It's been proven.

Given:

Study = No Fail

No study = Fail

--------------------------------------------------

Study + No Study = Fail + No Fail

Study (1 + No ) = Fail (1 + No )

Study = Fail

HAHAHAHAHA!

And we now have thus proved that studying is indeed equivalent to failure. Applause please.

(NOTE: Credits for this mathematical piece of genius goes to an unnamed person who happened to scrawl it in one of the arm chairs in Nat Sci. All hail.

Warning: Do not try formula at home.)

Take a Stand: the UPDS free debate seminar

Stand out this centennial: attend TAKE A STAND, the UP Debate Society's free debate seminar for college students. Drop by on July 25, from 2:30 to 5:30 PM at SE 125, UP School of Economics to learn the basics of the art of debate. Text Marc at 09183132806 or email updseacom@gmail.com to get sure seats.

Visit http://updebatesociety.org/seminar.html for more information on UPDS and its other debate education programs.

We shall instruct you in the art of SLAUGHTER

Slaughter of arguments, that is.

I had my first graded debate a while ago, with Nina (Bahjin). To think that she deferred last Friday and then showed up today... well, just goes to show that it's not over til it really is over. Anyway, I'm just glad that the Tina-Nina (or Nina-Tina) team is alive and kicking again. Pangalan pa lang, panalo na! HAHAHA. It's an excellent conversation piece, mind you, and it helps people remember us two, though sometimes they can't remember which is which.

So, to the debate. I was feeling anxious about this over the weekend, to the point of pleading to my family to pep me whenever I'm on the verge of deferring. And I have to tell you, I was THISCLOSE to deferring because Nina's deferment last Friday was rather deflating for the morale. But whatever. I have the firm belief that someday, I will be ready for everything; it's just a question of whether the time is right. I mean, I do believe that I was old enough to take on the Speechfest during my senior year (and I was right, to my relief). And now I think, after three years of swearing off debate, that I'm ready to try debating again.

The motion:

This house would legalize abortion only for rape victims.

I was Government Member, Nina was the Whip.

This would be the first time I took on the role of GM. I honestly don't get what they mean by "elevation" [of the debate], which supposedly would come from the Closing side (meaning us!), but Mels told me that the usual tactic was to zero in on one perspective in order to differentiate the Opening Government's contributions from the Closing Gov. I was a little nervous when it was my turn, but after I did my arguments, everything became a hundred times more amusing-- to the point that the debate was actually funny. To me at least.

Anyway. Enough of the debate jargon.

In the end, our team was ranked

FIRST. (Gov won overall, though Opening Gov came in second.)

It was totally unexpected; we were partly lucky and partly good enough, I guess. But I'm quite relieved to know that I'm not totally bad at debating, as I had previously thought. Debating, more than winning an argument, is like Proving in Geometry: you start off with a banner statement, give a premise, and then wiggle down to your conclusion, which will support your side's stance. I think I'm getting the hang of the logic thing.

If we came in third, it wouldn't have been so bad (though of course, it would have been a nip on the ego)-- I mean, nobody has to be brilliant the first time. Like me for example. If my arguments were insecticide, their toxicity level would brand them under "Organic Insecticide". It's not the DDT of arguments, but it's getting there. It will get there.

It comforts me to know that everybody starts from scratch. It gives you the hope of being better next time. :)

The people in my neighborhood

Chronologically speaking, they are:

Tobie

Hmmm... friend or non-friend? I have no idea. He's the guy Milcah and I would occasionally say hi to or talk to, the Nat Sci classmate who's technically our blockmate but with a different schedule, the block head who exists only in theory but not in practice. He did say hi this morning for once. We talked for a bit about the upcoming Econ exam. That's a good thing, I guess. Mission namin ni Milcah yan e, to befriend Tobie. HAHAHAHAHAHA! Why? Not for any special reason; we just wonder why we always see him alone (not that he's a socially-challenged creature or anything-- on the contrary, he seems like the very capable type). Naiintriga lang kami. Maybe when we're friends, we'll ask why he doesn't have the usual clique of guys. Cause isn't that weird? I rarely encounter solitary creatures in UP.

Geoff

Okay, now that I remember our first conversation, a supremely intelligent person could have pointed out the first time that Geoff is gay. I mean, Powerpuff Girls? Little Lulu? The topic wanders into cartoons and he's the one mentioning those. :)) I suck. HAHA! My gaydar does NOT work. :| Of course I learned about his gayness through somebody else, but the revelation astonished me. It took three days for it to sink in, and a few more days to get over my homophobia. I don't mind it so much anymore, as long as he doesn't mention Math. Or Chris Tiu. =))

Si ano... ung hindi ko kilala :))

Hindi ko pa rin siya kilala. Even the reconnaissance work I did a while ago was futile. I can tell you what he wore though. :)) If that helps.

This random person

So it was raining around 1 pm and I was walking. The narrow sidewalk made it awkward to move with umbrellas, and I was getting fed up with hitting myself with my own umbrella because I was trying to dodge somebody else's. And then suddenly, someone to my left said, "Ang sama ng timing ng ulan no?" And I swear, I had no idea who he was. But I talked to him anyway. We talked about the weather all the way to AS, without even asking for names. :)) Watisdut. That is the most random experience I've had yet. :))

My Socio prof

I hate to say this, but he is absolutely awesome to the point that I don't even want to like him, because if I do so then I'll be putting him on a pedestal. And what happens to people you put on pedestals? You worship them. And how do you react to people on pedestals? You become so awed you just swallow it all up. So anyway, because of his background in Debate, he says things with irrefutable logic. (Or maybe I'm just too unimaginative to see the loopholes?) He starts talking about imagined communities and history as fiction and my mind goes all soft and squishy like an overcooked noodle. That's what I feel when I sit in his class. I love the discussions, but honestly, if you measure my output per class--

Brilliant thoughts: 0

Profound insights: 0

Wala pa kong matinong contribution! And he knows such a lot. I sometimes wonder where he gets those theories; it's like he pulls them out of the air and says to us nonchalantly, "You know the concept of Neo-liberalism? Okay. It says that..." La la la la. And he connects that to the discussion and stuff. Of course it's enriching, but by that time my mind is so overstretched, it can barely comprehend his irrefutable logic. Somewhere in the middle of it, my train of thought stops, gets entangled and disappears. Later I find it dangling dismally in a corner of my brain.

And finally...

Julie!

Siya pala ung katabi ko sa jeep. =)) AHAHAHAHA! And I never noticed, until I was five minutes away from my stop. Kala ko ale siya HAHAHA. Sabi niya kanina pa niya raw ako tinitingnan. Eh. Her red jacket practically blended her in with the red paint. :| It was too bad I had to go down so soon.

---

More people to appear in my neighborhood, I expect.

Especially since tomorrow,

I start my tambay debate. O_O

Bidding love

UP Debsoc's Buddy Bidding

So.

You bid with what, exactly? With moolah, of course. Nina and I set our budget to 3.5k, but ALAS. I ended up bidding for Mels (the current UPDS president) for P3.8k. Not bad I guess (although of course, in my head I was like, CRAP! O_O). They said it was a two-in-one package-- you know, UPDS president plus her debater boyfriend. Hahahaha! It could've been worse you know. One of the really good mentors were auctioned off at P8k++. No kidding. It was really really fun though!! There's something intense and addicting about auctions; reminds me of playing with slot machines, not that people are slot machines, of course. Anyway, in case I'm being vague about this, buddies are debsoc members who mentor the apps during the application process. Basically teach them the ropes and fight for them in the deliberations. Woohoo! And who better person to put in a good word for me than the president?

It's just been two meetings, but I already love the org. It still stands to see if I'll enjoy the art of debating itself (maybe I will, maybe I won't), but I absolutely love the mix of people. My parents are just pissed over the fact that I get home late when I go to these org things. I got a lecture a while ago-- although what's the point of that anyway? It's not as if I go there evilly and party the night away. O_O I honestly would rather go home and sleep like a normal person, but the experience is honestly too good to pass up.

---

On last Thursday's boycott/rally:

Well. They were noisy. During Math. I'm not sure if the momentary distraction was a good thing or a bad thing.

Our Math teacher ignored it, in accordance with his cuddly-sadistic-sarcastic image. I don't like him, nor his subject. I wish hard Math didn't exist in this world. : Anyway, the person to my left, Geoff (who is such an absolute genius in Math that it actually annoys me to be sitting next to him because it makes me feel more irrationally stupid), seems disappointed that I don't like Math as much as he does. He can't discuss answers with me, because most of the time he's right and I'm wrong; sometimes, a non-Math person can only take so much, you know?! But whatever. As the poetic writing on the bathroom doors declares, "Math is only a phase. It too, shall pass."

Guess I'm not alone in my misery then.

---

Muriel dropped by this morning to borrow some books from me. I've been lugging them around for roughly two weeks now. Not that their absence made any difference in the weight of my bag though. Anyway, with Milcah, we ate some barbecue in Beach House, then crossed in the middle of the sunken garden to the far left side. We were walking along slowly (discussing how life would be if, theoretically, Muriel was a boy) when our feet suddenly sank into this boggy marsh part. Gyah. There was a little stream running there, hidden by the grass, ready to swallow up the unsuspecting walker. Somehow, Muriel and I were able to safely clamber up past the mud and onto the sloping side. Milcah, on the other hand, was left there to die. HAHAHA. The soft brown soil was swallowing her feet, white pants and all. Because Milcah needed rescuing, Muriel went down again (this time her foot unfortunately sank into the mud :)) ) to find another way.

As a result of the muddy specks on her pants, Milcah and I (Muriel by this time had already left) went to the SE bathroom to wash her pants. Anyway, the long and short of it is, we were super late for Math. To the point that we actually considered cutting the blasted subject. Walang Toking masakyan! We walked under the damn heat and moaned our way up the stairs, to where Sir Eric was teaching with his usual... vigour. :

Ah, what a day. As usual, there were extremely good parts (Muriel's visit, my afternoon nap, Debsoc) and extremely bad parts (the heat, Math, I autoloaded the wrong number, Math). This is the latest I've been out so far; I arrived home a while ago at half past nine, just in time to see Kim Chiu go back to Gerald, and watch Fredo discover Dyesebel in mermaid form. :



Right now, I just feel hungry.

A blast from four months past

I saw Ms Lanzona at the Econ building today!!! After class. And I was so pleasantly surprised, that I

actually

bussed her cheek.

Bineso ko siya. :| What was I thinking?! Nothing apparently, as my reaction would suggest. The funny thing is, we've been joking about this day for so long (the agreed protocol being a quick dash in the opposite direction), but when it comes down to it really, it honestly isn't that bad. I realize that I do owe a great deal of my understanding of Econ to her, and that in spite of the impatience, the ridiculous clapping and the times when she was really really REALLY annoying, you have to hand it to her for sticking it out with us and for somehow forming our solid Econ foundation.

For the people like me who're taking up Econ, it's one of the high school things that matter. :)