I've been craving for some visual art for quite awhile. So tagging along with my sister and a family friend to Cubao wasn't much of a pain in the ass when I learnt that we'll be going to UP's centennial art exhibit—and no it's not in CubaoX it's in Gateway. I was expecting it to be sort of an art for the people theme. You know the stereotype you'd expect when it's all UP. But to my surprise the theme was Mother and Child. What surprised me more was when the curator informed us that Ben Cab's painting featured in the exhibit was sold for Php 230,000. I understand it's a Ben Cab painting and that art pleasures can sometimes be a little expensive.
Yes my friends Cubao is more than just grepaness personified. It's more like the Philippines' social divide personified and that my friends would be more interesting than, you know, UP's Great Divide. No judgment.
Note to self: Become filthy rich and buy that de Pio painting you liked. Also, serve the people! And be perky for life.
Christmas in the Diliman campus to me is usually signaled by walks with friends around the stall filled academic oval enjoying the cool December breeze. That's why I never imagined myself walking towards SE alone on the night of the lantern parade, especially that I have a number of friends in campus. (Thanks to the Event That Shall Not Be Named—capitalization intended) Although, I tried to exude merriment going about the yearly traditions I we have in campus. I somehow felt something was lacking.
Oblation Run at AS, UP Diliman and Christmas Dinner with Econ friends at The Old Spaghetti House, Congressional Ave.—15.12.08
Two of my classes were cancelled and I decided not to attend my other class (for procrastination, of course). So I practically went to school to watch the Oblation Run, an annual tradition where members of the Alpha Phi Omega Service Fraternity run naked around the Palma Hall walkway with banners proclaiming the Fraternity's stand on political and social issues inside and outside campus. I never missed one—even this year's centennial run and the surprise run when I was a freshman. No judgment.
Also, it has always been a tradition that the runners give roses to lucky maidens. Ria got one. I told her it must've been the red leggings. Lol. For pictures from this year's run visit Ria or Josh's site.
Later that afternoon I went with CJ, Kim, Dooders, and Monique Nikki to Triangle North Mall to bum. After that, and a few rants, we went to Tosh Congressional Ave. for our cliquish Christmas Dinner. (Picture by Josh Coquia)
Centennial Lantern Parade, UP Diliman—16.12.08 (All pictures taken from Pat Santos'site)
I quote one bystander, "The floats are well done and honestly quite creative. But somehow they lacked the ugh." And maybe to some extent it was or wasn't true. Er, labo. But the past years' parades were better. A lot better, I suppose. Blame the number of people who joined the parade (hello UPM and Eng'g). Chase, Kimmie, Pat and I somehow felt that we were tourists' attractions especially with the number of onlookers taking our pictures. We got really bored with the long line of people parading that we amused ourselves with waving back and shouting whatnots—like "Sharon! Sharon! Richard! Sarah!" when the float from Open U arrived and "Nasaan na ang float?!" when we got really bored looking at the long line of participants from that. I'll end the event description with another quote from another bystander, "Ngayon lang ata nanakit ang pwet ko dahil sa pag-upo." Bow.
This is my schools' chicken sarimanok. Kudos to Mica!
No one does the lantern parade like the College of Fine Arts. Looking at this picture taken by Chase makes me understand why salesladies think I'm 21. Meh. A shorter hair might do better, perhaps? As I sit and reflect about these past events, I think it was actually a fun UP Christmas (even if the Event That Shall Not Be Named occurred). Maybe I just experienced happier, perkier times. Maybe.
Because it's December it'll be natural for me to blog about my wish list. This is ironic because I have lost the sense of being giddy for Christmas and I am not expecting any gifts because I'm old. Yes, I am not in a perky disposition as Brown's law has taken its toll on me once again. But I wouldn't let that ruin my whole December because I'm a fighter like that. While everyone is busy buying gifts for their loved ones before the holiday rush (which is again ironic because this is the holiday rush) I am at my room trying to catch up almost 30 chapters of reading even if I'm sick (physically and figuratively) because I don't want my professors conclude that I'm empty headed.
I don't plan to do my yearly Christmas shopping at bazaars because I'm a victim of the global financial crisis. So, if you're my friend or family and if stumbled upon my blog which is near to impossible here is my wish list.
Frankly, the film (and book) was enjoyable because I am a sucker for all things mushy and giddy and pretty like that. C'mon, it wasn't that bad. I even think it wasn't bad at all. I think that the Twilight movie was actually okay. Sure, nothing will beat the book as it was subject to our own imagination. But the movie version wasn't bad. We must remember that whenever we read a book, watch a movie, or fill ourselves with whatever form of literature we have to set the mood for it. The point was to entertain. And, at v. least, it did entertain me.
Let me begin with the idea that truth is relative. Truth is relative in a way that things true to a person may not be true to others. It is a simple idea. Too simple of an idea, in fact, that more often than not we abandon the rationale behind it.
We all live in different truths. We all are from diverse societies with different customs, from different socioeconomic backgrounds, and were raised in unlike family dynamics. Thus, we have different awareness about different subjects. This may explain why we have different opinions, views, and ideas about different matters concerning the world. But it is in our differences that we contrive a similarity among us. How so?
The world is blessed by an estimated 6,677,563,921 individuals all different from one another. All of us have different abilities and have unique experiences.Often, these differences become sources of quarrels and misunderstandings. Ethnocentrism and individualism are a few of the things we blame. I once asked a friend if he is proud being Filipino. He answered, “I am neither proud nor ashamed to be a Filipino, since I believe that nationalism promotes discrimination, hasty generalizations, and prejudices about other countries and their people.” An answer common to individuals who have a strong belief that the world is becoming a global village. But I say, we are in a global village.
As what a blog I read a few months ago says, "In call centers, customer representatives answer phone calls from the United Kingdom. After their shift they drink coffee served at an American coffee chain whose brewer was made by an appliance company in Japan, which in turn manufactures different appliances and exports them to countries like Indonesia and the Philippines." I believe this is how the billions of people on earth are connected. And in these connections we remain Filipino, and British remain British. We still all are different and unique from one another. It is in our differences that we derive the competence that exists in our industrialized world.
We can still be our unique self, be proud of it, and not cause misunderstandings if we take notice of the idea that we may have different truths but it is in these truths that we derive our realities. It is a reality that somehow our truths interact. My reality as I type this non-fiction in a software program was given to life by the reality of a factory worker in Mexico. We both have our truths but somehow our truths interact to produce a simple reality that we live in the same world. It is in our experiences that we share a commonplace. And it is in our desire to better ourselves and better others that we create a vibrant world.
These interactions exists even in microcosms such as the classroom and the office. No matter how different you are from the rest of the room somewhere and somehow all of you derive communality. For, it is in our unique and simple contributions to the world that a dynamic reality is created for everyone to share.
…then I am no longer just existing. I live.
If everything goes well, this semester would be my last 2nd semester in UP. I am not saddened by this fact. I just want to make the most out of my remaining days in campus. Charot, this is too dramatic no? Seriously, I believe that if you end a chapter of your life and move on to the next you won’t miss anything from the previous chapter if you made the most out of it. Each detail would be well written and the right words are put in its perfect place. We write our own stories. We all know that. Now, it is up to us whether our story will be plot or character driven.
It is still too early for me to tell whether my story is plot or character driven. But for now it remains character driven. My life is and has always been simple. And the big twists and turns of the plot have always been because of the small decisions I made. Ever heard of the butterfly effect? I am lucky as the heavens didn’t forsake me with hard circumstances that will make my story plot driven. I don’t want to be a teenage mutant ninja turtle in distress (pun intended). I just want to be a fun and perky college student that appreciates the simple facets of life as he experiences these. This is my story, so far, simple and subtly told.
I want my story to be defined by me and not by any other external factor. This would set my story apart from others'. I just hope I could share little more pages with these people:
Econ FriendsFrenziesAlthough this semester will be a v. busy semester for me, I’ll make sure I find time to spend with the people that make my story one of a kind.
***
On a lighter note, I saw my crush sitting on AS steps when I was about to pay my school fees last Thursday. Also, we had inihaw na Tilapia for lunch and blueberry cheesecake for dessert—a few of my favorites. This is generally a happy week.
Stay perky everyone!
PS Congratulations to Obama. My friend Gel thinks you're hot. :p
I didn't like the book. Being an Economics major, I'm supposed to. This is a sign. Le sigh. Le sigh. Clearly this fact is scarier than any ghost or monster--and that includes that monstrous looking equation in my Econometrics book.
I'll refuse to elaborate on this even if the perkier days come.
UP Ecosoc Planning Seminar at Bagac, Bataan | Oct. 23-25 2008
Being part of EcoSoc's fifty-first executive committee (sexycom), I was required to attend its planning seminar at Bagac Baybeach Resort, Bagac, Bataan. It was the first time I ever went to a student-organization's planning seminar. And boy, it was fun! The meetings that lasted for hours and hours weren't much of a hassle, really. It was actually interesting. Planning the roster of events for one of the university's largest and most prestigious organizations was really thrilling.
Also, it wasn't pure work. Nothing really beats the beach, home cooked Filipino meals, and good company. The late night karaoke was v. entertaining. Anday's rendition of Stars are Blind was a best seller. Even if the sexycom was locked up in a room being serious, we really couldn't help but giggle. Of course, my favorites were the bonfire and the midnight stargazing we had. I swear the Bagac sky was so clear you could see quite a number of constellations. Shooting stars were also abundant, at least during our short stay.
It's was nice, though eerie, that I got to the chance to talk to friends about, uhm, the past, love, and life in general. Deym, I'm being nostalgic now. Anyhoo, here are a few pictures by Les Octaviano during the trip.
I just love the sound of the crashing of waves, don't you? Gah, I'm not in the mood to be all nostalgic. I'll end this entry here.
Most of my entries since June were dedicated to my not-so-laudable academic performance. So, I wouldn't write about that in this post. I'll just post an incoherent account of my last classes this semester.
This semester was a roller coaster ride for me. I've realized that what really matters are the things you learn whether inside or outside the classroom. What are essential are the experiences you gain and the life lessons you discover. And I'm not saying this because I'm at the verge of loosing my magna cum laude standing. Rather because it is something that I have disregarded my whole college life until this past semester. Although I would love to see that cum laude at my curriculum vitae, I personally believe that it doesn't really say anything about a person more than good academic standing. But what's good academic standing, really?
***
During our speech orals/finals my favorite speech classmate Alya and I were being the students that we were and babbled our way through it. Meanwhile, the others took it quite seriously. Here's a picture I stole while Alya and I were both transcribing our answers into a communication model [Note: I actually wrote more than what you see in the picture. Just so you know. :) ]. Gah. Seriously, I just wanted to get it done and over with.
***
Sci-fi and fantasy class went to Coffee Way at Teachers Village in UP for our last workshop. The coffee at Coffee Way was okay. The ambiance was sort of artsy which matches the purpose of our workshop—train future bastions of artistry. The stories discussed that day were interesting enough. But what really amazed me was how crazy we were that day. I love sci-fi and fantasy class. It makes me feel that I'm actually normal.
This is me being the Korean I'm not at Coffee Way. At my back, wearing a pink shirt with a rock-on print is my professor the Anna Felicia Sanchez. She'll actually kill me adding a "the" on my introduction but what the hell. Charot.
This picture shows how attentive we are in class. Triccie who was by the window was paying close attention to the stories that day. When she was asked to give a positive comment on a story, she said "Ayoko sa story ang pangit." Which translates to don't bother me I'm not interested. She actually made all of us laugh. Jamoy on the other hand was busy conceptualizing…her own coffee shop which caters to writers, primarily. The boys were being the boys.
I had genuine fun taking-up sci-fi and fantasy class. All the caffeine I ingested to get the work done, the cramming, and the comments were worth it. Cheers to more coffee and writing.
***
Nothing special happened at the last day of my maths (math 2 and mathematical economics). I, actually, was outside the classroom half of the time. Everybody else was either outside the classroom loitering, like me, or pretending that they were paying attention. We had a makeup class for econometrics. I was late for my thesis partner, Jenny, and I crammed our term paper which was due the same day. Apparently, there was more to suicide rates than we thought.
After the last slide was shown, everybody who attended the lecture shouted. It was like a kissing scene at a blockbuster chic flick shown at a jam-packed movie theater. Only it was this that was flashed on the screen.
Obviously, our professor didn't take the gesture lightly. We all had a really hard time answering the finals.
My incoherent end-of-the-semester post is done, 'til next semester biatches. Stay perky everyone!
I hope my nth all-nighter of the semester will have its worth when I take my econometrics finals later. Darn my eyes are literally burning. Hello there eye bags. I never imagined I could read, highlight, and partially understand ten seven chapters of econometric reading I've never even touched before. (I even liked the language. Deym.) That's more or less 400 pages of reading. Now, I have to re-read and memorize everything I highlighted before 1 pm. I can do this! C'mon. I need more coffee!
I shall go to an overrated coffee shop and resume studying. And after this examination, I shall get drunk and wasted… and hopefully wakeup early tomorrow to start revising my shorts for sci-fi and fantasy class. Talk about priorities.
Stay perky everyone!
[edit]
Tae. I think I just failed my econometrics exam. I need divine intervention to save my GWA.
is a 19-year-old BS Economics major at the University of the Philippines- Diliman Campus.
His hobbies are surfing internet junkies, watching movies, writing, and pestering his dysfunctional family and weird set of friends with his random comments about a planet we call earth and everything that concerns on how life revolves in it.
He spends his schooldays either chatting with his friends, sleeping in the Campus library (probably after cramming for an exam), day-dreaming, or wondering why on earth did he major in Economics.
He dreams of becoming somebody of ample importance in the not-so-near future, and owning a small coffee shop in the beautiful island of Batanes.
No one does the lantern parade like the 
Looking at this picture taken by Chase
