missing pi ay di si*.

I woke up early today to write about PIDC 2009. But I feel so bleh. My first sentence was really disgusting. So this is what you have now – random thoughts to fill the urge to create an entry.

This sounds really chaka (as we put it), but I think I miss it. I miss the people. I just enjoyed seeing everyone. Judge me, but kebs. I’ll say it anyways. I miss the Ateneo presence. I also miss seeing people from UP Manila, from STC Cebu, and one or two from UP Baguio.

I miss the issues, the drama, the burst of ego masked by each team’s “institution pride”. I miss the everyday UP Diliman huddle, the prayer addressed to no one in particular but to the Higher Being (yes, we know how to pray), ended every time with a roaring “UP Fight”. I miss carrying stuff – huge boxes, coolers, and bundled papers alike – for making me realize that I’m really a strong person. Chosss lang!

I’m really proud of UP Diliman for the full break and for the championship. Other institutions will refute, but our Higher Being knows that we were also competing with the guidance of the “Saint of Fair Play”. I’m proud of Teenahips, of Paolo, of Maan, of Angelo Kalaw, of Marc Batac, and especially of Mikee (first time to compete and yet, grabbed the 10th Best Adjudicator recognition). I’m proud of UPD B, C, D, E, F, especially of Team A (PIDC 09 Champion). I’m proud of the PIDC 2009BOD. I’m proud of the support staff. And yes, I’m proud of me for reasons I don’t even know. Chosss take two!

Now that PIDC over, I’m forced to face my readings on Rizal and Shakespeare, to attend classes, to take exams, and to deliver reports, and be partially deprived of social life due to acads. I wish it was PIDC allover again because I feel “emptiness” (Batac, 2009). But I’ll stop at that. Baka ma-guest pa ako sa bagong show sa Channel N – Paki-realize with Jowee and Sam.

I miss PIDC. I miss a lot of things about it. But, I’ll end here. I have class in a couple of hours and I still need to read.

Cheers for Love! (huh?)

*PIDC, Philippine Inter-Collegiate Debating Championship.

THANKS: we all played the game, let's all hope for the best.

The UPDS application period is a lot like drag racing. It was fast, exhilarating, and fulfilling. The past two months made me realize the higher value of friends more than their value that I already know – they made me faster, higher, stronger (tieback to Olympics since it’s closing as of typing time). Anyways, I’m taking this chance to thank everybody.

TO MY UPDS CO-APP 2008
I love you all. You made hard things enjoyable. You’re all stimulating and refreshing. I wish us all good luck!


Maan: Partner. Thank you so much for staying by my side. I know I’ve been bitchy at times. Sorry. We can do this. Think positive.

Angelo: For some odd reasons, your message on my sigsheet was a memorable one. It says: Thisizit. I hope it is. Thanks!

Katherine Calderon: Math major ka ba talaga? Kidding. Thank you talaga. You were always there when I needed someone to tolerate my crazy moments.

Pearl: You’re a great driver! I’m awed with your generosity and OCness. I enjoyed our chitchats while driving around and around and around. Two thumbs up!

Nica: You’re great! Your future is so bright. Don’t be hard on yourself. Believe in THE SECRET and good things will happen. Always think positive.

Trix: I believe that you can be a great accountant. You’re great as a debater, but more importantly as a person. Stay humble and nice.

Ayze: Mini-mock best speaker! Stay perky and you must realize that at some point you need to eat pork. Try Monterey! Their pigs doesn’t eat poop.

Joy: Thanks for the pictures. Take care of your heart (as in the heart that pumps blood). I envy your violin. You’re one of the nicest people in the batch.

Kat: Same goes to you. Stay kind, humble, and nice. You’re great. Believe in yourself.

Alex Cao: You’re classic. I love your soft smile and bright spirit. Deep inside I know how competitive you are. Stay safe and try to look stronger (especially at night).

Bea: I wish I had the chance to bond with you more. I find you interesting (walang malisya) Hahaha.

Jacques: YOU TOO! I know you’re a fun guy to be with. I remember the time you supported my jokes (remember Jabu and Ateng?). You don clothes in a sleek kind of way. I just realized that we always win when we’re together – boycott Beijing and unisex CRs debate. Stay good.

JC: You’ve been always strong. Keep it up and send me chocolates. Joke lang.

Riley: You never failed to make a scene. You’re a good person. You’re competitive. You always make tambay interesting.

Aman the Third: Isa ka pa! Thanks for always laughing at my jokes. I enjoy every smile you share. Competitive ka rin eh! Parati nga kayong my coaching moments ni Alex F eh.

Elferbitch: I believe that you’re a good guy. I appreciate the frankness – it makes you bitchier. [Riley] Palanca Awardee? Kidding. Thanks.

Mikee: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for being a suki. Benta parati jokes ko sayo. Never fails. Hope to joke around you more.

Migz: Migz high five! I appreciate the fact that you always keep a high spirit. Stay good and happy.

MarkSolis: [bows] You’re a good friend. You’re always fun to be with. You’re a good guy. You’re the best, simply the best. Speechless. MARKSOLIS!

To the rest: Michael, Tranz, Franz, Laura, Tina, Alex F, and to you that I unintentionally forgot, Thanks to the wonderful moment. Good luck to all of us.


TO RAYMUND
Thank you for infecting us with your competitiveness. Thanks for being a good buddy. Again, it’s not that we didn’t have a choice. We had and it’s really you.


TO THE UPDS MEMS
Walang halong ka-plastikan. You’re one of the best groups I knew and I hope will continue to know more. Thanks to everybody! You’re all loved.


TO EPISTAXIS
My dear friends you’ve been always there for me. I just love you. Thank you so much for understanding me especially when I had to opt out during our usual food trips, gimiks, or whatever. Thanks for supporting me in your own little ways. You’re the support system that I needed. You kept me burning and positive. Thank you. I’ll remember all of this. Thank you.

We’re all waiting for Tuesday. The best of luck guys! Remember that it is not whether we win or lose. It is how we played the game.


Much love. Thanks.

call us geeks (like we care!).

July 8, 2008. The UP Institute of Creative Writing awarded five writers (with one writer nabbing two categories) who won in this year’s UP Centennial Gawad Likhaan. And to grace the event, some of the Philippines’ greatest writers (from malachite to genesis) were there to witness the ceremony. How does F. Sionil Jose, Gemino Abad, Jose “Butch” Dalisay Jr., National Artists Bienvenido Lumbera and Virgilio Almario, to name a few, sound? Of course, (UP) Epistaxis had to be there! We even had the chance to chat with Senator Edgardo Angara (who was very politician-ish).

(R-L) CAL professors J. Neil Garcia, [guy in blue], Priscelina Pantajo - Legasto, and Anril Tiatco.

(Even if you don't believe it, that's) F. Sionil Jose with Cristina Pantoja - Hidalgo.

and this one (behind the man in pink) is Gemino Abad.

with Alfred Yuson

with Sir Jose "Butch" Dalisay Jr.

and that's us doing the "Sir Dalisay pose" after the event

with National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera (a.k.a. Sir Bien daw).

with with College of Arts and Letters Dean and National Artist Virgilio Almario.

Senator Edgardo Angara (who was like "Cynthia [the BS Biology graduate from UP turned Senator's secretary], bigyan mo sila ng calling card." WAW!)

and the winners of UP Centennial Gawad Likhaan.

italian 101* and many more!

Well, I’m speaking and writing in Italian again. Ok, fine. Maybe not really speaking and writing, more of like babbling and oftentimes grunting and doodling in Italian. At least, my professor is back and we can be both productive.

I was about to leave the room so I was really in the state of shock when he arrived. Some of my classmates went before me, so they had to pull their asses back for class. As a result, most of us were sabaw to the ground.

These are some of the exercises where most of my classmates exhibited an out of the body experience (something like when your soul seems lost and your body is left for class participation).


Completa la conversazione tra Stefano e Paul.

(use essere, chiamarsi, and abitare ; conjugate as used with io, tu, and lui/lei)

STEFANO Ciao ! Bella festa, vero?
PAUL Si, la musica _____ bella e la gente divertente.
STEFANO Come ________ ?
PAUL ________ Paul e tu?
STEFANO Io Stefano. Non _____ italiano, vero ? Di dove _____ ?
PAUL _____ inglese e _____ in vacanza, in Italia, per una settimana.
Conosco la festeggiata, _____ ospite a casa sua.
STEFANO Cioè _____ qui, in questa casa?
PAUL No, no, questa _____ la casa di Martina, l’altra festegiatta. Io _____ a
Firenze, a casa di Viola.

Guarda questa carta d’indentità e rispondi alle domande. NOME Magda COGNOME Villareal NATO/A il 19.7.1979 A Città del Messico CITADINANZA messicana RESIDENZA Bolognia, via della Torre, 5 STATO CIVILE nubile PROFESSIONE hostess

1. Come si chiama?
2. Di dove è?
3. Dove abita?
4. Che lavoro fa?

Answers in the exercises above? Click here.

***

There was a booth in ASCAL (read: the part connecting AS and FC, CAL) earlier today. To get the students’ attention, the sign around the table brags, “NUCLEAR ENERGY IS SAFER THAN SEX.” When some of the Epistaxis peeps came back, they created a kinky metaphor out of it.

A: Hindi naman [safe yung nuclear energy] eh! Sasabog ka lang dun!
B: Bakit?! Parehas lang yun no! Parehas yung sumasabog.

Get it? Get it?

***

I was late for my first class today. When I came in, the professor was already telling stories. After 10 minutes or so (or a little over that), she was explaining that the stories were her entry point to a phlegmatic discussion. She said, “Phlegmatic. phlegm.” Then, faces started to crumple. “Parang phlegm. Malapot. Akala n’yo nagkikwento lang ako, noh? Kaya natin kailangan ng kwento kasi ganun ang discussion natin today, malapot.”

Ahhh, okkkk.

***

My professor in my American Literature class was talking about T.S. Eliot’s writing. I got lost in the middle and caught the part when he was saying that Eliot “would write things that would seem like he’s drilling a corkscrew in your head.” I don’t really know what that meant but still wrote it in my notebook. Thanks to Annel, I found out that it just meant that when Eliot writes, he’ll make sure you think.

***

I think I helped Mozilla Firefox 3 set a world record. So as a sign of their gratitude, I got a virtual certificate!



*called Italian 10/11 in real UP life.

no upcat for michael?

Finally. My brother has made up his mind. I thought he has no plans for his future. But, he has! [This is the part where I’m supposed to be teary-eyed. Ready?] He wants to be an OB-GYNE!

When he was much younger, everyone was stunned to hear that he wanted to be a priest. And at some point, he even wanted to be a policeman. Plans and ambitions got blurred eventually when he entered his elementary and high school years. Nobody knew what he wanted to do. My father, with subtle suggestions, wanted him to be an engineer. Just like what most parents believe, you can never go wrong with Engineering. Akala lang nila (That's what they think).

My mom was very supportive. When she knew that my brother was putting much effort on his guitar skills, she gave Michael the option to pursue Music later on. But I can’t blame her if sometimes she can’t help but influence Michael to take Nursing instead. Well, that’s after I decided not to.

Me? I just wanted him to make a decision of his own; make plans for himself so that he wouldn’t blame anybody for dragging him to the wrong road. But I was specific for one thing, I wanted him to be in UP.

As early as the first week of enrollment, I was excited to get him his UPCAT application form, took it home, and placed it on the bookshelf for him to see. A week has passed and it seemed like that the application form wasn’t moving anywhere. So I talked to Mama about it. That’s when I discovered my brother wanted to be a doctor. She wanted my brother to take Nursing as Pre-Med. So okay. That’s the same thing I’ll tell him. But! Mama wanted him to take it at … Trinity University of Asia.

I was like, “WHY?! He can go to UPM if you want him to take Nursing.” Unfortunately, she was too tired to answer me back. I am not giving up without a discussion. It’s not that I have something against Trinity or I have anything bad to say about them. It’s just that I believe in my brother so much and I wanted him to have the best. Let him be in UP! Pleeeeease…

positive vibes, positive vibes.

It’s the start of classes tomorrow and I’m trying hard not to bring negative vibes with me. I can’t understand why Lean had to be so naïve. Add the fact that he can’t even stick to his word makes me want to slash his throat. Let him bleed to death! He likes Sweeney Todd anyways.

I am really pissed that my high school batch wasn’t able to have fun before summer ends. It became a protocol that nobody would go and start their classes without a mini-reunion. I wasn’t able to see them last semestral break. That is why it really breaks my heart that this happened. We were supposed to try ice skating! Too bad. Good thing Fred was sharing the mood last night. But compared to me, he was more of “there’s always a blue sky waiting tomorrow”, while I was like “let’s all enter abyss or better yet let’s burn to hell together!” Sometimes, I would fake my optimism over YM and stop playing the blame game. I told Fred that I should do this for my own sake. I have to be the “better Christian.” But, I can’t help it! Before I knew it, I was the “bitter Christian.”

For the lack of initiative, pack-Q friends!

Which leads me to another thing...

I am still not done with my registration. I still have to pay for another 3 units for English 119 to seal everything. I am afraid to be kicked out of the subject if my professor finds out that I haven’t followed my adviser’s note (actually, her’s) to finish English 117 and 118 first. So I really have to pay before she finds out.

As of typing time, it’s 2:21 a.m. and since my dad is off and away, I have to go to school with my mom. I have to wake up by 6, leaving me with less than 4 hours (to be spent ideally for sleep); Minus 1 to 2 hours for my pseudo-insomnia/staring contest with the ceiling mode before I fall to sleep, leaving me with less than 2 hours (to be spent ideally for sleep). Ideally, I should spend those two hours for sleep. Sleep. Two hours. Ideally. Sleep. So two hours of sleep should be enough to harbor positive vibes. Let’s see what happens tomorrow (or should I say later?). Positive vibes, positive vibes.

Hello Academic Year 2008-2009!