aloha, 2008!
i feel so lucky, globe gave me unli!
a friend wished me a happy birthday yesterday. real sweet.
gma7 was 5 seconds ahead of abscbn2. not bad, considering they were ages apart last year.
it was a bit too silent up at the highlands. though you're able to meet the fireworks at eye level, it was a tad too quiet.
but quiet isn't bad, either, as long as you have cheesecake for midnight... and company, of course.
i find it strange, though - every year i get to see the fireworks with a newfound friend.two eves ago, a japanese girl; then last year, two young south korean boys.
last night, a la sallite lass. i just met her three or four days ago...
yet somehow i felt at ease while she was bombarding me with the silliest questions and anecdotes.
i'd sure want to meet her again, but i can't wait for 2009, either.
though i'm rushing too much. i totally forgot about homework. and three exams too!

REPORT, OR DROP.

it came from my MPs 10 professor. apparently, he knows that someone's been absent from his class for five meetings already.

so i'm dropping that subject next year. right at bat for 2008, eh?

and there goes my mom randomly uttering, "wow, may anak akong cum laude!"

no, i haven't told them. yet.

hoooo, i feel down.

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a high school pal greeted me happy valentine's day this early. told me that he wanted to be the first one to greet me that.

some people are really strange, not wanting to waste a single minute. heh.

and speaking of high school, i seriously browsed my yearbook for the first time ever.

gave me lots to think about... and fits of laughter.

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tagaytay today, baguio tomorrow. it's the perfect christmas break... but for two reasons.

i have a sprained foot. and sprains hate cold weather. as luck would there be, i also got the flu from santa!

and... how about homework? don't forget the exams too!

anyway, i played tennis here with a newfound friend this morning. i was owned miserably. either i really suck, or she was really damn good.

and yes, sprain or no sprain, it would've been the same.

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more tennis whatnot:

"balls are meant to be lost
rackets are made to be broken
in the name of tennis,
love [matches] happens!
(amen!)"
-rj? and gab

tennis + acads = stress
but tennis is love! and love = 0.
thus, acads = stress.
furthermore, no acads = no stress!

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Tennis UP will celebrate its first anniversary next year! special events in connection to that will be posted as a follow-up.

with that, happy 2008 to the world!!!

Bored?

i feel for you, so try some of these:

1) Happy Tree Friends. i'm not a fan of cartoon violence, but... there was simply no choice.
resistance is futile.

2) Jessica Zafra. what's not to love?

3) Reader's Digest. ohh, there's always room for something new.

4) banana chips and milk. chill before serving. best before sundown.

still bored? get some sleep. but before that, i'm thinking about another poll. suggestions would be most welcome.

Logically random.

random chaos eventually molds into perfect logic - anonymous

two days ago i opened my own Multiply account, mainly so that i have access to others' pictures and whatnot, but otherwise it's virtually empty. what caught my attention, however, was Mutiply's conception of a network, something i haven't seen anywhere else yet. it distinguishes a friend from a colleague, neighbor, life partner, family, and business partner. so american, pretty much like my attempt at eenglisch. funnily, however, it's the latest fad, even in the confines of the Filipino context, which is good proof of the existence of neo-colonialism. hmmm.

i sent my first five drafts to my employer-slash-benefactor today. if everything goes well, i get paid; but if there's even one typographical or grammatical error that i overlooked or was unaware of... my pay gets cut in half. and my full pay goes at Php400 per 1000-word set, which is more or less cheap labor, given the quality of write-ups that they expect... but here's hoping that i get a bonus for passing my drafts three days ahead of schedule. (heh!)

ahh, that's all thanks to this damned rain. i planned to play tennis or jog in UP today. worse, weatherpeople are hinting 'typhoons' as of presstime. (lesson learned: sembreak + rain = stagnation) so i planned to please myself by watching Prison Break's season 3, but video streaming sites deleted them all (i can clearly imagine hearing one atenean friend of mine - copyright issues? CHE!!!). same went for Heroes, and i don't want to download videos yet, i fear that something might go wrong...

which reminds me of something that actually went wrong: 1st Semester, AY '07-'08. you see, Geog 1 and 1.25 don't sound like they fit to be next to each other, right? then there's that German 11 choke - i had to take a final exam! heck. and i'm not talking about my majors yet!

anyway, enough of that. tell you what: don't mess with ol' Grampy Time. you'll end a loser - i adjusted all our house, mobile, and computer clocks to half an hour advanced; same with all the personal wrist watches. this morning i was supposed to pay some bills for my dad in the bank; me, being the ultimate procrastinator, completely forgot all about it until 2:30 pm, when he called to ask me about the payments. i lied to him, then after the call ended, i rushed to the nearest bank, which was a half-hour away from the house. banks close at 3:00 pm sharp; when i arrived there, i learned that it was just 2:00 pm... and that i was a big sucker.

with that all said, i'm off to play 3D ping pong. auf wiedersehen!

the ray of light

home is behind / the world ahead /
and there are many paths to tread /
through shadow / through the end of night /
until the stars are all alight /
mist and shadow / cloud and shade /
all shall fade / all shall fade //

my friends, thank you for pointing out the joys of a six-day weekend. as for my part, the star wars bi-trilogy, the harry potter series (1-5), and if anyone recognizes pippin's song, the lord of the rings, all of them. that's thirty-plus hours of viewing time. i wish i hadn't started on hp, though. they might be at par with other box office hits in terms of dollar sales, but in overall grandeur, nahh, not even two cuts away.

regardless, it was an upgrade over excruciatingly waiting for a fighting maroon to exhibit some miniscule form of defense.

meanwhile, who said we have to wait for a "ber" to start christmas festivities? or maybe it's just my dad who fired a gun too early, but i heard him singing white christmas two days ago.

actually, i'm running out of creative juices, but with a stroke of luck, a shred of tomorrow's news, coming from a reliable source through y!m express:

m*_t*: THE BEGINNING OF THE END... OF TOFI! JOIN THE AUGUST 21 MOBILIZATION, 1130AM AT THE AS LOBBY! EMULATE PUP WHERE 5K STUDENTS WALKED OUT OF THEIR CLASSINGS, CAUSING THE JUNKING OF TOFI. PLS PASS - SPARE and UPX

look, i don't have anything against them fighting for their own causes, for others' causes for that matter. but this guy just instructed us to emulate another school's histrionics when we should be the trendsetters. and we are part a University, an institution dedicated to help our families and fellowmen through the best education our country and taxes can offer. so please, if i may say this, let our action materialize inside the classrooms, not out of it.

however, what struck me the most was one of the two organizations purportedly involved: UP Xientia. Xientia, for starters, is derived from Xientian, a term used by students and alumni of my alma mater (QCSHS) to identify themselves as part of the said institution, usually within themselves, but nowadays even to others.

the latter was reinforced with the advent of this new organization, which apparently aimed to gather UP-D Xientian alumni, for whatever the cause they agreed upon. i, along with many others, was invited to this organization, but declined as i did not see the need to differentiate myself from others who do not come from my alma mater, if ever that was their aim in the first place, and i thought it was.

obviously, i missed the mark by a mile. i can't help but wonder if the whole organization thinks as one in this issue, as claimed by that announcement above. now i wish classes would be suspended tomorrow as well, for whatever reason anyone might mind conceiving.

anyway, the sun was up earlier this day, from the east it rose. the clouds were nowhere behind it. with sheer stupidity, i went up to the rooftop, as always, whenever i needed a boost of inspiration. i saw my own shadow, long and flat against the sloping roof. and there i found it - my writer's epiphany. you love it when it happens. i'm already working on it.

p.s. i would like your opinion on a poll i would be posting. details are to follow. thank you.