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.

-------

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.

-------

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.

-------

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!

-------

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!!!

Sleep mode

death is but sleeping through eternity. -anonymous

for the last two days, i have slept at least 25 of 39 hours (as of presstime). that accounted for a no-update yesterday. in fact, i'm off to bed in a little while, again. you see, it's just a full week before the second semester resumes, and i doubt that i'll be getting enough sleep by then. guess i'll see most of you next week.

p.s. i have three friends celebrating their birthdays today (2.11.07). happy birthday to all of you. (",)

I'll do better next time, promise

dad: guys, i saw a sign of the Second Coming.
me: seriously?
mike: ano naman yun?
dad: gabo's eating fish! (eyes widen, approach my plate) look!!

ahhh. i love my family. hahaha.

had to rise early this morning, running a few errands again for my dad and sibs. went to their school, and lo, behold, my eyes were met by dozens of schoolkids, parents, and educators, half of them waving flaglets of different nations.

me: kuya, ano po meron?
guard: ah, United Nations Day. pumaparada na yung mga bata ngayon.

wow, what a sight. these kids don't know anything about chaotic world written in today's newspapers; one guy was holding an Israeli flag and a Syrian one in one hand, an American and a North Korean in another. and more of the sort. pretty cool, and the costumes were hands-down awesome. one thing i noticed though: no Filipino flags. how realistic.

after that, i went back home and slept before heading to a 2 pm bonding session with some co-apps. i swore to my dad that i'd leave early... ended up spending 4 hours and all of my money. but i had fun, though.

anyway, i'm dead tired. i'm even surprised at how much i've written given the exhaustion. now off i fly. tschus!!

Sembreak

in response to your having limited experience with life in general, it is, alas, a truism that all writers have to deal with. either you're in front of that desktop writing, or you're out there having experiences. since you both want to write and have experiences, you'll have to do more with less - and that is practically the essence of writing.

this, a paraphrased quote from the movie Ask the Dust, hit a bulls-eye smack into my soul.

and so, hello again, bloggy. this time i offer no excuses for my negligence, as it was my choice to supposedly allot time for this site's maintenance. please accept, for the umpteenth time if you can even remember, my apologies.

anyway, sembreak - the three-week gap between your last exam or project and the registration period, the grace period before another nerve-wracking and physically demanding term, the days when daily allowance is nil, the age when ennui rules over its dominion of students - is here.

i don't want this break to be wasted; it's too precious and rare to be taken for granted. thus i laid out my agenda 4 an UPbeat 4th sem:

plump up the previous term was a flame short of hell, and i felt that i took a toll on my once-improving stature. now's the time to sleep early, rise late, and eat plenty.
tennisUP ahh, yes. my newfound love will not waver even if we're three jeeps apart. final rites are just lurking around the corner, my dear co-apps.
write-ups it's this simple: i need cash, and a peso for every word ain't that bad, i'd say. the job's to inject some sense into it, right sirs and ma'ams?
cheer up! definitely not the time to smart a frown - i have at least 5 more semesters for that. so show me some love and that cheeky, toothy, contagious smile!

the title sounds like one of those promising yet currently stagnating SONA platforms that our dear President promotes year by year. here's hoping that mine doesn't turn out likewise. lady luck doesn't seem to be that lenient towards me, though - earlier this afternoon my youngest bro whacked my right index finger with a badminton racquet, albeit accidentally.

with that said, i fly off to bed. *swoosh...*

the sick mind

the last time i went to a hospital to visit my sick lola, i ended up confined on the same room with her, on counts of mild pneumonia, severe asthma, influenza, and mild tuberculosis. and two weeks after lola was released, i was still there. i was a grade 3 student back then, missing at least 15 school days and a field trip. worse, from then on, the cute, chubby kid that i was started dying, and gave birth to the sickly, thin figure that i am now.

a week ago, and eight years later, lola was sick again. last time it was about kidney stones, this time diabetes. 'twas a good thing one of her daughters (a tita of mine) worked before at the philippine heart center, so she was rushed there without worrying about how hard it would be to get a decent room for her (not an establishment on earth is free of politics, i believe). so there she was again.

and today, i was tasked to bring some home cooking to her. memories of almost a decade ago were triggered, recalled, even primed. but i assured myself, oh, but my mom is there.

but then, she was also there, eight years ago.

anyway, i had no choice. and besides, depending on announcements regarding class suspensions, i just might have to do it again the next day, and the next, and the next... so i better get used to it.

nearly an hour later, i had arrived, towing two tupperwares-full of sinigang na bangus and rice with me into an elevator, went up four floors as the guard instructed me back down at the lobby (felisa limpin? room 443c, petal d po, ayun po yung elevator), and started on the series of corridors up a head.

suddenly, my body went chill, as i haply sniffed out some murky, unpleasant odor. of course, it was just air conditioning and the usual clean banyo smell always present within hospital confines, but my system reacted to it violently, at least for a few moments.

i got there alive. lola was stationed right at the left wing of three separate cubicles only separated by dividers, privacy only provided by curtains. she was half-asleep on her bed, iv tubings pierced on the veins of her wrist, the lights dim; then i saw my mom, who looked like she didn't have any sleep, watchfully sitting on a thin bench beside the bed. i set my pasalubong on a nearby table, then sat down beside my mom.

that was when i noticed: my hands were dry and shivering. my lungs were starting to constrict, my every breath strained with wheezing. then, as if preordained by time, an unused electronic thermometer, hiding in one of the drawers, took my gaze. it was still boxed, but the gadget manual was sticking out. i pulled it out, unfolded it, and started reading.

press the button to turn on/off. when 37.0C appears on the digital screen, it is ready to take measurements. for oral or rectal temperatures, one minute; for axilliary temperatures, 2-3 minutes. a slow beeping rhythm means that the temperature is within non-fever range (<37.8c);>

axilliary means armpits, eh? so i turned the thing on, waited for the said beeps... and they came. however, rapidly. i comprehended the digits as 3-9-0, then took the manual again, trying not to believe at the device. yet there was nothing wrong with the thermometer.

that was the last straw. "mama, uuwi na po ako."

i was 15 minutes and a jeep away from home when i learned that classes were suspended around midday due to supertyphoon egay. however, the sun was lurking over the clouds. i basked in that patch of sunlight, thanking each drop of saltwater coming out of my pores. the sun is a lovely thing to behold, i thought.

right after that thought, a raindrop fell from the heavens. the chill returned, but now it took more effort to breathe. seven followed, then tens, then dozens. and i was still fifteen minutes away from home. the wind was harsh, the storm relentless, i, drenched, stuck, in pain, and without an umbrella.

a jeep finally came. i half-ran, half-wobbled into the vehicle, found a quarter of a seat, nearly sat on an elderly woman beside the spot, squeezed my lean frame in, but i was falling. before all went black, i heard someone screaming.

-------

"gabo, gising! mamayang hapon pa klase mo diba? daanan mo ng pagkain si lola sa heart center, mamayang mga alas-onse."

=======

a few notes:

1. saw a replay of the ust-dlsu 2nd round match earlier. sharon yu (dlsu) wasn't wearing glasses, and i thought she looked horrible. diane querrer... duling yata siya?
2. i don't remember mentioning my younger sib taking the upcat. i'll be passing his admu application form tomorrow. (perhaps i'll see you, miles? and bring along the others too, if you please? teehee.)
3. state u was supposed to lose to uste today. supertyphoon egay didn't want that, but it wanted us to get our 9th loss against our friends in katipunan. not much of a difference, hmm?
4. honestly, i miss having classes. even if it means the destruction of my two eyes, a severe headache and tons of stress. but then, the government bogeymen say wait until 11 pm tonight. sheesh.

caught up... barely.

(last of a 3-series special)

i'm *cough* dead *sneeze* sick *faint*. lately i've been snacking on caps and tabs like they were popcorn, hoping that drinking water encourages a placebo effect, and experiencing early morning asthma attacks twice its normal occurence rate. and ever since i accidentally slept on my eyeglasses, i've had five days worth of sore eyes (and nearly a long exam), a very strained left eye and a virtually helpless right, deep-set eyes being showcased to everyone, and not a day without eye-mo, as my eyes seem to be waiting for just one big kamot before all turns red.

all these, plus the irregular weather, the slew of national holidays, a glaring lack in extra-curricular activities, the absence of friends and usual companions, and mental pressures led to a school life burnout, wherein everything seems to be tiring and/or boring. imagine: i have 12 units worth on mondays and thursdays, and those are the days when either a professor called sick or classes are off by chance. i mean, what are the odds?

my dad would tell me half-jokingly that it's all in the head. i hope he's right.

=======

three incentive papers.
two film showings.
a quiz, a practical, an exam, tons of readings.
15 hours community service. 0 hours completed.
a prospective cssp reg assistant.
19 units next semester, including two 5-unit courses.
2.5k pesos of expenditures before the end of this month.
borderline balance in my atm.
another UP loss.
two months before their application process ends.
a still empty, partially crumpled tennisUP sigsheet.
muscle pains and slight weight loss.
a need for inspiration.
nostalgic dreams.
a dismissing smirk.
a cheery smile.

p.s. happy birthday to everyone who had birthdays from june to tomorrow. dami nyo eh.
p.s.s. jessica zafra rules. jessica alba is hot.
p.s.s.s. errata: sorry for raising your hopes a bit too early, UP fans. the writer was referring to preseason performances. but they'll do great nonetheless.