phylicia86

On How Time Flies

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:01:24 GMT

For four years, around this time, I could be found up in my room, scrounging for school supplies. After all, I always had this nasty habit of either using up all my pens or losing them. This, of course, explains why I have a Laking National Card and why I'm always looking for my pen wherever I go. At one point, I remember using that pen thingie that you could attach to your phone so I could flip it out any time it was necessary.

This, also, explains why I am such a dork.

If I were still going to school, I'd probably be fixing my bag, putting in a notepad/planner in and all teh necessary girlie things before deciding on what to wear for the next day. I know other people are the kind who can wake up and immediately find something to wear. I, however, have learned that I am not one of those people. If I assume I'l just find something, I would go to school late.

It's not that I go through a thousand things to wear, it's more like I prefer to take my time. I wake up at least an hour and a half before I have to leave, mostly because I tend to spend a lot of time doing other things.

One reason I take long is because I like to read the newspaper. This means that I forget how much time I have to get ready and get hassled once I realize. So if I don't prepare what I need the night before, the whole morning goes to hell and I go to school looking harassed. As we all know, you're not supposed to look harassed on your first day.

So right now, I guess there's a little nostalgia in remembering how things used to be. There's also a sense of anxiety in trying to find a new routine. Already, I'm feeling like a relic. I actually went to school the other day, only to end up becoming a little lost because the registrar isn't where it used to be.

The old socsci building has been converted and now houses the new infirmary. So does the new and roomier placement office. I suppose it's a good thing but I can't help but remember the days of going to Bel just to go to the registrar.

Thankfully, some things have not changed (yet) and I went to the pubroom and found some familiar faces. It's going to be a real change not be hanging out in the pubroom as often as I used to or not going to school for that matter.

I suppose that this is all part of teh greater scheme of things where you really have to give some things up to make room for new things.

It's going to be exciting.

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 14:47:39 GMT

a friend pointed out that i only update when im stressed. and admittedly, i think that is true. there's something about sitting in front of the pc willing myself to finish-it-now-lest-you-die-of-procrastination that makes me want to take a few moments to rant about whatever it is that is stressing me out. never mind that I usually don't mention specifics anyway. only minor little details that, when i read the entry again months later,i'm not quite sure what it was. Sometimes i think it is my way of fooling myself. That it is both catharsis and an extra measure to keep myself from going back to dwell on whatever it was. Just in case.

Every time I have those moments when ctk is taking over my life or my theo orals are looming and i thnk im completely lost, random people cheerfully say, "don't worry, two months na lang yan." and i never know what to reply. maybe it is because part of me doesn't want to graduate yet. or at least, part of me would rather keep studying or simply study more. But i do enjoy the rush of things.Not the rush of the deadline is at 5pm, and we are still running up the stairs at 4:55 but the rush of knowing there are people to see, stories to share and thiings to accomplish. it makes me feel...erm, productive. haha.

I really, really wanted to go out tonight. or at least, stay in but do somethign relaxing. but here, i am typing and as always, that means there is somethign else to be finished. In this case, it is ctk and although our consultation is still on monday , i wanted to get a headstart on things before someone throws a wrench in and all our plans go to hell.

i still think it would have been nice to have thesis begin in first sem instead of second. i don't mind doing the work, i mind being rushed.

----

On a lighter note, jan 7! i think we both somehow expected to forget so we celebrated early with dinner at seoul barbecue in libis (eat there, guys, it's great. :) ) i looove korean food. the next day, he ended up spending a good couple of hours watching my groupmates and i stress over ctk. (we had to make financial statements for our imaginary company. guys, let us turn it into a partnership. corporations and stocks make me dizzy.

----

oh, and i just remembered, when we were in bangkok, our guide was talking about this cabaret where men in drag performed (like the ones here in the phils. ) and he was saying, "yes, cabaret. they are bakla, very beautiful." i thought i heard wrong but then he kept saying it, "yes, bakla, bakla, very beautiful." Is the thai word for beautiful..bakla?

new year plans

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 16:20:01 GMT

what are your plans for new year's eve? my father's side of the family usually goes out of town but this year, we're leaving on the 1st instead of the 30th like we used to do. Something about not being able to get 40 people into the same flight. nyahaha. yess, big family. and yeah, i guess it is weird to want to all be in the same flight. and morbid thought: what if something happened? you could wipe out an entire clan! morbid, morbid, morbid. bad audrey.

anyway, we're going to bangkok and we'll be there from the 1st till the 4th. not that long, certainly but im hoping we could make the most of it. while we already spent part of one summer there with my cousins, we didn't really go around the city much. We mostly toured the temples and went to the beach. not that im complaining, it was a great experience! (with no parents!) but im one of those people who likes to go into the cities and eat where the locals do.We played it safe and stayed in the malls and catered meals that came with the trip. However, i do realize that the best way to go about it would be to actually have a local tour us.and since i don't know any thai people, i will content myself with tourist-y tours. hehe.

The last time we went, we didn't really do any serious shopping. part of it was because many of the things weren't all that compelling. and part of it was because my sister is REALLY stingy. my mom thinks that if i had control over all the money, we would have starved but i think NOT. im a lot more....reasonable than that. mind you, we brought home a large chunk of our allowance for that trip. This time, though, im hoping to do lots of shopping. yaaay.

so you know any really good shopping places in bangkok? let me know! :D

anyway, last i heard, we're having lunch at my lola's house on dec. 31. but that's lunch! i wonder what we'll be doing that night...hmm, it wouldn't be so bad to spend it at home for a change but i guess it feels weird since im not used to it. where will you be?

hope upon hope

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:43:02 GMT

In an effort to unload a little stress without completely freaking out at other people, im going to do without fingerpointing.

I'm tired. And no, it's not the "aww, im just tired because i had to finish a paper, wanted to watch the rerun of a show and wanted to have some sort of a social life" kind of tired. It's the "I'm frustrated because I think i have been working hard, putting things on hold, wishing someone else could pick up some of the slack" kind of tired. I hate the feeling because I thought I had done everything I could to avoid it. I used my time management powers, including being productive in-between classes and going to school early even if I didnt' have to because I wanted to take the time to make sure that things work out well. But nooo, so many things have kind of gotten in the way and as much as I'd like to say that I can adapt quickly and just deal with it, I really would just like to be able to rant a little.

I hate feeling like there's so much dependent on me and me alone, particularly because I know I'm not the only person responsible. And it's not that I'm pointing fingers, it's that I wish I could be able to say that the effort paid off. i suppose I'm sayign this only now and I may be talkign too soon because things haven't completely unraveled anyway, I just happen to be really tired and angsty about not having the time to do other things.

....

back to the grind, then.

makati "adventure"

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:42:57 GMT

i was so stressed last night. I sent a sponsorship letter to smart, only to realize that i had left it UNSIGNED. nkakahiya, diba? anyway, i had to replace it asap with a signed copy and didn't want to wait til tomorrow. Nikko couldn't help me because he had thesis meeting and reporting so i ended up begging kevin to help me. that is, after he mocked me for not being able to go myself. nevertheless, pumayag siya to be my companion *coughcoughyayacoughcough* for the day.

we met up at the pub and took a trike to ministop, took the lrt to cubao and then took the mrt to ayala ave. When i got to ayala ave, i got a text message from kevin, asking me to wait for him..

kev: hintayin m ako
me: bakit, asan ka?
kev: basta hintayin mo ako
me: aano nangyari sa yo?
kev: nakidnap
me: di ka naman makikidnap, ipamimigay ka ng magulang mo

...

we were supposed to take a cab to the building but we made the mistake of going to the southbound taxi stop in front of dusit hotel instead of the northbound stop.that meant that we had to go around the corner to the area in front of intercon. when we got to the stop, i noticed that there was some sort of makati mamang pulis clad in green and yellow giving taxi riders slips of paper before they got into the cab. The slip of paper had the plate no, make, and color of the cab written on it as well as a blank for hte cab driver's name as well as information on who you can contact in case you had any problems with the cab. I thought this was a particularly helpful service to makati commuters. but then again, i am talking from the perspective of a person who has had a very bad experience riding a cab in the makati-the fort area. eeew. it still creeps me out when i think about it. may mga manyak na taxi driver talaga.

anyway, we got to pldt and left the documents at their receiving area. by this time, my eyes were really itchy from smoke and the dust but i had to hold off scratching becase kevin pointed out that the bottom part of my right eye was swelling. and just then, all my vanity and girly-ness manifested itself in a whiny complaint about how awful it was for there to be sweelling. although admittedly, it really wasn't that obvious, i knew it was there and taht was enough reason for me to wear my glasses the whole day because i thought it kept people from noticing.

when i got back, i had to read again for my theo class because i had a quiz. Unfortunately, i don't think i did that great because i was still feeling a little disoriented. note to self: do nt commute so much if you are going back to school fro class.

...

On the upside though, i have no class tomorrow! i can contact sponsors and fax shamelessly. Ill just go to school after lunch to check on some stuff and join the batch pic. they told us to wear blue but im quite tempted to wear pink just for fun. hahahaha! that reminds me, im helping jackie with the tokyo party caf raid tomrrow. arr. things to do, things to do, things to do.

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 06:31:27 GMT

would anyone know if rodolfo narciso is an ok teacher?

Regform and Grades

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 08:05:10 GMT

i got my regform today. As most ateneans know by now, we use online enlistment to sign up for our classes. Most people woke up at least an hour before their scheduled time with their ideal schedules drafted onto random sheets of paper while others just threw caution to the wind and just chose right then and there. Considering i was in the last batch to enlist, it seemed futile to make up a sched i was unlikely to get anyway

i just bided my time until i could go online to access aisis. thankfully, Aisis wasn't such a pain the ass. It took a few minutes to log in, but otherwise it was easy to enlist the classes. It was then that i realized it was lucky that i took Th 151 before TH141. I didn't have to contend with the possibility of choosing only among rosana's different sections. I'm taking Rosario again for Ph104 and that's not so bad since i already had him for PH103 and didn't feel as lost as i was taking PH101 and 102. It can really make a difference if you understand your teacher's style. Anyway, i realized that I would only have 15 units this semester. I'm not even sure that's allowed. (That's underload, right? ) In which case, I guess I will have to load rev another class so i have 18 units. it makes more sense anyway, it's harder to salvage your qpi with fewer subjects.

Aisis is also handy for a number of reasons. Like today, i found out that you can check your grades online in case you can't get them yourself in school. They also have the complete set of grades, unlike the print out version which can miss one or two subjects when the teacher doesn't submit on time. Sure enough, my printed out copy didn't have my com grade yet. Just to be sure, i went to the dept to ask the secretary. Aisis also calculates your grades for you, showing you your grades from 1st year to fourth year, providing you with both semestral and cumulative qpi. This is helpful for people like me who forget what they got way back when. It also provides you an online copy of your class schedule once you've registered. i guess at least then, you can print from there.

The confusing part though was figuring out what the regform was going to be used for if you can print out your assessment from aisis anyway, complete with all the info they ask you to fill up on the form. Apparently, the printed regform they give us is more for people who decided not to, or couldn't use aisis. It seems like a waste of paper but i guess it makes more sense to have both just in case. ;p i had panicked a little last night when i couldn't access aisis to print out my assessment form.

i've got reg this thursday and i realized that it would be the last time i'll be going through ateneo registration. ;p

manila adventure

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 06:42:00 GMT

There is simply something about Manila that makes it such an amusing place to keep visiting.
Mica, Nikko and I went to Manila yesterday. The interesting part was our crazy trip going there. we parked the car in Shangri-La and took the mrt to guadalupe. Once there, we walked around that mall-like place in Guadalupe (the one beside TRACE college) and went to the port of the PASIG FERRY. yes guys, there is a pasig ferry. It's actually a really convenient mode of transportation. FOr only P25 (flatrate for weekends), you can take a trip from there to any of the stops in its route (which includes Sta. Ana, Sta. Mesa, Quiapo and Escolta.) After you pay the fee, they give you a piece of paper with a bar code and a pass with your stop printed on it. You swipe the piece of paper and you stay in the airconditioned waiting room. The ferry comes every 30 mins. and it takes a maximum of 55 mins. to get to Escolta. not bad, considering the trip is very comfortable. I don't remember what you call the boats they use to ferry you but its not a supercat..it's one of those with two hulls and a space in between? Anyway, the ferry is airconditioned as well, with..*tandadadaaan* videoke. So you can sing along while you are traveling.

In case you are wondering what songs they play, it's the hits of The Eagles, Bon Jovi, Air Supply and even Bryan Adams. Ohdearlord.

When we got to the Escolta stop, we walked to the end of the bridge and down the stairs to get a taxi that could bring us to Fort Santiago. It turned out to be very near intramuros. Once there, we had originally planned to go on the walking tour of carlos celdran. However, we discovered that not only was he late, when he did arrive, he breezed past very quickly that we assumed he was ending a trip with another group. We later found out that that was our tour. It was apparently a really big group (which is a bad idea btw) that included a number of foreigners. We ended up being toured by manong calesa driver who knew a lot more than we had expected. Not only did he know all the stops, he knew a number of things about them including the dates they were built or what buildings used to be and what they were converted into. we also eventually saw carlos celdran with the group we were supposed to be part of and i think we were lucky not to go with them.

can i just say tho? I think he ought to have like an assistant in charge of arriving earlier and checking if all those who are supposed to be part of the trip are there. Not such a good idea to assume particularly when there are people like us. medyo slow. haha.

The intramuros tour we were supposed to be part of was supposed to visit Fort Santiago, the Rizal Shrine, San Agustin Church and Museum, and Casa Manila. But yesterday was a holiday and apparently, even Carlos must hve forgotten that San Agustin is closed. Sayang, because that was a big part of the trip because it really is such a massive church and museum. And Fr. Blanco's garden is there too. The calesa tour we took was actually really comfortable because it didn't involve as much walking under the afternoon sun and only cost us a fraction of the fee we would have paid for the celdran tour.

Admittedly, it would have been nice to hear his stories about rizal and any of the scandalous little secrets about historical figures, but it would have been nicer to be part of smaller group. after all, that still P250 for student, non-inclusive of museum fees or P700 for adults.

After we exhausted ourselves with walking and picture-taking, we we went to chinatown. We were looking for Suzhou Dimsum but no one we asked seemed to know where it was. we settled with looking for Lai Lai Palace. It even had those aquarium things where you can order eel, fish and shrimp fresh. The food thre was good and had big servings. But we did notice that while their dishes are cheap, there drinks were not (at least not the shakes/juices) doon yata sila bumabawi. Also, i don't think the place is tax-mapped. halaaaa.

Afterwards, i bought some chestnuts for my parents. Mica bought some soymilk and Nikko bought machang, hopia and la resureccion chocolate (a must try! it's P55 per roll and has the sweetened/unsweetened variety)

we took another taxi and rushed to the port thingie to catch the last commercial ferry back to guadalupe. We thought it was at 7:00 pm.may 8:00 pm ferry pala. On our way back, there was even a coast guard guy in the ferry with his rifle, clad in fatigues. i didn't know that even the cost guard wore fatigues. i always figured they'd be in that blue and white but as nikko said, maybe they are part of the infantry division.

So while some girl decided to impress us with her rendition of two less lonely people in the world, I kinda fell asleep. hehe. We then took the mrt back to shangri-la and drove home.

It was interesting, really. I realize that the amount i spent the whole day was less than what i would have spent on a night out in makati. hehehe.

When i got home, mom and dad were watching Edison in the den so we ended up watching with them. It's the film with LL Cool J, Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman and Justin Timberlake (yehees naman)

Get Your Copy!

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 15:46:00 GMT

Check out the works of my workshop fellows! :) I <3 them all.

I hope to see you guys at the launch!

Also, Heights is still accepting contributions for the second regular issue. The second issue is planned for release in December. And watch out for our 55th Anniversary Issue that will be released in Ateneo in January.

Congratulations!

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 15:09:36 GMT

And because I'm such a fan of my workshop children...

CONGRATULATIONS VICTOR!

he was the champion of JackTV's Laffapalooza, a competition for stand up comedy. ;p

no such thing as dying pretty

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 06:24:14 GMT

I'm not much of an actress. Hindi ko siya talent talga e. but it's fun to be delusional.

our last requirement for Com was an experimental film/documentary that is to be submitted to this film festival that is aiming to create films that tackle health issues like the availability of drugs, community health, etc. During our last meeting, someone suggested that i play one of the less fortunate (dying) characters in teh film. stupid me goes," ah yea? sige ok lang. " clearly, i was thinking it was a joke. naki-ride lang ako. but before i knew it, they were texting me to bring a "costume" for my role.

Oh no.

Our first attempt at filming wasn't a big success because there were problems with the set design (well, there wasn't really one). We ended up just making plans for another day. Two days later, Enzo had the set made and pauline and meyo painted it. It was T-shaped with two separate rooms that were supposed to show the difference between the rich and poor characters. I must say, it was nice. i'd post pics but i stupidly completely forgot about taking any. Sabihin na lang natin, i was internalizing my character.

We had two takes, each taking about 15mins long. And my God, ang hirap pala mag-emote. at ang hirap mamatay nang maganda. Thanks to shark na lang for being so nice about it considering we had to make up imaginary relatives and imaginary situations about being pregnant and him not having a job. Yes, guys, buntis ako sa film. so i stole my mom's dusters (sp?) and taped a pillow to my stomach. i actually brought three dusters in various stages of...eww. i ended up wearing a brightly colored flowery thing. just because you're pregnant and dying of suffocation, it doesn't mean that you can't be bright and cheery. Unfortunately, i didn't think ahead to realize that the duster is actually only until my calves. if i lay down and got up suddenly or didn't twist my legs just right as i died on the floor, i might just flash the crew. not exactly what we had in mind for our film.

Suffice to say, we had to do two full takes and a couple of takes where we had to stop mid-conversation ebcause we could hear the boys in the basketball court or someone's footsteps while they walked behind camera. I thought my "death" was pretty dramatic the first time but apparently, they said i needed to "amp it up", complete with hand sliding on the wall, choking from imaginary smoke and crying because my husband died. kadiri lang, i slipped a little on the beer spilled on the floor so i smelled like alcohol and sweat. i even did that funky breathing thing when you're crying and choking and trying to do some kind of dialogue. pangf-MMK na 'to. wahaha.

Dear Diary

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 07:12:01 GMT

Dear Diary,

    Gusto ko naman talgang maging useful. Mahirap lang kasi dahil madali akong ma-distract minsan. at medyo kalat mag-isip kapag hindi naka-karir mode.

     Kaninang umaga, hindi ako nagising kaagad tapos tinulungan ko pa ang kapatid kong isipin kung ok lang bang magmukha siyang harrassed sa klase niya kung kukuha siya ng PE na 8-10am at may klase siya at 1030am. maglalakad pa siya mula cov courts hanggang kostka. Lord, napakalaki ng problema niya.

    pagkatapos, pumunta ako sa Shopwise dahil magkikita kami nina JPaul at Joey(Yes, guys, shopwise is the place to be.wehehe ) magsho-shopping kasi kami para sa mga gamit na dadalhin para sa 3 or 4-day plevsem (di pa namin sigurado) sa Laguna. kaya ayun, naglaro kami habang bumibili ng patatas, manok, champorado snacks at i-need-to-eat-now food items. wala sa aming nag-isip magdala ng salad, gagawa naman daw ng sopas si Anne. sayang, wala si KimBa. wala nang gagawa ng fancy chicken with grass thing for lunch. nape-pressure akong ipakita ang domestic skills ko, lalo na't sabi ng nanay ko hindi raw ako magsu-survive. wala talagang belief in my skills.

    Sayang walang beach sa laguna. pool lang. Mahilig pa naman ako sa dagat at buhangin. at lulunurin ko sana si kevin.

    Hayaan mo, diary, patutunayan ko sa kanilang may silbi naman ako sa kusina. (nag-aarrange ng plato by color and size.wehehe, joke lang. marunong akong magluto kahit papaano)

    Pag-uwi ko sa bahay, paalis pa lang yung mga bisita ni daddy na kinailangang i-tour ng kapatid ko sa bahay. Secretly, ayaw ko namang lumipat. pero ok na rin lumipat kung mas practical. mami-miss ko lang yung mga narra floors na pinakaiingatan ng nanay ko. yung tipong kakagatin ka kung makatapon ka ng tubig sa sahig. (alam niyo bang hindi naman talaga namin ginagamit yung mga sofa sa sala? tuwing christmas lang para magpa-picture at kung may bisita. hehe.)

     Ngayong gabi, magpapaka-useful ako. ako ang gagawa ng hapunan. pasta with alfredo sauce. first time ko itong tatangkain kaya sana hindi palpak. masesermonan kasi akong nagsasayang ng pagkain. kung hindi naman, sasabihan ako ng nanay kong mag-asawa na lang ako ng mayaman.

Alam 'nyo nang may transparent frog na ngayon?

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 11:38:07 GMT

alam kong maramin pang ibang mga mas mahalagang bagay na gagawin. pero hindi ako makapigil dahil nakakatuwa. haha!

Japanese to patent transparent frog

Boffins in mutant albino batrachian IP brouhaha

By Lewis Page → More by this author

Published Thursday 27th September 2007 11:57 GMT

Jobsite - find your next IT job quickly & easily

Japanese boffins have used artificial insemination to breed mutant frogs with transparent skin. The scientists reckon this will make biological research - not to mention school biology lessons - signifcantly less messy and traumatic, as it will no longer be necessary to cut the slime-filled creatures up in order to examine their innards.

"You can watch organs of the same frog over its entire life as you don't have to dissect it," enthused noted Hiroshima University* sunroof-amphibian man Professor Masayuki Sumida, according to AFP.

The new, handy, patent-pending sunroof

frog. Look but don't cut.

Sumida and his team of batrachian-bothering boffins produced the new see-through-packaged critters by breeding carefully selected mutant albino frogs. The pale-skinned pond dwellers' offspring came out opaque owing to the presence of dominant regular-type genes, but by breeding these genetic carrier frogs together the crafty researchers obtained breakthrough batrachians with built-in windows.

It seems the new special frogs - derived from regulation rena japonica japanese browns - are transparent even as tadpoles. This provides hours of fun for committed frog fanciers as "you can see dramatic changes of organs when tadpoles mutate into frogs", according to Sumida. He believes the secret of the see-through creatures will be so commercially valuable that he plans to patent them.

It might seem impossible to prevent unscrupulous breeders producing illegally pirated sunroof-frog copies to be sold in supermarket carparks, but in fact Sumida's biotech has built-in BRM (Batrachian Rights Management). The glassy frogs can have children, also transparent, but the following generation die at birth. If you want to look at a frog's guts without slicing it up, you'll have to pay licensing.

Sumida's plans don't stop there. He reckons a move forward from simple eugenics to actual genetic modification could produce new and still more innovative frog technology. The good professor envisaged an exciting new type of transparent amphibian which would glow luminously when it developed cancer, for instance.

Obviously, glowing see-through cancerous batrachians are great; but indeed this news is no surprise when one considers the other amazing capabilities of the moist miniature marsh-dwellers (for instance the ability to sweat hallucinogenic drugs, antiseptic ointment, insect repellent, or even glue).

Surely it can't be long until some clever scientist employs Sumida's patented batrachian boffinry to develop a pocket-sized variety which can dispense a refreshing mindbending chemical, be used to stick notes to the fridge, deal with insect bites, and light up a dark hallway. One would be able to tell how much loopy juice, glue etc was left in the little fellow's reservoirs simply by looking, of course. And in extremis the adaptable amphibian could be sold to a passing Frenchman as a tasty snack.

Frogs. Is there anything they can't do? ®

dumdedum

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:45:55 GMT

i have finished only half of my notes for my spanish orals. (im taking spanish 2 for my free elective) and don't knock it, guys, span 2 is no walk in the park. but i <3 mr. prado simply because he's so amusing. never mind that he likes to look at my answers as i write them down in my carpeta or that he has made me present first for both of our required presentations. I have learned quite a bit about spanish and i have to admit, it makes me want to pursue it a little more. except that im graduating so i can't really minor in it. Damn comtech for having so many subjects!

just today, i was wondering to myself why it was that I didn't continue my minor. after all, i had it kind of planned out (except for the part where my qpi took a dip i didn't plan on in 3rd year. wehehe.) but mother dearest did point out that lit is something i can pursue or whatever after i've graduated. she can't emphasize enough how important it is to graduate with good grades. personally though, i know to myself that while they are helpful, they are not the end all when it comes to building your future. and maybe, to sort of convince myself, i do remember thinking to how little time i had made for other things that i thought are important simply because i was busy. (emotionally handicapped ahoy!)

i think doubts like these creep up on me every so often during moments of weakness when it dawns on me that we will be out in the "real world" very soon. It's enough to make you want to value reviewing for a long test (or not. hehe.)

on other things, my USB died. no one can seem to give me an explanation except for "nangyayari lang kasi talga yan" (accdg to kuya ctc101)
and it has all my fiiiiiileees. i know, i know, i should have been smart enough to burn my files into a cd. but my pc didn;t have a burning thingie and i have generally taken very good care of my usb. in a lot of ways, it contained my life. you could always tell how stressed i was by the sheer number of files not sparated into folders or weirdly named ones like. final paper edited.doc, final paper edited2.doc and final na final na talaga.doc

ohh, to be stressed and unproductive

oh yes, heights trivia:
which former heightser was published in today's Inquirer Youngblood section?

taking a breather

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 14:53:48 GMT

I'd be lying if i said i wasn't going crazy about preparing for the workshop. while i am ecstatic that there is a good turnout in terms of fellows who are also heightsers, i can't help but feel completely taken over by the workshop. haha. i actually think i have lost weight trekking the three flights of stairs up to the filipino department just to have sir egay sign letters. With that in mind, i guess all this running around isn't so bad. However, im not particularly amused by the costs i've incurred after needing to print so many letters and other documents from the computer labs. not only are they overpriced, the sheer hassle of the long lines and/or stupid people in the way is enough to test my patience. BUT, i do remain optimistic about it. even if i have a number of other letters to do as well as a workshop manuscript to check on, I think this is going to be a great workshop. or as i have chosen to put it, "the best workshop EVAH!" ask the other eb members, they will tell you how i've been flooding their email accounts with messages with a million reminders. it's a wonder, they haven't bonked me on the head yet.

MUST. WORK.NOW.

here's to being stressed and staying pretty. (or failing with dignity. haha!)

Geran jsut texted me. SPIT is on RPN9! hi mr ariel diccion!

thoughts on journals and primping

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 10:47:51 GMT

i was online checking my mail when i got a notification from lj. It was then that I realized how long it had been since I had posted anything, or written anything for that matter. To those who know, it wasn't too long ago that I discovered how immensely insulting and violating it is to have someone peruse through your personal things, including personal writings--regardless of where and how you come across such items. After all, your things, your words, these are an interesting peek into the kind of person you are or even the kind of things you value. Thats why you keep those things nearby as much as possible, or even hidden just in case someone's feeling a little naughty. On one hand, i know that i have every right to have become as upset as i was. On the other, I wonder if i have blown it out of proportion. That maybe, I should ask myself if it really matters that someone knows what i think or how i felt at certain times--after all, it is not as if it were untrue.

When I think about it, I do remember someone once pointing out that journals are sometimes kept by people who have an implicit desire to have someone read what they have written. It is as if the act of committing to paper is in itself an invitation for an other to stop, take notice and spend a few minutes finding out what's been going on in your head. This immediately assumes that there are, in fact, people out there who wonder what you are thinking about and what your are interested in. That in itself, is an assumption that is more or less, borne of our own experience of wanting to know what makes another person tick. Hey, i stil catch myself people-watching---catching snippets of their conversation, and crafting stories about why they said what they did, where they are going or the way they interact with whoever they are with. It's a little voyeuristic, i know. And believe me, you have no idea how, uhm, interesting it is to discover things by accident or to infer them and find out that you're correct. In fact, one of the funniest/most amusing things that i've discovered is how offhand conversation is in the ladies bathroom. In between putting on make up and brushing their hair, girls talk about everything from the bad day they'er having to the teacher they hate most, to the boy she wishes she were dating to the reason why one girl refuses to give an admirer any hope at all. On really special days, its two girls talking about how she hates another girl for doing this or that or how a simple hair flip has started an all out girl-war. (meaning, nothing overtly physically violent. all fighting must be done quietly and sneakily. warning: maximum backstabbing up ahead.) But on most days, really, there is minimal conversation. It is just you and other girls primping up to look presentable. It is probably the girls version of a warm up before the fight. The primp-up is the massage before the first round of boxing or the backstage stretch before the performance. You do it because it's what makes you feel just a little bit better about yourself and prepares you for facing everyone else. At the very least, it reminds you that being stressed doesn't mean you can't look like you have everything under control. And after that sigh escapes your lips, you take a last look at the mirror and walk out the door with a little bit more bounce in your stride.

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 17:35:10 GMT

whattaway to end the semester!

i got my advisement slip from ms. ghing and she asked me why i had not taken nstp1 and nstp 2 yet. not only was i surprised, i was annoyed. to think i even made an effort to ask our facilitator for my grade once it was all done. I have little patience for screw-ups like this, particularly because i was wondering why in the heck they let two years pass before even thinking to call my attention to it.

anyway, i decided to attend to it before i left this saturday so i called up the registrar.I was expecting to hear her say that they just made a mistake and would fix it. instead, she told me that their records showed that i had withdrawn from both nstp1 and nstp2. isn't there some sort of procedure to be considered when it comes to withdrawal? it's not like im an athlete or whatever so I would have no good reason not to take it. she told me to go to OSCI to iron it out. I then called up OSCI only to find out that the team leader in charge of NSTP is on leave and won't be back till next week. but I won't be back until the week after that!

grr.

ala namang ako lang sa block ko ang hindi nag-nstp!

the last stretch

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 13:30:32 GMT

i'm happy that the sem is nearly over! and i'm excited about our trip! but im stressing over philo and my other subjects! :o this is the worst i've been in college. but i will fight, FIGHT to finish the year as best as i can.

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 16:14:44 GMT

i decided to be responsible today. I started my comm book report on the Pilgrim at Tinker Creek while I was still in school. That is, thanks to Julio and Jed who managed to tap into my sense of "i-must-get-this-done-ness" Halfway through, I decided to go with Julio and his friend to watch a freshman play. It was, for a lack of a better word, unusual. It rested on the premise that God didn't know what was happening right under Him. That is, in the sense that the archangels were already deciding who deserved to die to protect their place of favor with God. I didn't really get most of the dialogue, including the part where St. Peter said that he was denied angel's wings because he denied Christ three times. I think it may have been because they were shouting above the background music that was obviously far too loud to be effective. But the girl who played one the angels was, admittedly, kinda hot. i have my doubts about whether the boys in the audience cared whether they understood what she said at all. She had this whole tan and glittery thing going on. complete with a fierce, i am bitchy and i would whip you kind of aura about her. haha.

I don't think i make any sense anymore. I went through as many chapters as I could. thankfully, i had already marked a few nice quotes that i used in my paper. i'd type some of them in here right now but im just too tamad. im just glad i got through it. Im also unsure about the format of my paper but as I remember it, Sir does have a tendency to let us just go off and do what we will. In fact, Erica made her last paper into a booklet. I mean, THAT was certainly a stretch from the usual 12 tnr, 1 inch all sides in pristine bond paper. On other things, I realized that the flash program in our comp doesn't work so i will ahve to do my piggy animation tomorrow pa. arrrgh. ok lang yan, ill try to do it before my philo class so i can study opmaaan.

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 10:18:45 GMT

I know that i haven't exactly been a particularly industrious student but it's frustrating when you study and study and study all the wonderful things that your teacher tells you will be important and included only to find that the test includes topics he specifically told us we did not need to know. haay.

on other things, i was buying from one of the stalls in som mall when this girl goes to the side of the counter, looking a little tired and then proceeds to collapse, hit her head on the counter and fall to the ground convulsing. you know those shows when someone collapses and you wonder why everyone is just standing there stunned instead of doing anything? well, i think that i looked exactly like one of those unresponsive bystanders. granted, i would have bent down if only the girl beside me hadn't already done that. the people around us all kind of freaked out too, including a few boys who actually walked away instead of checking to see if things were ok. when she finally stopped convulsing, she lay on the ground for a few moments before we got her up to sit. adrian had to ask her if she had any friends around and asked them to help her. as we later found out, her friends didn't really knw what to do either. she ended up taking a blue and white pill (gasp) and was forced to wait an extra 15-20 mins or so before the guards got one of the admu cars/pick up thingies to go get her. oddly enough, none of the girls friends went with her. ang weird! as erica pointed out, would you really want to be left alone in such a weakened state? and i wondered a little why the guards didn't just help her get to the infirmary. i mean, she convulsed na nga, but she was already a little better, even though she was complaining of a headache. i figured, it was embarassing enough to collapse in front of upperclassmen but even worse to have to sit there and wait instead of actually going to where they could help you.

If I ever collapse in your presence, could you please help me up and bring me some other place? No need to prolong the pain or the embarassment!

after the finance test, my blockmates and i went to have dinner at bento box. i tried their maki crunch but just found myself craving omakase sushi even more and then went to drew's after. it was a good thing, i think. i slept pretty well last night. :) Thank God i have no early class on tuesdays.

BurnOut

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 10:01:39 GMT

The Actm Year-End Party was fun. It became a sort of block R3 event with dax and er hosting, abby and jackie organizing the fashion show and sofia, abby and i agreeing to dress up in Chocolate clothes and CFAD outfits. We were a little worried there would be a low turnout but around 9pm, everyone started to show up. sof and i went to eliazo to try out our clothes for our third run and discovered that they were, uhm, candy colored. haha. ok lang. we drove to glass tower and got made up in salon de ken where we got a little worried over looking extra pale because of the sheer amount of make up they used. glam-rock themed kasi! haha. it was really fun though.

i had dinner with mica and joey at CYMA after and we went to absinthe to end the night.

thanks again to abby and jackie. dax and erica were great as hosts and to vida, jc, nikki and clare who watched us make fools of ourselves. haha! :)

(L-R) sofia, cess, tree, kylie, abby, me, karla and barbie

Clothes from Chocolate

(L-R) barbie, sofia, kylie, me, cess and tracy

This was the second run where it looked like a bag of skittles exploded. :p

rainy day

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 15:25:20 GMT

today didn't really start out very well. i was so pissed off last night because i couldn't use the net to send the timetables i had made for our opman implementation plan.t his meant that i had to get up earlier this morning to get to school to give erica the files to include in our powerpoint. since it was so hot when i woke up this morning, i decided to wear shorts. but as we were driving to school, i noticed that it was a little extra cloudy. i got dropped off at gonzaga so i could make a call to san yee for our pricelist but ms.g was apparently still on the phone with soemone else and could not confirm the fax transmission of the info i needed. I decided to just call after but just as i was about to leave the pubroom, it rained. HARD. thank God for kat who lent me her umbrella. :)

we wre freaking out during comm about our opman thing so we spent our lunch break eating/ computing for estimated costs to teh company and payback period. oh, to be young and procrastinating. we certainly managed to come up with something using a few radical computations and got to class in teh nick of time. unfortunately, dear mr. pilar was late so we had to speed up our presentation. the presentation was ok, but i wasn't expecting very much considering the panic we were in, trying to just come up with something sensible. our panelists' (mr. pilar and mr. refuerzo) comments were helpful so now, we're in the middle of editing the paper for the final pass.

we're keeping our fingers crossed for the defense on saturday. i've definitely learned from past sem in keeping in mind taht a good mock defense means nothing compared to teh real thing.

off to work some more.

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 15:55:26 GMT

i don't wanna FAIL! :( i feel so unprepared for the finance test. and i've been solving the exercises in the book!

because i haven't started on what im supposed to be doing

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 15:04:29 GMT

i just know im going to regret this tomorrow night. instead of working on my philo paper, i sat at my desk drawing on my cj and writing random quotes from teh book i was reading. and to think, i was whining only this afternoon about how difficult it was to concentrate on reading whatever.

American Beauty shouldn't be that hard to talk about, and starting this paper shouldn't really be a problem But it's Philo and somehow, it has a way of making everything seem like it ahs to be awfully complicated or else it simply isn't philosophical.

we have only a few weeks of school left and it worries me that things aren't quite going the way i had planned. and its even more frustrating that i haven't been able to sleep well lately. ive been so tired and its beginning to show.Aside from my face, it shows on my hands when im tired or stressed.

creative journal-ing

crystal_barracuda@yahoo.com — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 15:09:36 GMT

I've been trying to take my creative journal as seriously as possible. But I'm starting to run out of things to talk about. My planner isn't much help because although it keeps track of appointments, tests and other important dates, it doesn't keep track of any details. No notes on who i was with or reminders of what things made me laugh or sigh or anything. maybe thats why most people keep their journals with them, to make sure that they take down the moments that matter. And now, my journal is full of pictures, drawings and scribbles. do a little more than remind me that the time i tried to write was a time when i was extremely bored and drew only blanks when i was looking for something poignant in my day. but maybe that's because the memories worth rememberign are the ones that aren't limited to a particular second, minute or hour. they're the moments when you realize that you've forgotten the time because you were laughing too hard, staring off into space or staring into someone's eyes. They're the scenes in your head that creep up when you're not paying attention and never fail to make you smile. i want more moments like that. And if i'm lucky, I'll even remember to put them in my journal. After all, as Mr. Strebel put it, "...ang mga libro ay mga labi lamang ng karanasan."

The funny thing is, though, who knew that I could draw things that resembled identifiable objects. And who knew that colors made me happy? haha.