December Tennis Tales, Term End stressors, Goings out with Friends and New Year Resolutions

I haven’t updated for a long time so this will be the year-end wrap up.

For the month of December, I played a total of six days (days 35-39), the last being today was around two hours. I got hold of another instructor—I’ve seen him around the courts for some time, jolly person. Let’s see, as far as I can remember, we did forehand and retreating backhand drills (hitting a backhand drive from near the net then going farther back to the baseline) as well as forehand drives, practiced some volley and smash, and return serve + backhand volley + forehand volley combo (my backhand volley…sad ^^;). I did a session in Rizal also, which would probably be repeated next month (my wallet winced in pain). The highlight would probably be the doubles match I got to do today, to which we won (my partner was the aforementioned instructor)! I’m happy as long as it’s not a bagel but winning was a bonus, LOL! I still double faulted, of course, but turns out that some of my volleys were okay (more or less). After that, I had a rallied with a trainer for an hour (I had rest while waiting for a doubles match to finish).

Regarding the stressors, I don’t even want to go there since thinking about it is enough to replicate the stress I went through. For some reason, this term was the most cram-felt, in terms of term end obligations. I felt the exhaustion (enough for me to miss the department Christmas dinner). I’m just hoping that come next term, there wouldn’t be any aftershocks of this term’s academic concerns. Hay.

This month also marked the time where I was able to meet all 3 sets of friends that I met in different context. My meeting with Greys and Gemma (yeah, I’ll use their first names since I forgot the pseudonym I referred to them before and I’m too lazy to look it up now…) was a blast, though it might’ve been uber blast if we were complete. Still, it was nice to have refreshing conversations again and for some reason, it felt just like before, only the themes that we talked about changed. But the way each spoke—very much the same. I also met with Kat, which almost didn’t push through this month. We basically caught up with each other while trekking the whole of MoA…twice, I think. We also had an unspoken exchange gift or sorts ^^;; Heehee, the chibi PoTs were nice—domo! Finally, Quiaps, Choco and I went to our yearly retreat(!) to Sta. Rosa to attend Missy’s birthday party. But since that was in the late afternoon, we met earlier and hung out at a mall and later continued unwinding in a coffee shop, before heading to the party. Apart from the usual catching up talk, we basically kept eating the whole time…it’s unusual of us. Yeah, this month was pretty good in terms of meeting with friends.

Finally, below are some of the resolutions I am considering doing next year:

To keep in shape:
- Playing at least 10 hours of tennis each month
- Should I decide to eat chips, I can only do so twice in a month, to which if the said month has passed, the unused chances-to-eat is not transferable to the next month.
- Sweets are defined as donuts or cakes or ice cream. For the span of January to October, I shall only indulge on any of them twice a month.

To keep me sane:
- Unless it is school or research matters, STOP overanalyzing everything.
- Smile to people I transact with, be it a team teacher or a tiangge vendor.
- Don’t think so much about all things….oh, I mentioned that already.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, ALL! ^__^

Tennis Tales: Day 34

I played yesterday after about two weeks hiatus. I'm happy to find out that I haven't lost the strokes despite not playing for some time. I liked how it turned out despite semi-cracking my shoulder when I did an awkward backhand while moving backwards ::d'oh!:: What I don't like is how my body, especially both shoulders, hurt now. It's trying to readjust to the beating it received yesterday. Oww.

Raves, Rants and Tennis Tales: Day 33.5

Raves~

I surprised myself just now since I actually completed my preps today (and it’s not yet midnight!). I was able to read the left out text for tomorrow’s lec, do a powerpoint for it and make lab exams. PLUS, I got to watch most of the opening game of the ATP Master’s Series in Shanghai. (Too bad Gasquet and Djokovic lost….but Nadal and Ferrer did deserve to win, I guess :P)

Rants~

No wonder I’ve been feeling crappy lately—thyroid’s acting up again and fatigue is one of the effects. I thought I was just being lazy (well, okay, a bit of that too…). What’s more, I’ve been having palpitations and I get tired easily—this means no tennis! : ( Just when I’m getting the feel of the forehand.

Tennis Tales: Day 33.5~

This month, I’ve only played once and it was crosscourt practice and doing drive (shots?). I’ve practiced a bit of overhead smash and forehand volley but depressingly, my backhand volley felt awkward—as my trainer graciously described it—parang ‘komang’. Still, it was my last 1.5 hours of play before this thyroid condition came up.

Then one time while waiting for some test results, I dropped by the tennis courts to watch and pass time. Fortunately, I saw one of my acquaintances (I finally learned what her name really is) who’s been MIA for three months. I got to chat with her as well as her coach and learned some things about the different grips and how it’s not totally wrong to change grip when doing backhand volley (from a forehand), as well as to where and when it is best to hit the ball in ground strokes. Even if I didn’t play, I’m glad I picked up some tips. It was tempting to borrow a racquet and start playing though. And I was surprised that some of the ball kids already knew me (by name) and asked why I haven’t been playing. ^^; Ehehe…

Tennis Tales: Day 32

Yesterday, I played for 1.5 hours after not playing for 6 consecutive days. I liked how it turned out-my forehands were okay although there were still homeruns, some of my serves got in and I get to return my trainer's serve (his tip here was to look at the ball and he said I'd know which direction it will go...I'm still trying to figure that out but whatever my interpretation of it was seemed to work since I did guess right where the ball was heading).

This made me realize some things: (1) despite not playing for almost a week, I still did okay, (2) maybe playing daily at this point makes me tired so I don't get to play well the next day, (3) I may have already acquired the skills but I won't lose it if I don't play daily, (4) I can survive with eating only a banana and yogurt drink before playing, and (5) maybe playing on a no class day helps mentally. I have to put these to the test and see how it turns out--whether it gets consistent.

Losing Steam

Lately, I don't feel like working. As in I feel so lazy to do anything school related that I keep putting them off or making a short cut on how I should actually do them. And it's only midterms! Seven more weeks to go...@__@ Maybe it's because of the upcoming national holidays that kills my work mood. Or maybe I'm just simply too lazy and a procrastinator.

Tennis Tales: 31 days later…

I’ve decided to blog about my tennis learning experiences so I can trace how pathetic I am (and could still be?) as days pass. I’m not sure if I can actually keep this up considering how often I update.

It’s been about 31 days that I’ve been playing. That is over a span of three months since I only do so at least 3 times a week, 4 if I don’t substitute for somebody. So far, the following are my observations:

~ People say that I have a nice two-handed backhand. I notice that too but lately I’m losing it since I’m trying to improve my homerun-ish forehand. Of course, no one mentions anything about my forehand >_<

~ My forehand is getting flatter but the topspin is still very inconsistent that I still do a homerun or hit the net. One of the coaches there said that it’s because I flick my wrist upon impact when it should just remain in an angle…it’s hard to explain but something like this à ‘<’. I find that hard to do. When I do keep it, the swing hardly has any power; if I put power, I lose the control.

~ Lately, I’ve been killing my racquet frame, it’s frustrating that I don’t hit the sweet spot consistently.

~ Timing is another problem. Sometimes I end up too close or too far from the ball that it kills the proper forehand form.

~ I do appreciate now the skipping and always-on-your-toes stances. I tried slightly jumping while preparing to rally back and it seems to work. I think that helps in the timing. But lately I’m unable to do these all through out.

~ This might be just me but playing when it’s raining seem to make me sweat faster and wear me out more.

~ I started practicing my service and I average at about 50% service in. But since I got sick last week and have stopped practice, my service went back down. What I notice though is that timing and toss is key.

~ I have absolutely no doubles sense. I’ve been in two doubles games (on separate days) and I was so embarrassed to my partners. We lost in both games—6-0 and 6-1. I had one singles game before with a trainer and I lost also with 6-0. I’d rather have that since I don’t have to drag anyone else down.

~ Embarrassing moments always happen to me. As in I bring amusement to those who are waiting for their turn to use the court. I’m so glad that I’ve reached the point of the-hell-do-I-care-what-you-think/say/react. Hey, I’m a noob but I intend to kick ass in six months time. (Oh, dear…self-imposed pressure..dimmit.)

~ In fairness, the morning people I meet always encourage and compliment on my minute improvements. It’s fascinating talking with them. ^_^ I played three straight days this week, immediately after I gained some strength from being sick last week. Now, I’m not sure if this was a good idea since I can feel slight weakness in my knees. @__@

A cRaZy week ends today!!!

For the first time in a long while, I felt like I was working in an office and not in a school. Laid back was not the best description for this week—instead, it’s fast-paced and things had to be done one after the other. I tried hard not to think that in the remaining ten hours of my time, I wasn’t really getting paid to get the work done. Ah, woes of a part-timer >__<.

Today was a rather interesting one. I was supposed to play again this morning but the trainer didn’t show up! GOOD THING I had to do something early in school anyway (out of sheer stupidity from the day before) so I thought, some laps around City Hall would compensate as a workout. I finished about an hour of walking/running and as I waited for my dad to finish his laps, I went back inside the court to watch. After talking a bit with this girl that I’ve seen a couple of times, a regular senior player approached us and asked if we wanted to use the court. The girl who I was talking to said her instructor was not there yet so the senior (let’s call him Sir Joe) asked me. I told him about my trainer but for some reason he still insisted, saying that once the people start coming in, I might not be able to play. Anyway, I didn’t think he’d take no for an answer and really felt that my time coming in early shouldn’t be wasted so he volunteered to be my hitting partner.

So much for my plan to be in school at 830am. LOL!

Actually, instead of him, the brother of my trainer played with me. He just happened to play but not really work there. I spent 30 minutes hitting before my superego got the best of me. Besides, I can’t hog the court for so long when sir Joe still hasn’t played. After the game, he seemed pleased that the purpose of my going to a tennis court has been accomplished ^^; The moment I got home, I rushed and prepared for school.

Let’s sidetrack a bit as to why I HAD to get to school early. It’s because I had to check an exam I promised to be returned today…something I was supposed to do yesterday but was unable to do so because even if I was prepared yesterday, I realized that the exams were in my locker and I forgot to bring my keys.

“D’oh!!!” (Simpson, 2007)

But I thought, I can check them early in the morning today…only to realize that the locker is in the lab, which opens at 10am to which I no longer have keys to and my class is at 1030am.

“D’oh!!!” (Simpson, 2007)

So I had to make arrangements to meet a colleague with a key. It all worked out in the end anyway. Even if I’m already thinking of another way to meet him since I wouldn’t make it on our earlier agreement of 830am, he informed me that he’d be late. So there were no problems there. Yay. I made it on time with the exams and proved that I can check and record papers in one hour and it shouldn’t take me three hours when I’m doing it at home.

Pressure apparently makes me work better. ^o^

Lattes Make Me Dizzy

This is the second time it has happened. Before, I thought the culprit was the place I had cafe latte, which was Figaro. But now, Starbucks had the same effect. However, the latte from Nescafe coffee vendos have no such effects. Hmm, maybe I'm allergic to expensive lattes. LOL!

I finally finished checking the grad papers--YAY! I just needed to leave the house and not come back unless I'm done. Next will be the undergrads--until the new batch of grad papers arrive @__@

I played tennis again this morning and for some reason, I was actually exhausted a bit more than usual. I wonder if it was a good idea to play on one's second day or maybe it's because of the rest I got over the weekend. This explains why I'm tired the whole day and opted to go out because I just might end up sleeping if I stayed at home.

It's back to work tomorrow. Crunch time.

I’ve been working all day…*O_o*

I’ve been slacking off at some points in the term and now that it’s about to end, the momentum is picking up. I’m not technically cramming yet. Actually, my mind is at Centrino level processing what to do next and how to plan my next move.

I’m tired. X_x

It’s a bit disappointing though that I didn’t finish what the grad school course I have to fix. My dial-up won’t let me upload the stuff I need to upload. I’ll take that as a sign that I should go out tomorrow, rent and then check papers.

On a lighter note, I wrote this last year and I think I should update it:

I am hardly a morning person. The only possible reasons that I would wake up before 6AM are:

I have to cram for something
I have to be early somewhere and I’m on color-coding
I have to drink medicine if I’m sick
I have to watch a football or tennis match, perhaps a final
I have to play tennis

Yes, folks. I finally took advantage of the Tennis Club in City Hall and have been trying to play decently three times this week. And to justify the last point I updated above—I play at 5.45AM. FIVE FORTY-FIVE IN THE FREAKIN’ MORNING!!! That means I wake up at 4AM (but get out of bed at 4.30AM, hehehe). It was also because of this which was why I was able to watch the final set of Montreal Finals. Hehehe, I beat my old record of 5AM to watch World Cup!

That’s it. I’ll probably have hangover aches and pains tomorrow—physically and mentally.

CLASS SUSPENSIONS

Which student wouldn’t like class suspensions? I bet few would. I remember when I was younger class suspensions would be such a blessing especially when it’s right on exam day.

Of course, I wonder which student thinks about the world of other people who have to deal with class suspensions…like maybe their teachers? (Yeah, I bet they’d care, LOL!)

Being in a trimestral system does not help either. I’ve been molding and remolding my existing course plans and adjusting it again and again.

Sigh, I’m starting not to care anymore. I should use the time to check the mountain of papers I have.

It better rain really hard today.

[sun is slightly radiating outside…meh.]

------

On other notes…YEAH, BABY!!! THE DJOK HAS FINALLY GONE PAST THE FED EXPRESS!!! I know, I know—Montreal is not even a grand slam but it was so nice to see other players beat Federer. Too bad Djokovic’s already out in Cincinnati. I do hope he does well in the US Open.

…Yes, Bagh-daddy…I’d still root for you, too… ^_^

Death Note (follow up – w/ SPOILERS)

It’s been a while since I finished Death Note the live action movie, and I don’t think I’ve told Quiaps and Choco up to now. Anyway, since the Part 2 DVD was so messed up, I reread and finished the manga (thanks to K-chan =3 ) before going back to the DVD. For a quick follow up update, I hope my memory didn’t fail me too much.

So…what can I say?

…On the acting, L rOcKs!!! XD He did good! (I wanna watch the spin off movie!)

...Raito’s actor was a bit tame? He did okay but I felt like a bit more intimidation would’ve been better. I found Misa less annoying that how she was portrayed in the manga.
…I like how they revised the story about L’s death—and how he died, basically. (Great, Choco would probably hate to continue the movie now…)
…Surprisingly, as most people preferred the movie than the manga, I wasn’t as biased towards the movie. It wasn’t bad and as it is, it’s good enough to give a newbie an overview of DN. But it wasn’t enough to favor the manga less. The manga wasn’t the best but I just found the introduction of the new characters and L’s successor interesting.

All in all, it was a good movie, despite the absence and/or literal translation of the subtitles for Part 2. Although I won’t be watching it again or reading the manga again anytime soon, otherwise, I won’t stop talking to myself on the many possibilities of L and Raito’s cognitive battles.

A Series of Uncanny Events (which were close to almost unfortunate ones)

So my title is unoriginal. Tsch.

Today—well, actually yesterday (since it’s past midnight) was rather weird. I started the day with ample time to go to school when…

… on my way, I had to change lanes and my right side mirror hit something (I hope it’s a thing…) and it folded inward. There was no damage though.
…trying to concentrate some more, onwards Quirino Ave., just when I was positioned on the appropriate lane, I noticed a build-up, then someone signaling us to go to the right when I saw there’s something going on between two cars…that caused traffic and I was so near my destination
…I kept my cool since I still have time—until I reached the parking lot and for the first time, ran out of space! Had to wait 10 minutes in case someone leaves but no one did. A guard approached me and handed me a ticket so I can park on the other floors. I still don’t know if I have to pay for it though.
…that made me late for class since even if I was technically on time, I had to pass by the library to get my multimedia kits then set it up in class
…then in the middle of class, inconsiderate listeners who thought they were silently sighing and cussing (?) at the complexities of some terminologies got the best of me and I gave in into reciting a different kind of lecture
…after that, elevator woes made me late on my next class
…which went well but could’ve been better had I was able to come on time
…by lunch, I made the mistake of ordering a soup that costs 52 bucks! and it was on a small bowl! Which made my lunch bill almost reach 200 bucks!
…after which I started preparing for grad class when my powerpoint handout didn’t print as it should, hence, delaying my note taking
…and I have other things planned in the afternoon, hence, delaying that too
…went to the library again to have a head start in preparing my multimedia kit for grad only to be foiled with a defective extension cord that I had to take an extra trip to the lab to get my extension cord
…and I ate late dinner, just when I told myself I shouldn’t anymore since I had much food intake already today

On my way home, I stayed behind a huge truck.
And it rained.
It was rather relaxing.

I’m not much of a person who blames external things but today was just a bit hard to ignore ^^. So much for an update.

Za-Za-Zatturnnaaaahh!!!

Just when I told the virtual people in cyberspace that I will not buy another book until I finished my pending ones, I bought one.

Well, technically, it’s a graphic novel—my first Pinoy graphic novel. I never saw the movie version but I heard the theatrical version was good. I’m not gonna make a complete review of it but it has it’s funny moments. If you want a quick stress reliever, this is it. I also think it’s pretty cheap for it’s price—I mean, considering the effort of story writing and art. And it has these extra colored pages, here’s a sample.

And they are ALL men. =D

Expensive Interests

I think I belong in the minority of women where shopping (mostly spent on clothes and accessories) is not a primary interest. Don’t get me wrong—I like to shop but not as often (although I can spend a lot on one go). So, to compensate, the heavens must have wired me to be inclined to the following preoccupations, which truly makes up for my lack of spending in shopping.

Books – The moment I finish my pending four books, I’d buy another bunch. It’s too bad books costs so much these days. I miss buying books. I miss hanging out at National Bookstore and Powerbooks. I’m such a nerd.

Art-related Materials – I’m mostly the pen and ink, and pencil type so to buy more than one sign pens of different points and various shades of lead can get costly. Fortunately, I have great friends who have given me art materials (colored pencils, pastels, drawing pads) as gifts in the past. I’m saving every single one of them by not carelessly using them as practice sets—I have generic paper and materials for that—but only when I get to start making a serious art project. I also include art books here—books that tell me how to draw but I don’t really follow since I just stare at the pictures and take it from there. High costs of these books have also deterred me from buying—even if on sale, the price hurts.

Tennis – I was told once that tennis is an expensive sport since you need to rent a court, ball kid and a hitting partner to play—unless you have someone else to play with or a wall to hit the ball to. Someone should’ve told me that tennis racquets were expensive as well. Seriously, I didn’t expect them to reach such sums—sure, I knew they could reach a thousand or so but 10k?! 20k?! Some even more expensive! I was fortunate enough to get a decent one below a thousand (no choice, the racquets here belong in the 70s era, the wooden lollipop-looking ones). At most, if I really save on a lot of things, I can play at the rate of once a week. The one good thing about this is the abandoned and lonely tennis court at the SPS rooftop in school that nobody uses. Reservation is easy and it’s free—perfect for walling practice. It can just get very lonely when practicing alone.

Cars – This is very farfetched, car racing I mean. It would be nice to experience a go on Tuason Racing School. But no, I can’t even afford to have my mudguards changed and my other entry alarm replaced. Karting rates are sky high as well!!! And here I was also thinking of putting a little personal touch to my car. I’m not after the MTV Pimping kind (which can be rather impractical) but simple side skirts, angel eye headlights, change my wheels/rims and put some black accents on the sides—maybe put a little insignia on the gasoline door panel thingy, are enough. Before I wanted to change my grille and put spoilers but now, I’m ambivalent about it. I guess I got used to looking at the snarling grille and although spoilers would look good on the outside, it kind of bothers my vision from the rearview mirror. Damn, I’m speaking as if I can actually afford doing the modifications! This fascination in cars will remain a fantasy and the closest thing that I can get is to go to car shows (which may seem like a masochistic move, haha!).

Imagine if I’m not into the above and actually a shopping spender—I’d be flat broke even before the week ends. >__<;;

What's Playing on the Small Screen

My reputation for watching movies in theaters isn’t that good. Often times, I’m one of the few people (at school, at least) to watch the latest movies two weeks after their opening dates. So this summer, I told myself to catch up and watch recent movie DVDs and those that were considered classics. And here are my opinions of them (not really reviews and not very constructive either)…

300 – Whoa. I watched this twice—probably won’t get tired of watching it. I want to read the graphic novel. This is good movie. Gory, but really good. Tight plot and witty humor (Spartans can just be so adorable when they make an upcoming bloodbath something to look forward to). See, it’s so good I’m writing in fragmented statements. I regret not seeing this on the big screen…and I blame my superego and thesis for it.

Fast and the Furious 3 – While Quiaps and Choco might disagree with me on this, I didn’t like it as much as I liked the first two (yes, even if there is an Evo in F&F3). Didn’t like the plot—Initial D 4th Stage has better plot (and I thought ID4 had very little compared to its predecessors) and while there were wee moments of excitement (I can’t remember now which part), I don’t know…the “drifting” didn’t thrilled/impressed me. The mountain pass views were nice though.

Babel – This is like watching a global version of Crash—plots where characters are eventually linked with each other. I liked Crash better because I prefer its pacing over Babel. The movie comes off as boring but in retrospect there were issues that are worth debating over. And it’s very interesting to see how sign language is used in the Japanese context. Translation issues. I instantly remembered Magnus on this since he wanted to do a research on this topic.

Letters from Iwo Jima – For me, this movie screamed Japanese culture and how unpopular unconventionality can be. The dude who played Nishi was hot (compared to the rest, sans, Ken Watanabe). The suicide scene-soldier style was—well, really graphic. This was a heavy film. I wouldn’t watch it again anytime soon. I did like it a bit better than Babel.

The Godfather Trilogy – Let’s start with the Godfather ONE. Very slow start—that’s my only complaint and the rest went smoothly. The simultaneous baptism and massacre scenes were great. Imo, this is the most action-packed among the three. And I can’t believe they killed HIM just like that—didn’t see it coming…and just when I was warming up to his character!!! Godfather TWO. I felt like this installment dealt more on the character development—the Vito Corleone flashbacks were nice (and darn, Robert de Niro and Al Pacino almost looked alike and related! ; ). Towards the end though, I felt how long the movie was—the drag setting in I guess…it’s like there were moments that I asked “when will this movie end…?’). Godfather THREE. I liked it—pacing and all, and for a change, something got taken from Michael Corleone (oh, le anguish…), unlike before where it was always him that takes something from someone. But I guess the reason why I appreciated this movie more was because I saw the first two—I wonder if I will feel the same way if I saw it stand-alone. The common circumstance among the three, aside from the obvious mafia dealing, is the festive mood—there’s always songs and celebrations in each installment. One thing’s for sure—I applaud anyone who can watch this trilogy marathon style ~_^.

Cinepuri – Even though I already know how this turned out since I read Tenipuri manga, I thought I’d check it out and see what the crack is all about. Heeheehee…this is like tennis meets Shaolin Soccer/Kung Fu Hustle style, only at least the whacked premise is already known in the latter two films while in Cinepuri, it actually starts off serious. But really, no one should take this movie seriously ^_^ And so what if I fancy the dudes who played the Captain and Mr. Buuuurrrninggg!!!! (Again, compared with the rest LOL!!!) Also, I found the lead kid to have more personality here compared with the manga (and he actually fits the role, he looked cute…as in kid/puppy-cute).

Death Note – I may have to do a follow-up reaction here since I only saw the first part—the subbing of the second was way too messed up. I also want to reread the manga for better comparison. All I can say is L is hot...his acting, I mean, hehehe.

Cogitations of an Idle Mind ver…3? 4?

I feel the need to update this blog but I can’t seem to connect with my muse who usually gives me the drive to write about something. So for now, I guess an update on what I’ve been doing would do…

I have less than two weeks before school starts and work begins again. I still haven’t made my preps. *looks at piles of junk on desk* I’m not even done completely fixing my room. But there’s a big improvement compared with the last year or so.

If I was such a loser for watching 300 way too late (meaning, DVD only), it’s a different story for Spiderman 3, which I saw on the second day of opening. Choco already blogged about this and while I didn’t really feel the slight drag of the movie that she felt, I quite agree with her assessment(!) about the movie. It wasn’t bad but I didn’t feel the urge to get the DVD, unlike maybe Fantastic 4. Spidey 3, imho, invested on emotions and character development—the last fight scene was really great, though. And yeah, do watch out for Harry Osbourne ^_^

I just finished revising one of the research projects (with Magnus and Quiaps) and I noticed how much difference 2 years made in terms of writing style. I recognized some of the portions I did in the paper and since I’m fresh from finishing my thesis (a.k.a the blissful journey to hell and back), I realized how, erm…my writing style has changed ^^;; Also, the way I looked at my old writing style…hehehe, it could use a lot of work.

“Roomkeeping” Series: Books I’ll Probably Never Grow Out Of

Much as I like reading, I admit that I got rid of books that I felt I would no longer read in 10, 20 or 30 years time. I had a lot of Sweet Valley Series (Twins, High and University) and Archie Comic Digests, Sweet Dreams pocketbooks, some R.L. Stine and…ah, I already forgot. The operative term here though, is “had”. All of these books are gone now.

I suppose it’s reasonable since as one grows up, tastes in genres change and basically, one grows out of the general “juvenile” theme. However, there are exceptions…^_^

The Sesame Street Library Series. I have six volumes of these, not chronological, unfortunately. I don’t exactly remember how I got these but each volume is great. It’s like “reading” (as opposed to watching) Sesame Street and it’s not thick at all. But the content is good—both graphics and texts. I remember one story that was serialized—it was called “The Perils of Penelope”. It was a nice recollection because at the time, it was the first time that I encountered the name Penelope, hence, always read it as “pe-ne-lowp” ^^; It was also nice since Bert was in drag, LOL! Anyway, since my books were incomplete, I never found out what happened to Penelope and how Ernie was able to save, um, her. Oh, I can sniff why-can’t-I-quit-you between these two! Hahaha, just kidding.

Charlie Brown’s Super Book of Questions and Answers Series. These books are a lot thicker than the Sesame Street ones and are straightforward, in a sense that it’s format is Question and Answer type. I think my cousin gave this to me and it was not complete…and I lost one volume (I’ve always regretted misplacing the book—and it was about outer space! *sulks*). I never found these books boring since what else could be more fun than reading about rocks while the Peanuts gang perk you up with their witty remarks? The comic strips and Peanuts gang illustrations made it for me. AND using these books as reference, I learned how to draw Snoopy and realized that certain select canines can use the typewriter.

Throughout the many roomkeeping sessions I had (as time would permit), I’ve always come across the above books and not once have I considered throwing or giving them away. I suppose if I can describe these books, it would be “timeless, classic and priceless”.

“Roomkeeping” Series: Memory Box

At least 60% of my room is clean now, although I still have two messy tables, several drawers, my closet, my cd/dvd collections and my hard drive to fix and rearrange. Ultimately, I hope to wax my floor before summer ends. *crosses fingers* But this post is not about the cleaning, instead, it’s about the items that I found that reminded me of my uber-uber-UBER late childhood experiences. Hehe. XD

First was this comic that came with my very first (and last) gaming console. The characters read “Korega Family Computer Da!” I’m only sure of the “Family Computer” part since it’s in katakana but my Japanese dictionary says that the hiragana characters (all characters in the first line and the last character in the second line) is read as such. I just find this amusing since, technically, this would’ve been my very first manga ^.^. It’s read from back to front and everything is in Japanese so many years later, I still don’t know what the plot was about.

Next was the mandatory autograph/slum(sp?) book. Seriously, I think a lot of kids go through this, during my time at least. I think this was my official autograph/slum book—I used to have one in grade school but I made that up by filling up the questions by hand in a notebook. This one was official in a sense that its actual use was to get dirt, I mean, data—er, information about your friends and some seniors so you can look cool during your sophomore year and brag that “I got [insert senior's name here] to write in my autograph/slum book!” From my POV now, it was silly but normal at the same time and I wouldn’t really change it even if I had the chance.

Then there’s this diary that I used to log my day’s happenings. Let’s see…so I did attend some sort of leadership training during the summer prior to junior year…it was also that same time when I got my own room. Hm…and my usual Friday night routine included watching X-men, Batman, Doogie Howser, M.D. and Baywatch. (So Ghostbusters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Beverly Hills 90210 must’ve been in the earlier years.) Ooh…and my brother and I sneaked out to watch a local film on a Holy Tuesday ^^;; It was also documented the time when I applied for MOCC (what did this stand for again…Midshipwomen’s Officer—something—something. I already forgot ^^;) and its highs and lows (mostly when assigned to a senior class section). Also, I’m beginning to recall the use of the expression “Wow, heaven!” to express exasperation…although I don’t remember how it sounded anymore. I can’t make sense of the expression now though.

Finally, my org’s newsletters—such a feel good experience just browsing them. See, when I joined, NKK started off as an “okay” org, not really outstanding. But since it catered to my interest, I joined freshmen year and became an officer the next year. It was during that year that things fell neatly into place. All my co-officers worked really well together and our president was just A-W-E-S-O-M-E. Hence, we became CLA Best Prof Org that year. Sigh, those were the glory days…(By the way, just because I did not write about my other org, doesn’t mean it wasn’t as memorable—it’s just that the literary folios are already in my bookshelf as a clear reminder of the Malate moments).

Since I don’t have an actual box, I placed all of them (and some others I decided to exclude in this post) in a drawer instead. It didn’t feel right to arrange them so I just dumped them inside. Reminiscing can be somewhat random, right?

Word of the Day

POLYGLOT - knowing, using or written in several languages (Oxford Dictionary)

This word got my attention on some stuff that I was reading--I just had to post it ^^;

To the Twilight Zone and Back

Have you ever had the experience of looking for something when you know exactly where you left it but it’s not there? Like you were really, really, REALLY sure you left it there (especially since you just touched it three minutes ago) and then it’s gone?

That happened to me last night and I was close to thinking that something was playing tricks on me. Of course, the rationale side of me persisted that I stayed up until 3AM looking for the lost item.

The lost item was my eye medicine, Tobradex—a rather expensive one like all other eye meds. I usually place it along with the old depleting cotton buds container inside my closet. Before I use it, I have to have a lid scrub using baby shampoo so I picked the eye med from the container, set it aside in the pile of clothing beside the container and brought the container to the sink for the lid scrub. I opened up a new container of cotton buds and after that, I went back to my closet, sifted through the pile of clothes and looked for the eye med. Just as I was about to put it, I noticed it felt different. I checked the label and it was a DIFFERENT eye med!!! (Yes, I have many eye meds lately…)

I sifted again. There was no other eye med there. I was like…WTF??? I kept checking the name of the other eye med—it was not Tobradex. Then I thought…was I using the wrong med this whole friggin’ week?!?!?! But no, I tested the consistency and what I put in my eye the night before had a different consistency with the current eye med I found. I even went as far as turning my closet upside down—TWICE— (the second one was when I decided I cannot sleep until I find that eye med which has no logical reason why it should disappear just like that) to no avail. And yes, I came close to thinking that perhaps, something supernaturally funny was going on. Finally, I gave up. There was a stray cotton ball on my floor from all that clothes turning and throwing so I went to the trash can to throw the cotton ball.

Then I decided to check the trashcan. The Tobradex was there.

Again, I was like, WTF?! How the hell did that get in there? I still can’t remember until now but maybe it was when I opened the new container of cotton buds and threw away the plastic seal around it. But I still don’t remember getting the Tobradex med so how did it end up in the trash?

Oh, and it didn’t help that before I went to bed, I drank a small bottle of vodka mudshake. I mean, COME ON—I didn’t get drunk on such minimal alcoholic content!

Seriously, I wasn’t drunk. Dimmit. >.<

Series Rave

[Begin rave.]

I confess…I officially like Avatar: The Last Airbender. I further confess…I’ve been watching it since it’s first season.

I don’t care if it’s a pseudo-anime. Hell, its animation can make some of the animes out there make a run for their money. The plot, character design and development, the animation—I really, really like it! ^__^ I’d say it’s a refreshing change to see an American (it’s Nickelodeon) animation using this approach, something that I’d see in Japanese animation. And the concept of “bending” the four elements was really good! ^o^

In case you’re wondering what this series is about, I’ll leave you to this site with really comprehensive take on the series: AvatarSpirit. (Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS)

Did I mention the awesome animation (oh, them fighting moves!) and character development? ; )~~ And Zuko’s character, I like! *sigh* Why do scarred men make the most interesting characters? I just had to put this pic up from season 2. (Better make the right choices, boy… ; )

If this were a book or a graphic novel, I’d read it! Wah…there’s still a third season on the works…I want a DVD o_O.

Pic credits to (mostly to) AvatarSpirit, as well as Answers.com.

[End rave.]

On another note…looky-looky! I got an Easter Egg. The folks and I ate at Harbor View again (the toitle is still there, btw ; ) and they had Easter Egg giveaways. I don’t know what’s inside…I don’t want to open it and ruin the pretty sticker ^^; I hope it’s not food, hehehe.

Places

Scenic places can certainly help in stress detoxification. Recently, I’ve been to two places that momentarily removed the hectic aura of city life.

First was a colleague’s family resort, er, I mean, house in Tagaytay. The house itself wasn’t very big—one can’t get lost in it.

But the, um, backyard can get tricky ^_~. Here are some pics. Notice that since their house is actually settled in a mountain, a “skyway” was built to get to the other side.
This area of the yard was what made it for me—a mini golf putting valley ^^;; The grass portion is actually much elevated than it looks.
They also have these cute Bengala chickens (that looked more like turkeys than chickens) as pets. They don’t bite ^_^.

This trip made me want to own a place in Tagaytay. One needs no electric fans, let alone, ACs here.

Then just very recently, my folks and I had lunch at Harbor View in Roxas Boulevard. The ambiance was really nice as we ate overlooking Manila Bay.

On the way to the dining area, they have aquariums with fishes in it, along with this. I took a pic of this toitle =3 I hope it won’t get eaten anytime soon. (Who eats toitles anyway?). Cute ^_^.

Moody + Tired

Today is the last regular class day of the term. After today, I’ve never felt so exhausted—which I couldn’t really explain why. I mean, I had more ‘active’ days (all I did today was to talk with my lab group presentations for two hours—sitting down), like going to school for the whole day, then playing tennis afterwards, then staying up really late.

I guess it’s the summation of all these things:

- The mental exhaustion of paneling
- The emotional exhaustion of making group compromises regarding work effort
- Running late for reasons beyond my control
- Raining at the wrong time and getting stranded when my ride is just a freaking block away (seriously, the school should make a roofed(?) walkway to the Sports Complex)
- My charm and alien powers not working with the guards who won’t lend me an umbrella just so I can go to the other building and return it there. I ended up going back to the lab to borrow an umbrella. When I got back outside, the rain outside got a little less than I can actually make a run for it without the umbrella
- Unable to accompany Quiaps who paneled with me to snack because I’m running late, which made me feel…um, “un-right”, since it looked like a Panel and Run kind of thing.
- Almost a road woe on the way home—always look at the bloody right side mirror, dammit!
- Didn’t get to do the x-ray as planned because of the holiday, I won’t get the results until Saturday—which I think would be the same thing if I get the x-ray on Saturday morning and maybe get the results in the afternoon.

At that point, I was tired when I got home. There was NO traffic, by the way—no road idiots either (this time, the idiot was me, actually). I was supposed to go to GH after school but I decided not to. Unfortunately, my mom thought otherwise that she made this itinerary on going to the bank so I can sign some docs, then to Megamall for bill payments, then to GH. I groggily tried to go along but after mom paid the bills, she finally noticed how messed up I was and we decided to detour back home. But not after we dropped by some establishments inside the mall that added to my list of moody factors above, specifically:

- Inefficient account executives who tell you to call back today only to find out that today is her f*kcng day off! To make things more irritating, two months is not enough for her to process the “un-freezing” of my account?! B.S! Account executives like her, who only become oh-so-accommodating when your contract is about to expire and religiously texting you of promos just so they can get their commission, should be…I don’t know, exiled from this planet or something. Really, I try to understand that it’s their job and all—but someone should add “continued accommodation during existing contract” in their job descriptions. As we walked away, I kept saying to myself, “Calm down, calm down! If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”
- Just when I needed a convenient Internet Card kiosk, I don’t see one that I had to go to the fourth floor to buy one.
- The eye medicine I need is out of stock on two Mercury Drugstores we went to, where the location cost me the commute via FX and had to do a long walk. Normally, I wouldn’t mind the long walk but I was unusually tired, remember?

After all those things, I napped the moment I got home. Like K.O’d nap. This is such a weird day.

[Me want Djokovic-Canas Sony Ericsson Final Match replay!!! ]

The Finish Line

Seven terms in the making. Seven bloody terms. That’s how long it took me to get to the finish line. That’s how long it took for me to remove the “Cand.” at the end of my name.

Unless, of course, something gets f*kcd up at the last minute that voids all my effort to beat the March 31 deadline. But it’s the start of the week and so far, I haven’t received any gloomy news…but then since the registrar already accepted and received my requirements, I guess I’m 95% good. Unless the CDs didn’t work…(but darn it, I checked that—I did, I did! Stop being paranoid, jennai!!! >__<).

So there. *cricket sounds*

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I don’t feel any different. On the contrary, I feel the bodily symptoms of whatever illness my immune system suppressed during the course of my writing are coming back. I guess all things will really sink in when I march on June, or maybe when I fit (and pay for the rental) my toga.

In the meantime, I’ll enjoy my new shoes ^_^ A gift to myself that made my wallet cry and my superego slapped by my id for not listening to my gut feel (when I should’ve bought the damn shoes at Tagaytay on SALE price…but nooo, I just *had* to double check if it’s worth it, etc., etc., then I ended up buying it anyway on a regular price two weeks later in Manila...where I further ended up drooling on how cool it looks that I don't think I'll be able to use it to its full potential because it won't look as pretty anymore @__@). Oh dear.

To Limbo and Back

Last week was crunch time part one. I took a week off just so I can entertain the grounded theorist and get some work…okay, A LOT of work, done. It was exhausting, both physically and mentally.

It’s funny since a colleague of mine, who’s also on the same situation as mine, decided that we needed a break before we worry about the next step. So earlier in the week, the moment we gave our outputs (me to my adviser, she to her panelists), we will detox and play tennis. It was suppose to be this week since it’s the only time that both of us are free. Yet for some reason, there’s this weeklong athletic event in Rizal that will end mid next week….when both of us are no longer free.

It seems that fate is playing with us again. We’ll see. Out next common free week again will be the first week of March (I’m sure I can afford one hour of tennis in my prep week, right? ; ) If by some reason, we still can’t play on that week, fate is definitely making us finish our academic requirements.

And today, the results are in---OVERHAUL 160, people!!! Grounded theory is sucking the life out of me. I never thought writing this type of research would yield varying degrees of “qualitativeness”. Just when I thought my Results section was qualitative enough, my adviser tells me to make it more qualitative. At first, it’s like she’s speaking in German, or rather it’s in English but it felt like German ^^; I met with her in the late afternoon and I walked away with the stuff that I need to revise, a stiff neck and a headache.

So, until then, I doubt I’ll be able to update again. Next week, I’m going back to my “zone” and start revising (and getting “high”, as my adviser said it helps when writing the Discussion ; )

Darn, this is a boring post. :P

Crunch Time

I’m not supposed to be doing this but the grounded theorist is not looking so…

The next two and a half months will be crucial and I will need all the self-discipline and delayed gratification that I can muster to finally put an end to this bloody unfinished business I started two years ago.

So much for distraction from watching the Aussie Open—technically, there’s no point (okay, I’m being too cynical…). Justine Henin-Hardenne didn’t play and Marcos Baghdatis is out (which is sad, I’m afraid his last year’s success would look like a fluke peppered by 'crowd advantage'). I’m not even sure if Nikolay Davidenko is playing—haven’t heard any mention of him. And Marat Safin—oh dear, that guy can play like crap sometimes and still win—makings of a former top seed player? ; ) Oh yeah, there’s still his sister, Dinara, to watch out for but her matches are hardly televised.

That being said, I want my Tenipuri ;p.