I tried watching MTV'S The Osbournes because I found Kelly Osbourne intriguing at the 2002 MTV Movie Awards, (Dyed her hair pink, huh?) and it wasn't bad. I even found their opening credits amusing, because it reminded me of some 50's tv show (read: squeaky clean), and the show so different from it. The episode I watched featured a houseguest - I think his name was Jack.
I would have finished the show if only the word 'fuck' wasn't repeated every five seconds! Well, I have nothing against curse words, but bleeping them everytime makes it kinda hard for me to understand what they were really saying. (MTV Asia is still conservative when it comes to offending words & images.)
I would try watching again another episode - makes me wanna wish I had a crazy guy like Ozzy for a dad.

***

I didn't know there was a 'That 80's Show'! And I thought FEZ was utterly cute.

Ang init sa labas. Sigh...............

It seems that nothing really significant happened in my life lately, apart from losing my ID (oh, my lifeline...) and going to a lunch gathering sponsored by Agrix, a company who made me one of their scholars, last Saturday. I have a meeting later with TFA's EB, about projects and proposals...not really exciting.

Siguro kuwento ko na lang yung nangyari sa kaibigan ko. Her story is a prayer answered. Nung nakaraang taon, nung nag-boboard pa ako sa Sikatuna, may kaibigan ako na sobrang namroblema sa lahat...pamilya, acads, lovelife. Pinakamalala yung financial problems niya. Tuwing makakausap ko siya, parang laging may bumabagabag sa kanya. Di lang halata kasi lagi siyang nagpapatawa, pero palaging ganon. Sobra din siya kung magtipid - may isang linggo, puro instant noodles lang ata yung kinain niya sa buong linggo.
Halos dumating sa punto na kinausap na ako ng landlady ko kung puwede ko ba siyang kausapin - kasi, mga ilang buwan na siyang hindi nakakabayad ng lodging fee. Nahiya akong lapitan siya kasi alam ko na marami siyang problema, lalo na sa pera. Halos inutang na lang niya ang kanyang tuition fee sa UP.
Dumating ang isang sem at umalis na rin ako sa boarding house. Paano na kaya siya? Hindi ako ng summer classes kaya wala akong balita sa kanya. Di ko nga alam kung doon pa rin siya tutuloy next sem, at di ko rin nga alam kung tutuloy siyang mag-aral next school year. Medyo 'proud' pa itong kaibigan kong ito, pero ayon sa landlady ko, nalaman niya sa tiyahin ng kaibigan ko na talagang walang-wala ang pamilya nila na halos siya, ang tiyahin, na ang nagpapakain sa kaibigan ko.
Kaya pinagdasal ko na lang yung kaibigan ko. Yun lang naman ang magagawa ko.
Dumating ang kasalukuyang school year, at nag-uuwian na ako. Pero nakikibalita rin ako kahit papaano. Isang beses, siya ang sumagot.
Siyempre excited naman ako na siya ang nakasagot. Nagkamustahan, tapos nagkwentuhan. Sabi niya, sobra pa rin siyang magtipid...pero yon ay dahil tinitipid niya ang nakukuha niya sa kanyang tiyo sa States. Ang tiyo na rin niya ang nagpapaaral sa kanya.
Nung narinig ko yon, nakahinga ako ng maluwag. Ok na ang kaibigan ko, at least nakakapag-aral na siya ngayon.

Wala dapat akong pasok ngayon, pero nasa UP ako. So ano'ng ginagawa ko dito ngayon?! Arrrgghhh, daming kailangang gawin sa ASAPhil at TFA!

***

I need to take care of ASAPhil's org recognition and renewal of the 'tambayan'. Application stuff's okay except gathering pics and form 5s of members... man, one of the two org things I hate the most. (The other is soliciting funds.)

***

I wonder when I'll get to watch Scooby Doo?

Wala dapat akong pasok ngayon, pero nasa UP ako. So ano'ng ginagawa ko dito ngayon?! Arrrgghhh, daming kailangang gawin sa ASAPhil at TFA!

***

I need to take care of ASAPhil's org recognition and renewal of the 'tambayan'. Application stuff's okay except gathering pics and form 5s of members... man, one of the two org things I hate the most. (The other is soliciting funds.)

***

I wonder when I'll get to watch Scooby Doo?

Wala dapat akong pasok ngayon, pero nasa UP ako. So ano'ng ginagawa ko dito ngayon?! Arrrgghhh, daming kailangang gawin sa ASAPhil at TFA!

***

I need to take care of ASAPhil's org recognition and renewal of the 'tambayan'. Application stuff's okay except gathering pics and form 5s of members... man, one of the two org things I hate the most. (The other is soliciting funds.)

***

I wonder when I'll get to watch Scooby Doo?

At least dumating yung prof ko sa Construction, si RB Santos, at sa design, si Sir Dytoc. Though having class
wasn't exactly my idea of QT...well. At least may purpose ang aking pagpasok.

Okay naman si Sir Dytoc. Medyo eccentric, medyo weird, pero interesting enough para di ako antukin. Ewan ko
sa iba kung mga kaklase pero...anyway, he's quite a character by himself. Nung una ko siyang nakita, naalala ko kaagad
ay isang samurai warrior sa business suit. Ang kanyang pananamit ay isa lang indikasyon ng kanyang perfectionism.
Ang kanyang taste ay puwedeng masabing classy hanggang weird - sa aming first meeting, ang aming usapan ay nagmula
sa aming inaasahan sa topic studio namin (Building Science) hanggang kina Luther Vandross, Johann Sebastian Bach,
at Van Halen. At, oo nga pala. Trekkie daw siya.

Inaamin ko medyo na-intimidate ako kay Sir Dytoc. Walang shortcuts pagdating sa kanya. Sinabi na niya ang dapat
naming output sa design niya ngayong sem, at mukhang matrabaho - he's putting the premium on pure, unadulterated research output.
At hindi lang kahit anong research topic under the sun. Sa deskripsyon sa aming course, mukhang puro building technologies
ang aming tatahakin sa mga studies namin.

Pero, na-excite din naman ako sa mga sinabi niya. Panahon na upang paganahin ko utak at research brain cells ko, at pagdating
sa research topic, sobrang lawak ng puwedeng pag-aralan sa building technologies. Unchartered territory ang field na ito sa Pilipinas,
at sana maging sapat na training ground ito para sa thesis.

he freshmen orientation-cum-arki general assembly happened yesterday, and it was a first time of sorts. Four school years
ago, we freshmen were witnesses to the turn over of Deanship (or Deanhood?) between Dean Fernandez and
Dean Espina; this time, we were witnesses to the entrance of a new dean, Dean Luis. Dean Fernandez was dean
for a number of terms, so being around to witness two people become deans is something else.

But apart from that, it didn't turn out to be eventful as I expected. I mean, whatever happened to the 'ang saya sa arki' spoof? I wasn't a freshman that anything
prepared by the upperclassmen would excite me. After the usual intros to the arki do's and don'ts, nothing
really new was presented by the orgs. And, I did wish that the assembly was held at a bigger venue, like the
eng'g theater, because the avr wasn't big enough to accomodate everyone, and the sheer volume of people contributed
to the heat. And the weather...it was just so humid! Yeecch. Plus, the tour the orgs were supposed to
hold for the freshmen didn't push through because we didn't know whether it was going to rain or not.

Nakikinig ako sa bagong kanta ni Britney Spears sa radyo, "I love rock and roll," at... Haha, sa totoo lang
ok lang naman yung kanta. Upbeat siya. Nakakatuwa rin kasi na-iimagine ko na ako yon at nagpupumilit na mag-rock and roll.
Ganon ang tunog ni Britney.

Pero kapag naalala ko yung video nung kanta, natatawa lang ako. Rip-off siya kasi ng ibang videos na napanood ko.
Imagine: belly-dancing moves ni Shakira sa 'Whenever, Wherever' + motorsiklo ng Destiny's Child sa 'Independent Women' +
red background sa isa sa mga videos ng Red Hot Chili Peppers (aaarrrggghhh!!! nakalimutan ko na yung pangalan ng
video!) + at mga costumes ng bandang Police.

Okay lang. Natawa pa rin naman ako eh - may entertainment pa rin kahi papaano.

So, you might have noticed the nearly all-Filipino entry I wrote in there. Well...let me just say I had a realization.
I do come from the country's premiere state university, and though speaking in English is highly considered academical,
among many other things, it's just hypocritical if I don't speak in Tagalog as well. It just dawned on me as I
was reading UP Diliman's banner paper, The Philippine Collegian (or Kule to us). Everything written spoke volumes
of the sweeping activist sentiment of UP students, or at least the Collegian staffers, and though there were things in
that paper that I don't really agree with, I guess that some of the other things I am one with is loyalty to one's origins.
For example, it does look bad when you rally against globalization clad in a Tommy Hilfiger shirt and Girbaud pants.

I guess it's the same for national sentiment. Being a UP student, I take pride in being honed in decades-old bastion of
academic freedom that is UP. I believe that UP represents some of the best that the Philippines has to offer, and naturally,
as part of UP I am part of that best...but it does look bad when you can't even think of those good qualities in straight
Filipino.

But then again, to deny Pinoy pop culture - which is basically an invasion of the west - is an exercise in futility.

Anyway, what I'm trying my hand at is, at least in thought, be able to express myself in Filipino. Or at the very least,
contemporary Pinoy speak.

I'll have to cross my fingers.

Tapos na first week, pero ngayon pa lang talaga nagsimula first day ng pasukan. Nagsimula na kami ng lecture sa Nat Sci II.
Medyo feeling blah pa rin. Mukha namang ok yung topic pero di pa rin ako makapaniwala na pasukan na. Siguro
mas gusto yung magkikita-kita na naman yung mga tao sa arki kaysa yung pasukan talaga. Sigh. At Nat Sci II
pa lang yon, wala pa yung arki subjects at plates. Inidyan kasi kami ni Sir Dytoc nung nakaraang biyernes,
di ko alam kung matutuwa ako o maasar kasi dapat nasa Seattle's Best ako nung panahong yon para sa meeting
namin ni Arch. Heredia imbes na naghihintay sa wala.

Given na kasi na first week, di pumapasok yung mga prof sa arki, kaya nagulat kami sa class ni Sir Dytoc nung
nag-post siya ng anawnsment na merong miting. Duh.

Back to first day. Medyo kakaiba itong first day na ito dahil kami ng batchmates ko ay seniors na - ibig sabihin,
kami na ang opisyal na 'ate' at 'kuya' sa arki. Masyadong busy ang mga 5th years sa kanilang thesis upang
maghari-harian sa arki, kaya sa amin na iyon. At isa sa mga pet projects namin ay ang pagsalubong sa mga
bagong salta sa arki...mwahahaha. Kami ang in-charge sa freshmen orientation/general assembly na gaganapin
ngayong martes...

Ang kailangan ko namang gawin, maghanda ng pagkain para sa mga freshmen naka-toka sa TFA. Pasta? Spaghetti bolognese?
Penne? Duh, wala akong alam sa pagluluto! Pero okay lang yon, ayokong isipin na problema yon. Isang trabahong kailangan ko lang
gawin.

Love is a leap of faith.
'A Walk to Remember'

CRUMMY. That's how I feel today.

I just want the opportunity to express how NEGATIVELY crummy I feel. I think I just botched up my job as student assistant to Ma'am Ramos. I wasn't able to take care of the records she entrusted to me the whole summer -- and no matter how I look at it and think of excuses -- I got shy poking around important documents in the admin during summer 'coz she wasn't around -- it all boils down to the fact that I failed to live up to my promise. And to think I managed to get myself a research job over the summer and take perfectly care of it. Nothing like a disappointing performance to spoil an otherwise perfectly fine day.

I feel affected 'coz I can't seem to put on a good face in front of Ma'am Ramos. And to think she might be my next design prof or something. Geez. It does reflect on my character, the way I didn't take care of that job.

Crummy.

Bummer. =(