Today is Be-A-Lazy-Blob Day

6:30 pm

Today I spent the day doing nothing. Woke up at 10, breakfasted at 11, had lunch at 12 then plopped down in front of the TV for a good five hours. Then I transferred seats and am now sitting in front of the pc instead.

This is inertia, I tell you. Even the hot afternoon seems to agree with me, seeing its reluctance to stir some wind for us bedheads. To my credit, I actually did something productive yesterday: I baked a cake. The only downside to that is that most of it has now succumbed to the evil conspiracy of forks, plates and stomachs. If we keep up this trend, I predict bloated squishiness for our physique.

I don't know what it is about the sembreak that makes me want to do as little activity as possible. It's not so much having nothing to do, it's more of not being in the mood to do it.

I have books to read, things to cook, stuff to clean, people to draw, episodes to watch, programs to install, emails to send, and sisters to annoy, and yet between those and just wanting to be still, there never seems to be enough time within the day to get around doing those.

It's during these days, when your brain slackens to the tension of soggy noodles, that you think about what you're doing, and how different you seem to be.

...

I was thinking of using that statement as a segue, but maybe that's a topic for another day. Right now it's just fun to read quotes on the internet, like this one:

I was depressed last night so I called the Suicide Life Line.
I reached a call center in Pakistan.
I told them I was suicidal.
They got all excited and asked if I could drive a truck

Or this one:

DragonflyBlade21: A woman has a close male friend. This means that he is probably interested in her, which is why he hangs around so much. She sees him strictly as a friend. This always starts out with, you're a great guy, but I don't like you in that way. This is roughly the equivalent for the guy of going to a job interview and the company saying, You have a great resume, you have all the qualifications we are looking for, but we're not going to hire you. We will, however, use your resume as the basis for comparison for all other applicants. But, we're going to hire somebody who is far less qualified and is probably an alcoholic. And if he doesn't work out, we'll hire somebody else, but still not you. In fact, we will never hire you. But we will call you from time to time to complain about the person that we hired.

So sad, so true. :)) If you take the time to read through the stuff, you'll probably realize how wonderful it would be to stick some of those quotes on shirts and then sell them. :)) I dunno if I should link the page; most of it is stupid, obscene and funny all at once.

I'll link the Winterbells game instead. The bunny is cute. You should try it.

Consultation

FC 1120

I was standing outside my professor's door, looking uncertainly at the note tacked onto the corkboard which said that she'll be back in five minutes. It was my first consultation experience, and I was unsure if I should knock or come back later. Five minutes, it said. So I went a little way off and sat there, trying to conquer my moment of indecision.

At five minutes I stood up and looked again. Same closed door, same tacked note. I had a sneaking suspicion that Prof Kwe had forgotten to take it down, but all the same, I didn't want to just barge in. It was a good thing I saw Maan, who provided enough moral support for me to knock twice and open the door.

There were two other students inside the room. I sat down and waited for my turn, taking in the nude sketch to my left, the bookshelf to the far right, the large desk roughly across me, in front of which sat my professor, cross-legged and perky as usual in her beige socks and brown sneakers. There was a desk to my immediate left, with a MacBook quietly humming. A musty old smell hung in the air, as if dust and moisture had mingled silently and had now settled on yellowing sheaves of paper underfoot. Outside it was raining.

If I was surprisingly observant, it was because I was trying very hard not to listen to my classmate as she led her poem to the slaughterhouse. Prof Kwe was taking it on line by line with brutal honesty ("I wish I had an Ewwness Meter, you know? So I'll just scan the line it'll beep by itself, etc..." I heard her say jokingly. I leave it to your imaginations to figure out what she meant by that). Sitting there was silent agony. It was like going to the dentist or worse, and I was trying to figure out how much poetic sins I had committed so I would be relatively unsurprised when she pointed them out.

My turn finally came. I nervously handed her my draft, which had already received its initial critique last Tuesday (as did everybody else's), and waited for her comments.

"Ah this one. I like this poem," she said. Whew. She proceeded to discussing it with me, pointing out which lines can be further strengthened to sharpen the impact. I was surprised that her impression of the poem was strangely different from mine, and even though I wrote it, I found myself trying to remember if I really intended it to come across that way. I kept nodding my head to let her know I was taking in everything she said, but at the same time I wondered at how I had come up with those lines, and if putting them together was merely a happy accident to begin with.

At one point she said, "You know what, you remind me [...] of Gelo Suarez. You have the same tone," or something to that effect.

Two things: First, I couldn't bring myself to tell her that it was his book I was reading right before I wrote my poems-- it helps me imbibe a more poetic frame of mind. (Maybe I should try this before debating. Like, I dunno, invoke Leloy's spirit for example. HAHA.) Second, I inferred that she must have been friends (or more than friends?) with Angelo Suarez, else she wouldn't use his nickname. Afterall, she's the subject of his poem, Caffeine (third to the last post), and she's in the acknowledgements section of his first book.

I left there at around 1:15, a little relieved that it's now over and done with. I had my own share of the Ewwness Meter, but for once in a very long time, I finally did something right. It's one little nugget of happiness for the afternoon.

"I would like a prof now please."

As the semester ends, I thought it was high time to do an act of public service and post an assessment of the profs I've had for this semester. So freshie kids for next year (by then I hope that doesn't apply to me anymore, leastways figuratively), listen up! This is to add to the plethora of Google sites that profess both love and hate for the people who control our academic destinies. In UP, everything is prof based. EVERYTHING.

Gerardo Sicat (Econ 11)

He has impressive credentials: he studied in several prestigious schools, was a part of the government at one point, wrote econ books and got away with it, and has grandkids to boot. He even knows how to use technology: look out for the green-colored ppts and the uploads to the UVLE. Not bad. On the other hand, I'm willing to bet that his teaching career peaked way before my time and that right now, due to old age and arthritis, it's not exactly the most enjoyable class I've had. Sicat is about as adorable as a wrinkly old turtle pottering on the stage (and that's cute, if wonderfully wrinkly turtles are your thing), but I find it more forgivable to see him as a grandpa than a prof. On the plus side, his class is highly uno-able; for GC people, you might want to consider this tidbit. Be warned though, he absolutely hates people who come to class late, and I say this with no more vehemence than he does, just to emphasize. What does he do? Well you'll just have to find out for yourself.

Eric Arances (Math 17)

Math profs are like the families you're born in: you can't choose the perfect family for yourself so you just have to live with it. I suppose there's no point in doing this write up about my math prof, but just in case it helps some unknown stranger out there who might read this years from now, I might as well do it.

To characterize Sir Arances, he reminds me of a panda, or a cuddly bear you want to squeeze to itty-bitty pieces until forever and ever and ever and ever. His teaching style, however, is as sharp as cut glass, and coupled with his occasional sardonic remarks, the cuddly bear image soon dissipates into something else. Make no mistake, he knows his stuff well; I have to grudgingly admit that he's really good when it comes to math. Personally I find his teaching pace too fast, but then again that might just be me.

The good points: if you take the math out of it, he's actually very nice. And he put up a website where we could view our grades, get exercises and read announcements. He's very open to consultation, although I didn't consult during the sem.

CP David (Nat Sci 2: Geology/Earth Science)

Very funny prof. I like his class, very light and uno-able. And in spite of all the jokes he cracked and all the hilarious but irrelevant segues, he's surprisingly knowledgeable about his field. You'd go to his class not because you have to (and you don't even have to cause he doesn't check the attendance), but because you want to. If my attendance is any indication, then it's surely a testament to that.

Jonas Quilang (Nat Sci 2: Biology)

He's the other half of the combo package. After an extreme high with Sir CP, Sir Quilang may strike you as that typical science geek who churns out scientific names at random like Old Faithful. Once you get used to him though, you don't mind as much. His lectures are dull and plain, but if you want info then you'll surely get it. Biology studies all sorts of nitty-gritties, ones that he doesn't mind teaching. He's a nice prof, one you wouldn't be scared of. Tests are multiple choice, and the attendance is 10 points per class. He uploads his lectures in the y! groups and also posts results there. Bio is something you really have to study, and after the loosey-goosey treatment of Geology, it helps remind you why you're in college in the first place.

Francezca Kwe (CW 10)

The fact that she missed class several times, and usually comes nearly 30 minutes late most of the time, overshadows the more important aspect of her: that she really is a writer. And a good one at that, I have to say. Her name actually yields google results, often in the company of other notable writers. I didn't enjoy her class as much as I would've wanted-- I mean, I wish I had participated more, or that I had produced that one brilliant nugget of a contribution. But then again, we're talking about poetry discussions here. POETRY, that shape-shifting nymph, which no one really understands, so everyone pretends that they're seeing the emperor's clothes when the reality is otherwise. I wish we took up something else for the semester, but for what it's worth, there really is a lot to learn about poetry. The subject at least made me more astute listener, if not an incrementally decent poet. For that, I have to thank Prof Kwe, who taught me that there is no such thing as vomited poetry, and that she will tell you so in the manner of grades when you get your bluebook back.

Uno-able? Hmm... that depends on your skillz really, but if you're looking for a light subject, this one is. No tests, no note-taking, no research papers; just a bit of homework and two poems at the end of the semester.

Kenneth Cardenas (Socio 10)

Of all my classes, I have to say that this one takes the cake. Sir Cardenas (and I hope to God he doesn't have a multiply account -_-) treats his students like his equals: we have as much to teach him and contribute to the class as he does. His discussions are very interesting, all the more so when he rises to the occasion and punctuates important points by a song, a dry remark or two, or even an amusing impersonation of famous personalities. His lessons made me think a lot; if I was quiet on certain Tuesday or Thursday afternoons, I was probably pondering a question he posed.

Bulk of the coursework is basically class participation, journal entries, required readings (and it's not even a lot-- we just had two this sem) and debates. No exams, no papers. You're given a lot of freedom with respect to your journal entries so it actually turns out to be fun. There's also a lot of bonus coursework to bump up your grade. Definitely uno-able.

PE: Cheerleading

(In case people want to know)

Requirements: attend x number of games of your assigned sport (usually this is during the UAAP season) plus 5 other events. Complete all and you get a 1. Fail to accomplish even one event, and you get a 5. You only meet during the first few weeks to learn the cheers; after that, you just have to submit your completed attendance cards. Signing of attendance cards is care of PEP Squad (if you're looking for people to suck up to, it's them).

Relatively easy PE, but it's annoying that it butts its way into your sched. And that you have to pay for your own tickets. If you're good at time management though, this is a cinch.

Pag hindi techie ang magulang mo

The other day mom came up to me, that morning, and asked me out of the blue to teach her to use the internet. I was running late, but then what else was new? So we trooped to the pc nook and I introduced both of them to each other, and then proceeded to instructing mom how to boot the thing. There was that tricky part on which buttons to press-- there are three, afterall, and you have to get them in the right order :P-- especially when my magic touch failed to elicit a response. I dunno, must've been the cables or something. But anyway, we got it working a little while later. I pointed out parts of the desktop and explained how to know when the desktop has loaded completely ("You look at that pointer over there and see if the hourglass is gone"). The best part came when I opened up the world. Well no, not really, just the browser actually, but we went to CNN for a fieldtrip, and technically world news is the world-- or at least, a big chunk of it. I think mom got the hang of it, though she still holds the mouse like it's a rodent.

This morning she turned the pc on.

But she forgot she did.

And a good part of the morning passed before she remembered that the world was waiting.

Ah well. Better late than never. :))

So that's what my Mom has been up to, aside from her usual catering duties. Now Dad is a different story entirely. I mean, Dad knows how to use the computer as well as we do-- his reaction time is just slower than ours. :D My older sister was making him a Gmail account yesterday. He wanted to use the same id he's using for Yahoo. But it was already taken. Puzzled, my sister asked him if he had a gmail account already in existence. And my Dad, surprised as well, assumed that the account was his-- maybe he forgot he made one, you know? The passwords he kept trying were wrong so he decided to change it. The security question was a simple Yes or No. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that one out.

Long story short, he got in.

Only to find out

that the account wasn't his.

ZOMG. MY DAD IS A HACKER. O_O =)) =)) =))

Wafaz. I should try this one sometime. Hmmm... =))

Anyway, he looked through the listed email addresses and emailed someone he assumed was related to the owner, explaining what happened. He gave the account back, as well as his yahoo email address, in case there were violent reactions brewing. No replies yet. I hope they do reply. =))

So my friends, the moral of the story is to toughen up your security question, in case an unsuspecting middle-aged man suddenly and inexplicably runs away with your email address for non-evil reasons. Either that or teach your parents what NOT to do online. Just in case.