year-ender II

The Funny Thing About Human (lifted from Paolo Coelho's Like the Flowing River)


"A man asked my friend Jamie Cohen: What is the human being's funniest characteristic?"

Cohen said: 'Our contradictoriness. We are in such a hurry to grow up, and then we long for our lost childhood. We make ourselves ill earning money, and then spend all our  money on getting well again. We think so much about the future that we neglect the present, and thus experience neither the present nor the future. We live as if we were never going to die, and die as if we had never lived.'

*photo not mine

#trending

Rundown of the year that was:
(Some of the memorable events in no particular order)

#DragonBoaTeam
#MideoCruz
#HeidiMendoza
#BinLaden
#HosniMubarak
#Gaddaffi
#UST@400
#Azkals
#RamGen
#MariAragon
#NuclearDisasterinJapan
#RoyalWedding
#ShamceySupsup
#ItlogNiTopacio
#Fliptop
#Sendong
#KcPioloBreakup
#Petring
#AngryBirds
#CDO
#GMA
#AngeloReyeSuicide
#Lolong

for a more in-depth rundown of 2011, check out Pilipinas 2011.

Personal:
#USTQuadricentennialCelebration
#OJT
#SeniorYear
#Flame
#Retreat
#Graduation

Shoo!

Matagal-tagal na ring natulog ang blog ko't wala akong matinong masabi, ito na lang:

I wanted to  Gusto ko sanang isulat ang 'book review' na Lumayo Ka Nga Sa Akin ni Bob Ong upang bigyan naman ng parangal ang isa sa pinaka-tanyag na manunulat ng Filipino, ngunit ako'y, ako'y, ako'y ... ito na nga:

The book is a lampoon on Pinoy movies, how it has become clichéd, generic and passé but more than that, it is an insult on the shallowness of the Filipinos in general.

“Ang dami nating maipagmamalaki. Tuwing kailangan natin ng source of pride, gumawa lang tayo ng pinaka mahaba, pinaka malaki at pinaka pinaka na maisasali natin sa Guiness World Record.” (Sorry, Largest Human Cross, I don’t mean anything.)

The book ends with a witty conclusion, the readers will just laugh on the skits of the book without doing anything: “Mapapa-iling naman ang mga mambabasa sa buong kwento na kanilang nasaksihan, pero wala silang gagawin o babaguhin. Tatawa lang sila. Tatawa lang sila at sisisihin ang sistema.”

The cover may turn you off because it is pink but it’s a spoof on, what’s the name of the series again? Ah yes, Precious Heart’s Romances. 

Five things Thomasians must do before graduation:

In no particular order: 

Okay, excited lang, nagka-countdown na agad ng list.

Explore the campus: UST has ‘hidden’ places such as botanical garden, prayer rooms in TYK, museum (I haven’t been here).

Get drunk and be merry. There are lots of ‘drinking stations’ around the campus and Tapsi tops my list. I’ve entered Tapsi but didn’t drink, I just explored the famed venue for inuman sessions. So the next time I’ll step foot there, I’ll get drunk and be merry.

Walk under the Arch of the Century. Tradition says that walking under the Arch will delay one’s graduation, but NOW that your graduation is set and final, walk and own it girl!

Get wet and wild in the fountain.  Students have walked in and out of it, fighting the urge to walk across the fountain and get wet. Professors say that the water coming from the fountain is recycled but who cares? Now is the time to play around the fountain.

Brave a flood. UST has been famous for its flood and braving the waters will truly baptize you as a full pledged Thomasian. However, I haven’t had the time and moment to walk around flood. Boo! Loser.

bitter, better

Books have been part of my wish list for the last years because: they’re easy to avail and for the reason that I am a very choosy and picky gift-receiver. 

I am hard to please. So I always end up buying things for myself, for the reason that I may disappoint the giver if (and that is most of the case) I didn’t like the gift.

We had our class party and Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka was my lone wish.    But lo and behold, when I touched the gift I received last night, and perceived that it wasn’t shaped and didn’t feel like a book, I lost the ardor to open it.

Ay, malambot, hindi book. *sad face*

It was a white shirt. K. Bye.

HAHA. Yeah, I am that maarte! Sorry na.

Pampalubag-loob: At least, my friends have been texting and tweeting me that they appreciate my gift. Since it was our last party, I decided to go all out and hopefully, grant their personal wishes. Merry Christmas! 

last (?) christmas hoorah!

sheer tops (oh no! not again...)

currently reading:

Middlesex, Women in Love, Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar, Heidegger and a Hippo Walk Through Those Pearly Gates

'retreatants'

Retreatants, retreaters, reatreation, retreatjhiyuj, whatever you call those people who take days off the buzzes of the metro to reflect and have some quiet me-time . Senior Journalism retreat in Caleruega, Batangas. Photo credit from : CJ

"An unexamined life is not worth living," Socrates.

touched

retreat letters :''>

I was touched to receive notes from unexpected people. I didn't see them coming, seriously.
I would like to thank my friends and acquaintances for all overwhelming notes I received, you know who you are! 

wishes and pegs

Christmas parties demand  mandatory wishlist. So, here you go:

Books that cost less than P400:

Metamorphosis by Kafka

Synopsis: "It is the story of a young man who, transformed overnight into a giant beetle-like insect, becomes an object of disgrace to his family, an outsider in his own home, a quintessentially alienated man. A harrowing -- though absurdly comic -- meditation on human feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and isolation." from goodreads.com

Synopsis: "I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day of January 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of l974. . . My birth certificate lists my name as Calliope Helen Stephanides. My most recent driver’s license...records my first name simply as Cal." from goodreads

Pegs: loose tops, boots, sheer polos

back to december

Twenty four days before Christmas and I can hear and feel the Holiday cheer and spirit. Before anything else, here's a rundown of the weeks that passed and my future agenda: Demi's birthday party last Friday and we had our Carbonara day! Then we will have our three-day retreat in Caleruega, Batangas, with the senior Journalism class.

photo from Bianca

retreat with 4JRN1 and other three sections