of the same title expounding on the same movie with a songer/actress just as lovely as the original!

Oo, korni ako. Ako ang unang aamin niyan. Idol ko si Sharon Cuneta, paborito ko ang mga pelikula niya at napapatili ako sa tuwing naririnig ko ang mga kanta niya, lalo na ang pinakapaborito kong BITUING WALANG NINGNING. O eh 'no ngayon?

Dahil ApMath ako!

All mathematicians live in two different worlds. They live in a crystalline world of perfect platonic platforms. An ice palace. But they also live in the common world where things are transient, ambiguous, subject to vicissitudes. Mathematicians go backward and forward from one world to the other. They are adults in the crystalline world, infants in the real one.
- S. Capell, Courant Institute of Mathematics, 1996


There are two kinds of mathematical contributions: work that's important to the history of mathematics and work that's simply a triumph of the human spirit.
- Paul J. Cohen, 1996


The growing consciousness is a danger and a disease.
- Friedrich Nietzsche


Mathematics is a young man's game. Yet it is not bearable to contemplate a brief distinction and burgeoning of activity.. followed by a lifetime of boredom.
- Norbert Wiener

Crack these problems

Here are some logic problems that you can try cracking! Don't have a second thought about emailing me for the answers!!!


Problem #1
A man goes to work in the morning. He rides the elevator to the 12th floor, gets off the elevator and takes the stairs to the 20th floor where he works. When he gets off of work at 5:00 he gets on the elevator and rides it all the way down. Why does he take the stairs on the way up and the elevator on the way down?


Problem #2
Three people check into a hotel. They pay $30 to the manager and go to their room. The manager finds out that the room rate is $25 and gives $5 to the bellboy to return. On the way to the room the bellboy reasons that $5 would be difficult to share among three people so he pockets $2 and gives $1 to each person. Now each person paid $10 and got back $1. So they paid $9 each, totalling $27. The bellboy has $2, totalling $29. Where is the remaining dollar?


Problem #3
What moves on 4 in the morning, moves on 2 in the afternoon, and moves on 3 in the evening/night?


Problem #4
A plane is going from the United States to Canada. It crashes right on the middle of the border. Where do you bury the survivors?


Problem #5
There are two fathers and two sons on a boat. Each person caught one fish. None of the fish were thrown back. Three fish were caught. How is it possible?


Lemme have your answers!

Toni on an Old New Light

So, Toni Gonzaga actually started out (and considers pursuing her entertainment career) as a singer???

Hmmm... She's got this throaty voice that's good enough but won't actually pass off as excellent, but what the hey! I miss her so much on PBB that any exposure she has is better than none!

Pinay Diver --- Pinoy Pride

Diver... Bemedalled... Pretty... Pinoy... Astig!

UP kong mahal

Ah... The Oblation basking in all its glory...

Quote Quiz Puzzles (Part 2)

Here's the second part of my collection of The Daily Informer Quotequiz puzzles...


Authority without wisdom is like a heavy ax without an edge, fitter to bruise than polish.
---Anne Bradstreet


Older men declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die.
---Herbert Hoover


He only employs his passion who can make no use of his reason.
---Cicero


It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do.
---Jerome R. Jerome


Pretension almost always overdoes the original, and hence exposes itself.
---Hosea Ballou


The first and worst of all fraud is to cheat oneself.
---Gamaliel Bailey


Victories that are easy are cheap. Those which come as the result of hard fighting are the only ones worth having.
---Henry Ward Beecher


The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.
---Ralph Waldo Emerson


Be kind and considerate to others, depending somewhat upon who they are.
---Don Herold


He to whom the present is the only thing that is present, knows nothing of the age in which he lives.
---Oscar Wilde


Prejudice, which sees what it pleases, cannot see what is plain.
---Aubrey T. De Vera


It is a glorious thing to be indifferent to suffering, but only to one’s own suffering.
---Robert Lynd


Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.
---Mark Twain


Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives.
---Charles William Dement


Maternity is a career imposed on you without any inquiry into your witness.
---Adlai E. Stevenson


A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous.
---Ingrid Bergman


Men wish to be saved from the mischiefs of their vices, but not from their vices.
---Ralph Waldo Emerson


The real significance of crime is in its being a breach of faith with the community of mankind.
---Joseph Conrad


Lots of people know a good thing the minute the other fellow sees it first.
---Job E. Hedges


A man’s own good breeding is the best security against other people’s ill manners.
---Lord Chesterfield


The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind.
---William Blake


I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is the victory over self.
---Aristotle


There’s a lot of people in this world who spend so much time watching their health that they haven’t the time to enjoy it.
---Josh Billings


Marriage is that relation between man and woman in which independence is equal, the dependence is mutual, and the obligation reciprocal.
---Louis K. Anspacher


A man never discloses his own character so clearly as when he describes another’s.
---Jean Paul Richter


Everyone thinks of changing the world but no one thinks of changing himself.
---Leo Tolstoi

Logic Problems

Think you're smart? Then test your know-how on these simple Logic Problems! And drop by the tagboard to say HI!



Bachelor Binge


One week five bachelors agreed to go out together to eat the 5 evening meals on Monday through Friday. It was understood that Eric would miss Friday's meal because of an out-of-town wedding at which he fervently hoped to catch the bride's garter. Each bachelor served as the host at a restaurant of his choice on a different night. Use the clues below to determine which bachelor hosted the group each night and what food he selected.


1. Carl hosted the group on Wednesday.
2. The fellows ate at a Thai restaurant on Friday.
3. Bill, who detests fish, volunteered to be the first host.
4. Dave selected a steak house for the night before one of the fellows hosted everyone at a raucous pizza parlor.



Notable Neighbors


There are five houses in a row, each of a different color, and inhabited by 5 people of different nationalities, with different pets, favorite drinks, and favorite sports. Use the clues below to determine who owns the monkey and who drinks water.


1. The Englishman lives in the red house.
2. The Spaniard owns the dog.
3. Coffee is drunk in the green house.
4. The Russian drinks tea.
5. The green house is immediately to the right of the white house.
6. The hockey player owns hamsters.
7. The football player lives in the yellow house.
8. Milk is drunk in the middle house.
9. The American lives in the first house on the left.
10. The table tennis player lives in the house next to the man with the fox.
11. The football player lives next to the house where the horse is kept.
12. The basketball player drinks orange juice.
13. The Japanese likes baseball.
14. The American lives next to the blue house.



Exam Logjams


Ten students, sitting in 2 rows of 5 each, took their 500-point final exam in advanced calculus. The students' scores were all multiples of ten with no two of them receiving the same score. Use the following clues and the professor's seating chart below to determine which students sat in which seats and the test score each student earned.


1. Hugh sat next to both Ida and to the student making 82%, which was the lowest grade on the test.
2. George and the student scoring 470 sat in diagonally opposite corner seats.
3. Chuck sat somewhere between Bill and the student scoring 410, although these 3 students are not necessarily in the same row. Similarly, Ann sat somewhere between Eve and the student scoring 490.
4. The sum of the scores of the students sitting in the first column is 880.
5. Jerry's score was 10 points better than Dolly's but 50 points less than Frank's.
6. The average score of those in Column 2 is the same as that of those in Column 4, but is 5 points less than the average of those in Column 3.
7. The student with the lowest score of those in the first row sat directly in front of the student with the highest score of those in the second row.
8. The average test score of those in the first row is 46 points higher than the average of those in the second row.

On (Bad Hand)Writing

Amusingly, I came in contact with quite a number of my English teachers today. Well, let me just have my time in patting myself on the back. They all say I've always been good in writing, in English, and everything else in between. Well, just to rain on my own parade, one of them also told me that I had a terrible penmanship.


I'm not quite sure when I came to realize just how terrible were the marks and hieroglyphical scratches I made on my notebooks, but when high school came, none of my classmates missed to inform me that I held the coveted distinction of having the crudest handwriting ever (Felizer only came second.)! I've just been able to realize just how much of a hard time I gave my teachers in reading my writing. I'll bet they thought at the back of their minds that I had good ideas on the topics discussed, but my writing was so terrible that they weren't sure exactly. Lucky me, I'm sure they ended giving me the benefit of the doubt which is why I managed to survive all my writing courses.


I do feel lucky to have been blessed by some of the best English teachers around! I'm indebted most of all to Ma'am Aida... I truly believe that I wouldn't be able to write the way I do now had it not been for her super strict rules.


Wonder where she is now...

Shocked by the Code

I wish people would read the novel with an open mind. Others go to extreme lengths of criticizing it without even reading the novel completely.

The Daily Informer's Quote Quiz

Back in college, I had a lot of fun solving the Quote Quiz puzzles found in The Daily Informer. I was so hooked to the puzzles that I even cut them out and collected them. A few weeks back, I found them nestled inside my rotting folder and decided to encode them for future reference. Here are some of those quotes...


Enthusiasm is the best protection in any situation. Wholeheartedness is contagious. Give yourself, if you wish to get others.
---David Seabury


Trust your hunches. They’re usually based on facts filed away just below the conscious level.
---Dr. Joyce Brothers


I just love when people say I can’t do something… because all my life people said I wasn’t going to make it.
---Ted Turner


Every heart that has beat strongly and cheerfully has left a hopeful impulse behind it in the world, and bettered the tradition of mankind.
---Robert Louis Stevenson


Don’t focus on the days when you failed, focus on all of the days when you won. Keep a chart monitoring your successes and don’t give up.
---Robert Butterworth


Your thoughts determine your actions. Your actions determine your habits. Your habits determine your character. And your character gives birth to your destiny.
---Unknown


Our greatest glory consist not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
---Oliver Goldsmith


Singularity in the right hath ruined many; happy are those who are convinced of the general opinion.
---Benjamin Franklin


It is more difficult, and it calls for higher energies of soul, to live a martyr than to die one.
---Horace Mann


That cause is strong, which has not a multitude, but a strong man behind it.
---James Russell Lowell


We cannot live by power, and a culture that seems to live by it becomes brutal and sterile. But we can die without it.
---Man Lerner


Act nothing in furious passion. It’s putting to sea in a storm.
---Thomas Zuller

Holy Week

Let us all reflect the real meaning of this holy season...

A day for the journals

This morning, I came across three journals of mine that I had in highschool and college, back when there weren't any blogs to broadcast your angst to. Yep, angst. I just realized how depressing my adolescent life had been just by reading all those journal entries that I made! It makes me thank GOd that I'm still alive by now. Goodness, if someone were perusing those entries, he might've thought that I ought to go to a psychiatric facility!
Well, I hope this blog doesn't reflect the same vibe as my journals did. I'm just glad adolescence is over! Now all I have to deal with is a life filled with yuppie angst... will it ever end?

My Pagbutlak Entry

I wrote this article back when I was Associate Editor of Pagbutlak. I forgot if I wrote this using a typewriter or a computer. Made me recall what May Ann told me back in high school (I was Editor in Chief of Kasanag, together with Paeng Lobrin... ), "Kung handwritten lang mga articles sa KASANAG, madulaan gid ta Editor!"
I do not disagree one bit.

***

The Victory Rally in Perspective

While history was being made when Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was controversially sworn into office as the 14th president of the Republic of the Philippines by Judge Hilario Davide amid the festive cheers of the voluminous people in EDSA, every UPV constituent, from the administration, the faculty members, the students, down to the staff and personnel all probably had one thing in mind --- what about Monday’s rally?
A little later, that probing question was somehow answered for me when I received a text message (Ah! The beauty of technology…) claiming that the plans for Monday were going to push through --- only this time, UPV was staging a victory rally.
I didn’t quite know how to react. My source was fairly reliable, but the content of the message seemed like those “pass-this-to-13-of-your-friends-and-get-lucky” type. It was the kind that makes you smirk and delete the message instantly. In other words, the content of the message seemed like a sick joke.
I’ve been involved in rallies since I was in high school. I’ve encountered many situations where people marched to the streets with placards and banners in hand, tirelessly hollering at the top of their voice, their disapproval and resentment towards all sorts of reasons --- from an exorbitant oil price hike, to an unjust bureaucratic system, to an unreasonable phase out of a school. But never had I seen people parade into the steaming asphalt, bare the heat of the sun, and cry their lungs out for a victorious cause. The idea seemed far-fetched to me. That’s why the message seemed like a sick joke.
I would have diligently dismissed the said message right away if I didn’t hear that firm voice of authority on the radio confirming that indeed, everything will go as planned on Monday. Placards and banners will still be made and paraded, a mass will still be held, speeches will still be listened to, and the entire UPV community (read: attendance will be checked!) will still be marching to the Rotary Amphitheater and be part of a program with a whole new different theme --- victory.
Then, I was really confused! Everything’s been said and done already. What was the point in staging a rally? Couldn’t we just modestly admit that we were, in fact, a little late and slow in mobilizing ourselves to make a definitive stand and let our voices be heard? Sure, there had been a noise barrage, a torch parade and even a walk-out but these measures were obviously very tiny drops compared to the bucket of water that we were capable of splashing!
Feeling a bit more cynical than I usually am, I made up my mind to attend the rally just for kicks, but I decided to arrive about an hour later than the supposed time of assembly. Besides, I had less faith in the nationalistic fervor of my generation than in my ability to finally develop a legible penmanship.
Imagine, therefore, how humbled I was to arrive on Monday morning and see the quadrangle brimming with Upinians of all shapes and sizes, soberly listening to the rather entertaining, yet still-solemn voice of Father Boy Celiz, who was celebrating the mass.
My thoughts of cynicism were gradually turning into a feeling of pride. Understandable, the march solicited varying reactions from people in the streets. People were cheering --- and jeering at the same time. The jeers were excusable, of course. We couldn’t expect everybody to share the same sentiments. In fact, it was more disappointing to arrive at the Amphitheater panting and sweating like a pig only to be greeted by those who were fresh as the morning dew, simply because they chose to go there in a faster, more efficient way. Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!
The program in the Amphitheater was arguably the best part of the entire day. Songs of social awareness filled the air as fiery speeches were being delivered and a victory dance was performed by no less than the UPV Faculty! The students joined in the lively celebration in no time and everybody seemed to be having lots of fun.
Everybody knew that the fight was far from over. It will take years, new administrations, and an awful lot of hard work and still, we may never get the kind of government that we need so badly. But at that moment of euphoric relief, nobody really seemed to care. At that moment, everybody was relishing the thought of overcoming one gargantuan obstacle. Everybody seemed to be comforted by the thought that after being trampled so low, there was absolutely no way to go but up.
Heck! At least we’ll live to fight --- and party --- for another day!