beingbeaple

This is one of those times when I feel like cursing the so-called wonders of technology. I had just finished typing my latest blog entry a few minutes ago when I tried to save it and voila! It didn’t save! It went on the Cannot Find Server of Cannot View Page mode or whatever that was.. When I tried to go back to my composition, it was lost… Brrr….

Tip to all you guys out there: Before you save post something, copy everything first into your clipboard chaka.

As for me, I won’t post anything tonight. M nako, M!

Hi everyone! I’m back from the Leadership Training Seminar held in the KHS Pastoral Center (Taytay, El Salvador) last Friday and Saturday. I had fun helping the SCC facilitate the event, and although I lacked sleep due to the thing, I’ve caught up with my much-needed rest and now I’m back in action.

A lot of memorable things happened during the LTS: I got a crash course on how to burn stuff through a magnifying glass; I got someone drenched in sea water, bwahahahaha; I chatted with my fellow logistics facis Daddy and Roshy; I got to help the school and its students; I made a lot of new friends; and most importantly, I learned more about myself even though I never actually sat down to listen to any of the discussions.

I’d love to share all the things that have happened but I really must control my talkativeness as a friend of mine has kindly reminded me. So let me just tell you this cutesie anecdote about my Friday night…

After a rush meeting with Sir S about the flow of the Saturday activities, I went with Leo, TJ and Daddy as they prepared to go to sleep. It was a funny location - the front gate of the Session Hall - that they chose because there was no other place where they could stay. Well, I had one more option (the girl facis went to sleep in one of the dorms) but I felt like daring with the less comfortable location. As we arranged plastic chairs to act as our makeshift beds, Leo and I heard a ticking sound like an alarm clock going off. We checked it out and Leo found an alarm clock in the Juniors’ matresses, ticking off because it had been set to go off at two o’clock (they were afraid of being left behind and they wanted to wake up earlier than the others). We turned to go back to our spot when I heard another ticking sound - it turns out there was still ANOTHER clock on alarm mode. So Leo and I entered the kitchen, which some guys had used as a sort of bedroom (due to the fact that their assigned kiosks had been infested with black ants) to locate the source of noise. After careful listening, I deduced that the alarm clock in question was stuffed in its owner’s shorts pocket. I desperately wanted to cut the ticking out, but it would have been a foolish move. See, if I woke the owner up, I’d be in quite a fix - a Senior facilitator in the middle of a room filled with snoozing boys, trying to get something from one of the boy’s pants is definitely going to attract the attention of the higher authorities. So Leo and I decided to let it be and we went back to our spot.

Ai Ai and Gibson joined as and we chatted for a while. Then, when everyone was ready to go to sleep (except for Gibson who couldn’t shut his eyes and had resolved to eat all his packed food the whole night through) I heard the ticking sound again, and it irked me even more this time. I said - to no one in particular - that I was going to ‘detonate’ IT and when Ai Ai and Leo heard, they said they’d go with me. (First, I must say that I’m not a light sleeper, I can sleep through most noises, but I just wanted to shut the alarm clock because shutting it down seemed like an attractive challenge to me.) After Leo picked himself off the ground - in his haste, he fell over during the start of our mission - we went to the kitchen and looked for source of the noise again.

This time, the clock wasn’t in its owner’s pocket anymore; it was already under his right elbow - all together now: how did it get there? I pulled and tugged and poked it when at last it came off. After silencing the thing, Ai Ai and Leo and I went back to our spot where the rest had already gathered with their plastic-chairs beds, the thought of being bitten alive by mosquitoes fully abandoned. I guess we were all just thrilled at the thought of sleeping outdoors.

I slept quite like a log, except when I woke up from my uncomfortable position - I was sleeping while sitting down - and, seeing Daddy’s empty ‘bed’, placed myself on his bed. I woke up again, this time because of the cold, and since I can’t tolerate the idea of freezing, I rushed to the girl facis’ dorm… only to be woken up again cause it was time to rise and (to) shine.

The LTS was very fun, at least for me. I learned a lot not only about leadership, but also about people - and I’m not talking about the gossip. I was sort of freaked out because I kept thinking of the wake that was ongoing next door, but everytime I’d think about it I’d just get excited of having a ghost encounter. I also came to appreciate how much sacrifice facilitators have to pitch into the seminar to make it possible.

I’ve been to the Pastoral Center loads of times, but for some reason, this time - is special.

Poof!

Shame. I should be in school right now, participating in that Speech Choir competition of EYES. But I’m not.

I’m here in my mother’s office, using her PC and sharing my sentiments to you - whoever you happen to be. See, I woke up late this morning, at 6:30 am. I don’t know why I forgot to wake up early, but I would really like to blame it on the sun - it forgot to shine brightly. So there we were, my mom and I - my dad is in Oroquieta so no car use for moi - trudging up the street on the way to the Taxi Alley.

But there were no taxis in the Taxi Alley. So I told my mom that rather than being one period late, I’d just be absent for the morning session instead.

So here I am. Ta - daa!!

Sigh. I really wish I could watch and join the Tarantella thing?

Poof!

There’s so much reason for me to celebrate in tonight’s edition of beingbeaple but I just can’t bring myself to be all happy happy joy joy when I feel so ripped out inside. I mean, why does he have this uncontrollable urge to make me feel bad? Does he do it out of pure spite? Does he do it as a challenge to me to see if I’d crack out under the pressure?

Why does he always shove it in front of my face that he’s truly, madly, deeply in love with her? It’s not as if I don’t know he cares for her and he carries her stuff for her and he waits for her and all that other romantic crap. For the past month, I’ve been having the time of my life: It doesn’t really matter much if she likes him cause she has a boyfriend anyway, and recently, he hasn’t shown much interest in her. In fact, we were actually already on speaking terms when all of a sudden the subject of her pops up and viola, my day is ruined.

Of course, if I’d blame him for ruining my mood he’d just say it was my fault I felt bad. After all, he believes that no one can influence the way you feel but yourself. True, there’s a point in that argument. Still, can’t he give it a rest for once and just SHUT THE F*** UP ABOUT THAT???

Oh, and don’t think I meant fish when I said that.

It might be my fault our friendship has resulted in this but isn’t it obvious our link has long ago been gone? To hell I care if he doesn’t give a da** about me! But why must he torture my heart so????

Okay, okay. I’m exagerrating. He didn’t even say it was her. He just said I can’t leave her behind. He didn’t really say it was her.

But still, I have a gut feeling he hasn’t really given up on her yet. I have a feeling he only stopped pursuing her because she asked him to, because she told him he had no chance with her. Actually, I think she doesn’t want to hurt me - that’s why she told him to back off. (I can’t be less than grateful for that - another profession of undying love will drive me to jump off Gaisano Mall.) But deep inside that friggin’ fool’s insides I can sense he still likes her very much. Now, he’s checking if I’m fine with the idea of him being with her, so he can say to her I’m fine with the idea already, and so he can go back to running after her the way a starving dog chases the person holding the food bowl.

Eew. Am I really that pitiful?

It’s a far cry from a plausible theory but I sort of feel better trying to convince myself I have a reason to hate him. I feel better knowing he’s done me wrong and I have a right to be mad at him. Evil, I know, but that’s just the way it is. It still fascinates me how that man - as he chose to call himself this morning - can be so intelligent and insanely insensitive and irritating and irksome at the same time. Even so, for some unexplainable reason caused by the improper alignment of the planets and the stars, I can’t bring myself to let him go. Wouldn’t it be better for all of us if I ditched the guy who made me cry and made my heart bleed till it ran out of sunshine?

But no, I have to contend with the fact that I like him, he likes my friend, and he keeps shoving that fact in my face. Oh, cruel cruel world. Why must the Fates be so bloody unkind?

And this goes to show that it doesn’t matter if you qualified for BS Economics in UP Diliman, a much-anticipated event you’ve been praying for (for) almost two years. Sometimes, even Iskas-to-be are suckers and idiots when it comes to the crazy roller coaster ride called L.O.V.E.

Monday mornings at our school are always started with a flag raising ceremony. The Student
Coordinating Council assigns different emcees for each ceremony, so it’s rare to see the
same people hosting the day’s show for consecutive weeks. However, there is one thing that
seldom changes - Kong Huanians don’t really deviate from the norm.

Every week, the emcees usually ask each other how their respective weekends went. The most
common answer is, "It was fine. How was yours?" And after they answer each other, they pick
on the students in the audience - probably out of revenge for being assigned as emcees - to
answer the same question.

If anyone would care to ask me how MY weekend went, I would say it went fantastically,
thank you very much. It was the Feast of the Sto. Niño so a lot of places in the
Philippines were celebrating. We went to Balingasag, where we attended mass (in standing
positiong cause there was barely sitting room) and got trapped in a traffic jam (honestly,
THAT was something right out of the movies). We then went to my aunt’s house in Bayabas -
where, apparently, some poor ole nutters who were probably so hungry they went out of their
senses stole two kilos of the lechon and smuggled the package out of the house - and then to
my uncle’s house in Bayabas still - where we found my uncle half-drunk and singing to his
baby - and then to my second-degree cousin’s house - where we had a little family reunion
Boholano-style.

But the clincher was the night we spent partying in the Borres residence. I never expected
it to be much fun cause it was sort of a Despedida for Uncle Harry, who is leaving for
Taiwan to work as an Asst. Welfare Officer. So there I was, lugging along a heap of old
Seventeen copies that I found in my cousin’s room, when I suddenly felt compelled to sing
something, anything in the WOW magic sing. (Maybe it was all that self-empowerment talk in
the mags…) So there I was singing, and by my second song (Can’t Take My Eyes Off You)
the people from my mom’s office were dancing. And then the raucous dancing and singing
just continued for hours until we were all wilted, tired and sweaty.

It was fun!The whole weekend was great!

If only my stomach didn’t quell under the threat of too much food!

Poof!

In simple terms, Sudoku is a numbers game designed to exercise the mind, but for some, it
is just another way to complicate a simple life and induce mild heart complications.

Last January 20, 2006, several pupils and students of Kong Hua School participated in the
First Sudoku Super Challenge 2007, which was held in the library of Oro Christian Grace
School,Macasandig. From one to five in the afternoon, the contestants solved different
puzzles that made up the three parts of the competition. Two Kong Huanians emerged as
winners: Sofie Janell Ang as the runner-up for the Whiz Kids Division and Christine Garcia
as the champion of the Masters Division. Participants who surpassed the cut-off score will
be joining the National Sudoku Super Challenge.

Three words to sum it up: It was fun.

Seriously. I thought it would be dull. I thought it would be very embarrassing if I would
lose. I was, as everyone has constantly reminded me, afraid to fail. But things turned out
all right though. I may not have won (my 95 is a far cry from the Masters cut-off score of
250) but I was in no way flustered or humiliated. It was a true learning experience in more
ways than one.

Fresh Pick: I’ve entered Suy Tiak at last!
Today’s Moral: Our decisions, not our abilities, define us.

Poof!

I’ve always been pushed to consider Law as a suitable career track.
For a while I actually believed I could be a good lawyer, given the fact that I seemed
naturally inclined to the Social Sciences. There were little nuisances, of course, because
I really despise having to memorize things, especially in enumeration form. My brain wormed
its way out of that slight obstacle though, because I told myself most stuff in Law were in
identification form anyway.

Of course, I was slightly put-out by all those horror stories about the dirt and evils
going around in Law circles. But I thought that it was the best career for me, because it
was the only thing I seemed to be gifted in.

The thing is, I’m having some serious doubts about taking Law. It just doesn’t seem so
appealing. See, we were having this debate in Filipino earlier and although all the
speaking points (even in Filipino) seemed like second nature to me, I didn’t like defending
a side that was against my principles. If I take law, especially the type that centers on
argumentation and stuff, will I have to fight against my principles, too? Will I have to
convince myself that what I’m saying is right because it’s what people want to hear?

I have always prided myself for being the different alien species that I am. I can’t
imagine living a life where I’m just being what people want me to be because I don’t have
the guts to pursue my own dreams…

Mainly because I don’t really know what my dreams are.

Friends, I have just finished watching the entire series of the almighty Gundam SEED.
Since Thursday last week, I have been making sacrifices - like waking up at ungodly hours
in the morning - just to be able to watch the 25-CD installment borrowed from my future
second-degree-cousin-in-law Roxanne. I am now way behind my work, and I will, without a
doubt, running around again tomorrow to arrange all my unsettled affairs. Still, I do not
regret what I have done; I do not regret risking time and effort just to witness a little
war anime. It was all worth it.

Here are some of the quotes I’ve gathered from the show:

What the hell can you protect if your feelings are the only weapons you’ve got?
I’m not defined by my abilities alone.
- Kira Yamato
(It’s heart-wrenching to see a guy cry!)

What is it one should be fighting against?
- Lacus Clyne
(I used to think she was a D.I.D. until…)

The hardest battle is to keep living.
- Cagalli Attha
(How do you spell that name, anyway?)

People only understand what they’ve experienced.
- Rau Le Creuset
(One of the few sensible ideas he’s ever had.)

I’m going to review this show in my profile soon so I won’t elaborate about it here.
I will, however, say that it is quite an excellent creation; kudos to all those who have
contributed something to make this anime as wonderful as it is.

Okay, I take it back. SEED is anything but wonderful. I mean, it’s amazing all right, but
it’s not exactly wholesome. In every episode, there’s always chaos and casualties; it is a
biological-war show, after all. It can make you cry, scream in frustration, clutch your
chest as though your life depended on it, and disobey your parents just to be able to watch
the thing through your laptop’s Media Player. Seriously. It can drive one nuts.

I love it very much.

Those who have seen it on Cartoon Network say there’s a sequel coming up - Destiny.
Well, I really must get my hands on that thing. Although I can’t, for the life of me,
figure out who they’re going to be fighting against. Patrick Zala, Le Creuset, and Azrael
all snuffed it (Oopsies, spoilers weren’t those?) so what new idiot could the story writers
have in mind?

Sigh. I really must move on to more pressing topics.

As I type, there is a seminar on Human Sexuality being conducted in school. It’s a shame
I’m not there to participate for I reall do love joining talks like that. Besides, the
topic is interesting - it would be hypocritical of me to say I don’t find it curious.
Basically, I’ve already been told of all those things discussed earlier. I will acknowledge
that I’ve never heard of the bad effects of contraceptives like birth pills and IUD (which
are downright sickening). So yeah, just the same stuff about abstinence and the evils of
society, abortion being (arguably) the most heinous of them all.

If Sister Ann were here, she would ask me what struck me most about the talk. If she would,
I’d say I was struck by the topic brought up by that lady in white who facilitated one of
the segments. She was saying that her mother had Alzheimer’s, her dad has cancer, and among
all the seven children in her family, she was the only one who took care of the two. It was
really quite sad that by the middle of it, I was reduced to tears. (Then again, I always
cry, even for the simple reason of some people getting blown up by the vermin Azrael.) She
was saying that while we, the students, still had the chance to tell our parents how much
we love them, we should.

Coincidentally, today is my parents’ 18th year anniversary, which is chiefly why I’m out of
school in the first place. But seriously, I’d rather be here to celebrate with my family
than be in school watching two certain people bridge gaps. Harsh as it may sound, that is
how I feel.

And for those who don’t understand, don’t you worry. You’re not the only ones.

I don’t really understand either.

Ah.. Finally, the NCAE is over! Not to seem boastful or anything, but it really wasn’t that troublesome. It’s not the type to keep you awake at night, wondering if you messed up with your answer to Mathematical Ability #1. Seriously.

I have found a new obsession, actually. I have even sort of abandoned my craving for HEX because of it.

GUNDAM SEED rocks!

Oh, and I must dash. I’m on HEX while typing this. Multi-tasking and all that…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KARLA! UYYYY! SEVENTEEN NA SIYA!

BTW, I’m sorry I forgot our gift at home. I really did prepare it but this morning, I sort of missed it on the coffee table in our (that is to say my parents and I) rush to find me some lunch. That turned out to be quite irksome, actually.

HAPPY 17TH!

LAST NAME: Bergado
FIRST AND MIDDLE NAME: Alexandria Mangao
STATUS: Waitlisted
COURSE:
SCHOLARSHIP:

2. WAITLISTED APPLICANTS may submit a written appeal to the Office of Admission and Aid on or before March 31, 2007, Friday, 4:00 pm. Fourth Year High School Grades and other additional information that may help the Committee decide on your appeal must be attached to the letter.

Aaargh!!!!!!!!!!!!

They waitlisted me! They think I’m not good enough to set foot in their institution? I’m mortified, humiliated, aggrieved, inconsolable, blah, blah, blah! What will I tell Mary?

I mean, it’s not as if I really planned to get in. It’s just pride you know - I want to be accepted in that school just for the sake of it. Pride can drive people insane…

Is it because I’m quite slow in Math? But my Reading Comprehension can make up for it right? Or maybe it’s because I show two quota courses…. and said that if I would pass in another school (UP!!!) I would never enrol in ADMU?

Hmmm…. Let’s hope it’s that. Bah. Either way, I can’t go. Too pricey.