against the flow

i'm stressed. ugh. i might have to let go of some extra-curricular stuff to compensate for my increasingly demanding workload.

i miss 906.

i guess that's due to the fact that i commute to go home everyday now. the fatigue and stress is surreal. maybe i just have to get used to it, maybe it really is just terrible. either way, i gotta live through it. it's the only way now.

i guess it's also due to the fact that i have freedom. freedom to do anything i want whenever i wanted. i miss how easy it was to just chug a couple of cold ones to de-stress from the day's onslaught of activities. also, at 906, alcohol was not taboo. i mean, we don't drink till dawn or anything. it is treated as a beverage, nothing else. an enjoyable beverage. much like coffee or tea. some of you may say, "yeah right, you're just justifying your love for alcohol." i tell you this: you still have a long way to go to be able to appreciate alcohol as a beverage and not as an agent of drunkenness and debauchery.

i'd give anything for an ice cold SML right now. it's been THAT long since my last drink.

i just watched transformers yesterday by myself. yeah yeah. LOSER. haha. i wanted to know what was all the fuss about.

don't get the title of my entry fool you, i LOVED the movie. just that, such comments as "it kicked 300's butt" is totally absurd. some even went as far as "it's better than LOTR." HOW DARE YOU?

let's start.

1. some of the shots of the robots transforming, if not all, were all too close. i couldn't understand where this part went to and where that part ended up. they just zoom out and show the transformed thing. i would have appreciated the transforming sequences if they zoomed out a bit.

2. the darn things transform too fast. it's like, *poof* it became Coco Crunch! they should've made the transforming a bit slower.

3. I EXPECTED TO SEE A VW BEETLE!!!! it's my all-time favorite car and it wasn't there!

4. since when did transformers have mouths? i mean the lip-like things. well, i guess that applies to Optimus Prime more. the classic cartoons didn't feature him with lips. he looks so much better with that cover thing on his mouth during the battle sequences.

5. so many worthless characters. Sam's bestfriend. what happened to him? the research team? where did they go? they all just disappeared from the storyline.

6. battle scenes. they were awesome, hands down. but again, it's too close to the action. if it were a WWII film capturing a soldier's emotions as he were under fire, that would've been great. but a couple of giant robots throwing each other in the city calls for a wider shot. sometimes i couldn't understand what was happening anymore.

7. in the mess of robots running amock in the city, i couldn't tell which robot was a decepticon or an autobot. i couldn't even tell them apart. except Jazz, he was tiny. hehe. i couldn't tell Bumblebee and Rachet apart because they almost had the same shape and color, yellow.

 

well that's about it. i just hope they were more faithful to the classic cartoon, that's all. i still loved it though.

there's gonna be a part 2. one decepticon didn't get destroyed. i noticed that before i saw the teaser at the end of the movie.

yesterday was the first general assembly of the Conservatory of Music. as usual, they introduced the faculty and staff, ran down some school rules and regulations, etc etc. there were some performances by some of the conservatory's performing groups too.

then came the ME department's election of officers. it was very informal. it went like this. "i nominate this guy to be secretary. sino pa ba pwede? ikaw. ikaw nalang. game. boto na. the new secretary is you!" there was aeven one position where only one person was nominated and we ended up appointing her to the position instead. as for my case, i was nominated by Ate Vida, a graduating student and former vice president of the Music Education department, to be external vice president. the votes were cast and i got the position.

i know that administrative work is not my forte, but i will not disappoint the people who believe in me.

administer away!

started out as a routine saturday. drive to school, attend classes, find out that the prof for my 1pm chorus class isn't going to have a class, yeah. pretty much routine. hehe.

3pm came and it's time to go to the Philippine Tarantula and Scorpion Society's (PTSS) first general assembly. it was held in Cubik bar somewhere in QC mother ignacia area. we got our ID cards and free spiders. yay. and food and a chance to win something in the raffle. all for the low price of fifty bucks. not bad! there's a catch in the raffle though. to claim our prize, we have to down almost have a glass of gin. crazy. who am i to refuse? i'm a newbie and another specimen to add to my collection wouldn't hurt. plus, it's a free drink! i got a wee little baby scorpion from the raffle. it's something like, 2-3mm in length. it's cute!

i met some new people in the event. i wasn't really talking much since i didn't know anyone there aside from a few acquaintances in previous transactions and/or meetings. i must say, it's an eclectic mix of people. there's a doctor, a lawyer, a zoo owner, and lots more. some look like those rich chinese kids and some look like kanto boys. whatever the differences, we all were having fun discussing, inquiring, and even handling the things we all are so obsessed about, our arachnids! you know how TV and movies portray Star Trek conventions? it actually felt like that. hahaha. we even had stickers on our shirts with our online handles and our real names. the group was originally an online message board. i left the venue at around 7pm with quite an amount of liquor in my system.

then i went to alvin's party in makati. the food was superb. the company was awesome. good times, man. good times. got liquored some more. next time that i'll be drinking, it would probably be christmas season already. hahaha.

happy birthday, alvin jay!

results from the math test came and i ranked among the top people. i did not in any way attempt to study. not that i'm boastful or arrogant, but this kinda thing never happened to me in highschool. lol. gimme a break!

i also got bonus points from a bonus question in class. first few to get it right gets credit. woohoo!

i'm aiming for that finals exam exemption. if i make the quota, i don't have to take the finals! and i'll have an awesome grade!

i know i sound all kiddie all over again, but i'm kicking serious butt here. hahaha. 

I'M STRESSED AND TIRED AND LACK SLEEP AND AM PRESSURED AND ALL THE NASTY THINGS COMBINED AND THE LEAST A PERSON COULD DO FOR ME IS NOT PISS ME OFF.

LIKE, DON'T TELL ME STUFF I'M NOT.

OR STOP ACTING SO STUPID.

OR CARRY OUT A DECENT COHESIVE AND COHERENT CONVERSATION.

BUT NOOOOOOOOO YOU JUST HAD TO NOT DO THOSE. YOU'RE SO STUPID. BAAAAAAAAAAH 

death. it comes to all living things. everything in this world is futile, even life. i came home from school to see Georgia in the death curl position. it's legs are tucked under its body and it's not moving.

exactly what i needed to cap a stressful and exhausting day. 

today was the day of the big seminar with our honorable speaker Dr. Miriam Factora. she's a UST music education grad (my course) and has worked abroad thanks to her expertise in different methods of music education. she's now currently based in Japan. man, i'd love to be as great as her someday. and i'll be able to touch so many children's lives through music. oh man. the seminar lasted from 9-5pm. i was in school at 730am.

seminar ends, Music Education officers hold a meeting, and we discuss what transpired in the seminar. the do's and the don'ts, the good stuff and the bad stuff, the former officers told us everything we needed to hear. overall, they said we did a good job. not bad for our first project as officers.

second agenda. Shiela, our president, was feeling iffy about her position as president and wanted to let go of the position. she's the section leader of clarinet in the UST symphony orchestra and holds many other academic responsibilities. she's a dean's lister too. one of the options was to swap places with one of the vice presidents. you see, we have 2, the external and internal. miss internal was the candidate for swap as Shiela chose her to be her er.... swapmate? hahaha. Mae, miss internal, is the VP of Pax Romana in UST and also has positions of responsibilities in school. all fingers and eyes point at mister external, ME!

i have NO org, NOT responsible, and BAD at paperwork/administrative work so i don't know why these people want me as officer so much. they must see potential. i don't know about that, but i'm more than willing to fill ate Ella's shoes (she's the previous president). i'm not really that iffy about the whole thing. imagine how it would look in my resume!

i came home to find that one of the Nhandu Chromatus spiderlings has molted. google the scientific name to see its colors! from a drab brown color, it now sports a more distinct zebra black and white color. it's a far cry from an adult's colors, but its colors are finally showing up. exciting!

most tarantula species have drab colors as spiderlings, you see. usually in a single color like brown. as it molts, the colors become more vivid and vivid.

i come home to find one of my Grammostola Rosea spiderlings in the process of molting. it was upside down with its legs up in the air. to better illustrate the process, i shall describe the whole ordeal with the human body.

you lie on your back once you feel that it's time to molt. your butt rips open and the skin on your back flips open like a lid. you get out of your skin through the hole on your back and in the process, leave your whole skin intact, only hollow and without flesh. you lie motionless for hours until your skin reverts to its normal color as it is pale white as of now. in a few hours, you can now move, but still your skin is very soft and can be prone to injury. you will not be able to eat for days because even your fangs are still soft and white as compared to the ebony daggers that tarantulas are known for.

man, this stuff never fails to amaze me. it's one of the many satisfying rewards i get for keeping tarantulas! 

before boarding the LRT on my way home, i took my usual stroll through Isettan Recto to get to the train station. a store selling books on sale caught my attention and i stopped to take a look. i saw a book about tolkien's mythology. it's more of a guide on the different races and stuff. some other books caught my eye but none were really THAT interesting. i was looking for a book on tarantulas but they didn't have one. nobody has one. then i scanned through the 99 peso books on display. they were all hardbound, mind you. i skimmed through the different titles and authors but only one caught my attention. a Star Wars book! hardbound too! and it was pretty big! i felt like i had to buy it, so i did. for personal use or for gift purposes, i don't know. i just had to have it. haha. according to the back cover, it's the story after Return of the Jedi. wait i'll get the book and write the title... Star Wars: Children of the Jedi. there. i don't think i'll be reading it soon though. i have half of The Lord of the Rings to finish. i guess that'll be motivation enough to finally finish the Tolkien masterpiece.

so after church we went out to lunch to celebrate my mom's birthday. we're not in the best of terms but i managed to greet and give her a peck on the cheek. the first one in ONE MELYON days. well, a little over a month. we ate at The Thai Kitchen. there's an all you can eat lunch buffet for 200 bucks and it includes a non-refillable glass of iced tea. good deal IMO.

afterwards, we went our separate ways. they took my sis to the UST condo, my bro went home "to do school stuff." yeah right. nag DOTA lang yun buong hapon. i asked to be left at Galleria to see the Simpsons by myself since i have no friends and nobody loves me. hahahaha

The Simpsons Movie was hella funny. it was like a very long episode of the series. talk about consistency. the comedy was superb, as usual. and of course the mockery of christianity was there too. well, if you'd watch the series, there's a lot more. A LOT. haha

 overall, it's a good watch. something the fans and non-fans would appreciate.

i wanna just break away from routine and go to the beach and just relax without a care in the world. wanna come?