Staying Out Till Midnight

Really, is this something a sixteen-year old should be doing? I'm not sure about other people, but it sure isn't normal for me. It was the first time I stayed out this late with friends. And no, we weren't causing mayhem in strange dark places. So there.

You see, it was last Friday, the day of our school Christmas party. We had planned to go out to SM Megamall beforehand to have fun and make a memory of our last high school Christmas party. I had no real intention of staying in school, so I came in late. The party began at 8, I think, but I arrived a whopping 2 hours later. The purpose was to deliver the pressies and scram, but in the end I stayed, ate a bit, took loads of pictures (shocking) and ended up waiting till past 12 for Clarissa's driver to pick us up. Dani was late as well, so at least I didn't feel bad about being the one being waited for.

Right now, I'm just wondering where I can get a hold of the pictures and giving my present to Faye. I didn't notice that I left hers at home when I was packing up the presents.

Anyway... We waited a really long time in the lobby before we could leave. After that we waited in the car, and well talked about loads of stuff. Stuff I won't bother to disclose. Gah, what can I say? We had fun spending time together. How to express that is beyond my current capabilities.

When we got there, our original plan was to go ice skating. They chickened out however, because of the cold and because Dani was wearing a skirt. We didn't want to expose her knickers, so oh well. More money for other stuff. We went to the cinema to buy some tickets for The Golden Compass then onto to Timezone to kill some, well, time. We played Beatmania, Guitarmania, and the strange machine gun game. Of course, I played ID4 as well. But the machine there felt a bit strange. I can't explain it, but with my RX8, I'd usually win the start-up, but there, I lost it. Several times, in fact.

Wait... I forgot to use up my WOF tokens... Dang... Next time.

After that, we rushed up to the cinema, to the wrong one in fact, so we had to rush to the correct one making sure not to spill our popcorn. The Golden Compass was an ok movie. Dakota has grown-up a lot from the War of the Worlds movie, actually, I barely recognized her, apart from the fact that I saw her name on the movie, I wouldn't have even noticed that it was her. Except for her scream though. That hasn't changed.

After the movie, we roamed around the mall and found Comic Alley! Yay! There were so many soundtracks!! So many Intial D soundtracks! >.< In the end, I only bought 2 sticker sets and a Rukawa pin. I was looking for a Sakuragi or Akagi one, but found no other Slam Dunk ones. V.V Did I mention that I'm a Slam Dunk fan ? :D
There were so many Mokonas! But they were so expensive, P500+, so I didn't buy any. :(

Clarissa wanted to buy the Ashley Tisdale album, so we went to Odyssey and Astrovision (I think), but we didn't find any. It was after that that she received the text from her driver that he was hit by the car behind him, so he couldn't pick us up yet.

Reaction: What the hell?!

Of course we went into plan B/C/D mode and called our parents. We figured that we would just wait for the driver, after all, how long would it take?

Two hours later at Krispy Kreme, we realized how long.

At that point, the driver finally arrived and told us that he had to go to some MMDA compound in Ultra to make a statement of some sort. So, we waited for about 45 minutes in the car, wondering how our parents would sermon us. In the end, we brought Dani to school, her mom was waiting in front of the school, then I was brought home.

We said our goodbyes and goodnights. And that was the end of our little escape. It makes me wonder what wouldn't happened if Neko tagged along. I suppose we would never know.

Merry Christmas!

Gender Bender Survey - Taken from Neko

The more 0s you add, the more you agree with the statements. Measure your guy-ness!

YOUR GUY SIDE:
[0] You like hoodies. - when I first bought my semi-new Human shirt, I started falling for these
[000] You like jeans. - they're comfortable, so they're ok
[000 ] Dogs are better than cats. - Snoopy!!!
[00] It's hilarious when people get hurt.
[000] You've played with/against boys on a team. - basketball; they always win
[ ] Shopping is torture.
[ 0] Sad movies suck. - bleh
[ ] You own/ed an X-Box. - I've always wanted one
[ ] Played with HotWheels cars as a kid. - I have a tiny tricked-out 2007 Civic, which I bought last year
[ ] At some point in time, you wanted to be a firefighter.
[ ] You own/ed a PS, DS, PS2 or Sega. - same as the X-Box
[00 ] You used to be obsessed with Power Rangers. - Pink Ranger, go!
[0] You watch sports on TV. - sometimes. rarely
[00000 ] Gory movies are cool.
[ ] You go to your dad for advice.
[ ] You own like a trillion baseball caps. - I don't even like baseball caps
[ ] You like going to high school football games.
[ ] You used to/do collect football cards.
[ ] Baggy pants are cool to wear.
[00 ] It's kinda weird to have sleepovers with a bunch of people. - it feels awkward to have people in the room while I sleep
[0000] Green, black, red, blue, or silver are one of your favorite colors.
[000] You love to go crazy and not care what people think. - oh year, pretend no one else exists
[000 ] Sports are fun. - adrenaline rush!
[ ] Talk with food in your mouth. - eew
[0 ] Sleep with your socks on at night. - sometimes, when it's cold

The Girly-girly survey - taken from Neko-san

1. How old will you be in 3 birthdays?
19... Wow, 19...

2. Do you think you'll be married by then?

Heck no.

3. What do you look forward to most in the next 3 months?

• Getting a new laptop
• Getting a new iPod
• Getting out of high school
• Getting the results of the entrance exams
• Getting back into tennis
• Obsessing over Snoopy
  

4. Who was the last person you called?
Eh... *checks cellphone* Mom.

5. Have you ever played a team sport?
Yes, basketball.

6. Who was the last person to text you?
Clarissa.

7. Who was the last person you hugged?
Snoopy.

8. What were you doing at midnight last night?
Was I sleeping yet? If not, rereading my Slam Dunk manga.

11. What were you doing at 11am today?
Taking our Physics long test. If it were not for that, I wouldn't have gone to school today.

12. How many states have you visited?
5, I think.

13. If you could be anywhere right now, where would it be?
Timezone. I know I'm shallow.

14. Do you prefer shoes, socks, or bare feet?
Socks, with or without shoes, depending where I am.

15. Are you a social person?
Usually... no.

16. What was the last thing you drank?
Water, although I am yearning for more Peppermint Mocha Frappucinos.

17. Favorite ice cream ?
Sadly, I haven't had ice cream in a long time, so I'm not sure what my preference is right now. Although... it's probably still chocolate.

18. What is your favorite dessert?
Cake. Red Ribbon cake.

19. Whats your favorite color?
Black, white, blue, purple, silver...

18. What kind of jelly do you put on your PB and J's?
The only jelly I like is coconut jelly, wait, it's jam, not jelly...

21. Do you like coffee?

I'm ok with it, learning to love it.

22. How many glasses of water a day do you drink on average?
Who knows, I drink from a tumbler.

23. What do you drink in the morning?
Water/tea/nothing.

24. Would you rather kiss someone with or without a tongue ring?
Neither. Not looking forward to kissing anyone.

25. Do you sleep on a certain side of the bed?
I sleep where I can still fit, as my pillows and stuffed toys take up half of my single-sized mattress.

26. Do you know how to play poker?
I wish I did.

27. Whats so good about Fridays?
School shirt day.

28. Any plans for this week?

Trip to Megamall tomorrow. Sleep. Read. Sleep. Play. Sleep.

29. Do you eat out or at home more often?
About the same.

30. How big is your TV?
Small.

31. Ever stolen a street sign?

I don't know how to.

32. Do you keep a piggy bank?

Not anymore. I think the old piggy is now with one of my cousins.

33. What kind of camera do you have?

My N90. (I want a Cybershot.)

34. Have you ever been in an ambulance?

Not yet.

35. Do you prefer an ocean or a pool?

A pool. I don't want to get lost or swept away.

36. Do you prefer a window seat or an aisle seat?

Window.

37. Do you know how to drive a stick shift?

Yes, but it isn't in practice much.

38. What is your favorite thing to spend money on?

Starbucks, but after I get my planner, I intend to keep my money in my wallet as much as possible.

39. Do you wear any jewelry 24/7?

Eh, no.

41. Can you roll your tounge?

Not sure. *tries* I don't think so.

42. who is the funniest person you know?

...

43. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?

I have 4 with me every night. Nu-chan, Star, Daisy, and Mr. Un-named Bean Plushie.

44. What is the main ring tone on your phone?

Text - Disco Fire by Neo ; Call - One Touch - Ace feat. La Gatta.

45. Do you still have clothes from when you were little?

A few, most of them are nightgowns.

46. What is the color of your bedroom wall?

My wallpaper is the scenery of some peninsula, I think.

47. Do you shut off the water when you brush your teeth?

Yup, a habit developed by force.

48. Are you crushing on someone right now?

No. I resist any hint of a crush coming on at every turn.

49. Do you currently hate someone?
Shhh...

Untitled

This is the first time where I simply cannot think of an acceptable title. This is the day where my mood jumps from miserable, to cheery, to sleepy (which isn't actually a mood), to downright passive. I'm back to my normal bored, sarcastic self this afternoon.

But what made my mood shift to the two extremes so suddenly... (usually it takes the longest while to get to even move)?

Well, last night I was once again cramming for my Filipino movie review on Mano Po 5 (don't ask why I chose it, btw, it sucks). I finished the darn thing at about one in the morning, so I saved it on my hard disk and mumubled to myself that I was sleepy. Then I went to sleep. Damn I hate my computer.

This morning, during our recess, I went to the library to print it out, as I usually do. When I clicked on the file, only the first paragraph appeared. "No..." *close, re-click* "Nooooooooo..." Crap, it's the second time this month too. It first happened with my El Filibusterismo report, I was almost done, with only two sections left, when I saved. Some uncontrollable error took over Word and it closed. Dang... Oh well, I thought. But it wasn't all right. When I checked my Flash drive, the file was gone! Poof! So, I got up very calmly and banged my head against my wall. I had no choice to start from scratch.

Now, what happened to my movie review wasn't as drastic, although it was a finished work. Only four or five paragraphs disappeared, compared to the eleven pages of El Fili crap I had to work on, but the disappearance frustrated me enough to tears. I decided to leave it for now and do it again at home. The thing was, when I returned to my classroom, still crying, no one seemed to notice until after I lifted my head and asked for more tissue. Did they think the heaving lump in the middle of the room was sleeping?

O.o

Fine with me.

After our Chinese class, we had our PE class, which is dancing. Swing, I believe. And, if I'm not mistaken, we just had our exam today. We fooled around. Danced around like... eh... Monkeys and ducks. That seemed to cheer me up.

Next was our English class, where we had a quiz. It wasn't actually a written test, but a declamation contest packaged as a quiz. Well, it was graded, so whatever. Teacher decides on what happens and what doesn't. So, we had to interpret the poems assigned to us and act out our interpretation. I made Snoopy my baby and pretended to be a widow. I do hope it came out that way.

That seemed to calm me down a bit.

It was around this point I realized that I forgot my wallet. This is actually the first time I've forgotten my wallet. My cash/change, yes. (P400 in TZ) But never my wallet. Well, I wasn't worried that it was lost or anything that serious, I remembered that I left it in my bag yesterday. So, I had no lunch. I'm not the type of person who is in favor of asking for loans (utang), but I was hungry and wasn't going to go on without my lunch. So, I asked various people for some spare change (like a beggar, I know) and said that I wasn't going to pay them back, because I was just asking for a tiny amount, ranging from P1 to P5.

In the end, I was able to collect P24, which was unfortunately not enough for a sandwich. But when I approached the "lunch lady" and asked for a tawad, she agreed (Yay!) and I got my lunch after 15 minutes of roaming the school for spare change. Lol.

Physics was next. Usually, I don't feel too sleepy during Science, but something compelled me to be true to my Pilipino self and take a nap after our watery experiment. When I woke up, one of my classmates was already reporting on his/her assigned kabanata in El Fili. Dang... (Sana hindi umabot sa akin!) I made that my mantra for the 2 periods of Filipino. And, finally, something agreeable happens to me, my teacher decides to continue it next time. Yay!

Herein ends my story, for the day.

I am so hungry, since I only have 2 stickers left to claim at Starbucks, I'm asking my mom for a treat there. >.<

The P-Obsession

Let some craziness into your life and be healthy. Personally, I prefer the Peppermint Frapp of Starbucks. Well, just a quick post to laugh at myself and all my Ps.

Current Events #2

Current Events #2
Date: Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,311025,00.html

Gays Deserve Torture, Death Penalty, Iranian Minister Says

Homosexuals deserve to be executed or tortured and possibly both, an Iranian leader told British MPs during a private meeting at a peace conference, The Times has learned.

Mohsen Yahyavi is the highest-ranked politician to admit that Iran believes in the death penalty for homosexuality after a spate of reports that gay youths were being hanged.

President Ahmadinejad, questioned by students in New York two months ago about the executions, dodged the issue by suggesting that there were no gays in his country.

Britain regularly challenges Iran about its gay hangings, stonings and executions of adulterers and perceived moral criminals, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) papers show.

The latest row involves a woman hanged this June in the town of Gorgan after becoming pregnant by her brother. He was absolved after expressing his remorse. Britain said that this demonstrated the unequal treatment of men and women in law and breached Iran’s pledge to restrict the death penalty to the most serious crimes.

A series of reported executions of gays, including two underage boys whose public hanging was posted on the internet, has alarmed human rights campaigners.

The Pet Shop Boys dedicated Fundamental, their Grammy-nominated album, to Mahmoud Asqari and Ayad Marhouni, who were hanged in Justice Square in Mashhad in 2005. Graphic photographs of the execution of the youths, who were under 18 when arrested, were released by the Iranian Students News Agency.

Gay rights groups in Britain, such as Outrage!, accuse Iran of cloaking executions for homosexuality with bogus charges for more serious crimes.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, the FCO released papers to The Times about the death penalty being used in Iran for homosexuality, adultery and sex outside marriage.

Minutes taken by an official describe a meeting between British and Iranian MPs at the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a peace body, in May. When the Britons raised the hangings of Asqari and Marhouni, the leader of the Iranian delegation, Mr Yahyavi, a member of his parliament’s energy committee, was unflinching. He "explained that according to Islam gays and lesbianism were not permitted," the record states. "He said that if homosexual activity is in private there is no problem, but those in overt activity should be executed [he initially said tortured but changed it to executed]. He argued that homosexuality is against human nature and that humans are here to reproduce. Homosexuals do not reproduce."

Nicole Pichet, a researcher who also took notes of the gathering, told The Times that the discussion began with British MPs discussing the underage gay hangings. Mr Yahyavi responded by saying homosexuality was to blame for a lot of diseases such as Aids.

Ann Clwyd, the Labor MP and head of Britain’s delegation, said yesterday: "It is of great concern that these attitudes persist and we made it clear what we felt."

Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Nigeria apply the death penalty for homosexuality, according to the International Lesbian and Gay Association.

Internet Deprievation Torture

The only thing worse than water torture I know and actually acknowledge in this small world I live in.

Yeah, PLDT has let me down. Our Internet broke the day Glorietta 2 did. So, for the past month, I've been miserably spending my time locked in that cave of a room I call my living quarters, a.k.a. my bedroom, crying. Well, not quite crying out of grief, but more of tearing because my eyes were tired from watching the telly for too long.

Why do I suddenly no feel like typing something up? Dunno, really. Maybe, it's because I'm not used to the computer I'm using right now. Well, our Internet is still broken, and I'm still sad.

Since my mom needed to check her mail, we're here at an Internet cafe, across the street from our apartment, tinkering with the computers. Whee...

I've got so much to say after almost a month of silence, but sadly not enough energy to detail each glorious event. Jeez bad timing, little red dot.

Lemme see... G2 bombing... *snaps fingers*... Intrams victory... Semestral break... Alternative Class Program (which just happened today).

So, we won during our Intramurals. Overall and for our basketball, which was of course fun. ^^ The 3rd years actually made me nervous, but I guess it would have been a closer match if they had gone full force, but they had a volleyball game against us at the same time, and it just happens that two of their really good players were very and pretty good Vball players as well. Well, no point in pondering it any further. Btw, I got a medal! Yay. ^.^

What I did during our Sem break... I went to my brother's house to play with his daughter, his son, and his laptop. My neice gets cuter everyday. My nephew gets more hypers. And Diablo II gets more enticing. At days. Sometimes, most of the time I couldn't care less. :P

We slept over last Thursday, I think , and I played until I fell asleep in their refused-to-be-airconditioned bedroom, which they let us sleep in. The next day, we went out to a wonderful place in Global City, Serendra. (I wanna go back!) Anyway, we just walked around the place and ate. Also, we went to this really cute place named Hobbes & (something), dang. There's only one Hobbes store there, so it can't really be missed. It was so cool, they had various collectibles and board games and baby stuff. My mom bought my neice a few new toys, while I got the Game of Life. I was thinking of getting Twister too...

Anyway, got to go. I'll continue this another day.

Blogging for my desmise

HBO is promoting the movie Superman Returns and as the lady on the telly said earlier it will be showing only showing until the 21st.

So, I watched my... first (?) Superman movie at one today, and what did I think about it? Well, it was cool and all that. Superman comes back and finds that he has a kid. Ooh... Superman and son. I think I like that better than Superman and cousin, Supergirl. Yeah, Justice League Unlimited crap.

But the only thing I'd really like to comment on right now is the immense silliness of the idea of Superman.

You have Clark Kent here. Some reporter friend of his clicks away on his camera, pointed at him. But, tadaa, no recognition. Brilliant. Even Lois Lane and her fiancee were talking about Superman, his vital stats and such, then the fiancee, Richard, suddenly notices that is the same height as Superman. Then they just shrug it off and go, "Nah..."

Hah. Really, creator of Superman, whoever you are. That was so silly. As so many other superhero flicks and comics, just put on a mask, concealing your eyes and you become unrecognizable. Or in Superman's case, just remove his glasses and he becomes his super-powered alter ego. And he slips it on, the people go and wonder, where'd Superman go?!

Yeah, if that's so in the real world, I could just take off my glasses and rob a bank, and no one would know that it was me... Ah... fantasy.

AVG: Are you to be my laptop's savoir?

Gosh, I hope so. For some time now, my laptop (not the one I'm using to go on the Internet and such) has been infected by a virus. Actually, I'm led to believe an entire folder of viruses. Sucks, doesn't it? I do have Sophos installed, but it's ancient and can't be updated since my laptop's ability to go on the net has been, well, broken. Somehow. A long time ago. *sigh*

So, I've actually already downloaded AVG for my mom's computer, so I know it will be able to get rid of those annoying little worms. The most surprising thing of all is that the Sophos on my mom's laptop went poof!

A month ago, probably, I wanted to scan this computer, since it was getting all laggy again. When I clicked on the Sophos shortcut on my desktop, a window saying that it couldn't find the location of the program came up. Obvious reaction: wth?! So I went through the Program Files folder and found the Sophos folder empty. Shucks... What the hell happened here?

So, I tried to get Sophos back. Nope, couldn't do it, since, well, I'm penniless. (Mom doesn't know about this, btw.) So, I tried looking for other Anti-Virus programs that were free and found AVG. Whee~ And the next time I went to one of the school's computer labs, I found out that our school also uses AVG. At the very least, I know that it has my teacher's seal of approval. :P

Well, back to the present. I'm downloading it (at a pathetic rate, btw - 7 kb/sec) and waiting... waiting... and waiting.

Mythbusters... They're so cool. I was watching the show just before this, so the big rig myths are still fresh in my mind. Yep, I was watching Mythbusters instead of studying for my exams. Not that I study too much for it.

Of course, Chinese is the exception. Since no one can pass Chinese without studying, those who can't understand Chinese have to be a bit more dedicated. Yeah, that's me. Oh yeah, that reminds me. A few posts ago, I predicted that I'd pass my Chinese long test... Sad thing. I'll never try that again. It became the first one I failed this quarter.

Why I don't post much

Yeah, you've noticed the gradual decrease in the production of my posts. So what? What does it really matter? It doesn't or does it?

When I'm bored, that's when I post. That is, when I'm bored and inspired. Usually, I am bored, but unfortunately uninspired. Do I have no love life? No, I don't. It is nonexistent. The most love I express is to Snoopy, but it's just Snoopy, no reciprocation possible. Actually, I wonder whether that's why most of my love is directed at him, because it won't come back to me. Now, that's the most screwed thing I've ever written. Hands down.

Anyway. Let me just keep this thing up to date.

My semi-new blog:
http://aconspiracytoss.blogspot.com
- sporting a new template courtesy of Blogger Templates

My current tuning:
4-4-4-3-3

We just had a Chinese long test earlier today, and I'd have to say that I think I actually passed. Not to say that I've failed any of my long tests, thanks to the strange way of grading our Chinese teachers follow. But, I strongly believe that I actually passed this thing. Why? Because I actually studied the day before. And I usually don't bother, not counting the brief glances at my notes just to make me feel better about it.

Gosh... So uninspired. So lazy.

Chapel Notes

I don't know why you're asking for this, but fine... Whatever.


8/23/07

Verses:

• Philippians 4:8-9

Notes:
"What you feed your mind with is what comes out of your mouth and what your actions will be"

Honesty
Obedience
Peace
Excellence
^- endangered virtues


8/30/07

Verses:

• Proverbs 17:20

Notes:

Honesty
"You reap what you sow."


9/13/07

Verses:

• 1 Samuel 15

Notes:

Disobedience - you should obey the Lord's Word and not manipulate it
- if you don't obey a person, that person won't feel respected
"To obey is better than sacrifice."


9/20/07

Verses:

• Philippians 4:6-7
• John 14:27

Notes:

Peace
The Bible presents a different perspective on life.
Peace of God - eternal calm; lies in the trusting soul; unaffected by external disturbances
- center of the hard way
Jesus - author of perfect peace
Eirene - Greek word
- quietness
- rest
Assurance that God will win in the end
Attainable even during turbulence


10/4/07

Verses:

• 1 Samuel 16 & 17

Notes:

Excellence is a habit, not an act. - Aristotle (paraphrased)
David - picture of excellence

1. We must learn how to honor our parents and we will live a long life.
2. We should be able to be willing to do menial tasks
3. Be responsible.

People will misunderstand you.

Study: Deep Voices Equal More Babies

Men with lower voices will have more children than higher-pitched males, according to a new study.

In a study of the Hadza of Tanzania, one of the last hunter-gatherer cultures groups who use no modern birth control, David Feinberg, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and colleague, Coren Apicellam, found that men who have lower pitched voices had more children than men with higher pitched voices.

Feinberg and his colleagues have shown in previous studies that women find deeper male voices to be more attractive, judging them to be more dominant, older, healthier and more masculine while men find higher-pitched women more attractive, subordinate, feminine, healthier and younger sounding.

The study, published in Biology Letters, does not link voice pitch to offspring mortality rates but gives some insight into the evolution of voice, according to Feinberg. “If our ancestors went through a similar process”, said Feinberg, “this could be one reason why men’s and women’s voices sound different.”

Now, doesn't that explain why all the fangirls swarm those deep-pitched bishies. Can't blame them though, I do to. :D

The USTET, Joshua, and My Videos

Dang... I'm so lazy. This is something I should've done last Sunday, yesterday. Then again, I'm playing hookie today, so I had the entire day to myself and Snoopy and my psychic iTunes, not a bad mix if I should say so myself.

First up, the University of Santo Tomas Entrance Test... By far, the EASIEST entrance exam I've encountered. Those people, whoever they are, weren't wrong. A 2nd year student could take it and pass. And at the bottom of the standardized answer sheet "Copyright 2005" was printed. :D

The "Mental Ability" portion was something they didn't expect the students to complete, after all, 80 items in 30 minutes... Doable, as long as you don't dabble around that is. It was a bit of a mix of logic questions, easy math questions (like there's a mother and a father with two sons, and two daughter-in-laws, each of the sons had two kids, how many are there in all?) Really, now.

Next, was the English section, it was more or less divided into three parts, the vocabulary section, the analogy section, and the very, very short reading comprehension one. Now, I think I missed one, but that doesn't matter. The vocab wasn't particularly challenging. It was as if they put semi-difficult words and threw in a bunch of review center sponsored nomenclatures, just for the sake of confusing the students.

Math was 2nd year level. Easy 2nd year level. Like, what is the compliment of 67°? *roll eyes*

Science, same comment for math, except for two Physics questions that weren't really common sense. Actually, one of the questions I'm referring to is about projectiles. And I just learned about projectiles two weeks ago. Same angle of projectile and stuff, but different speed equals the same time to hit the ground.

Anyway... I was actually laughing and dying at the same time during the test. The examiner read her guide all slow and weird. She actually misread part of it as well... But then again, she was cute and I'll never see her again (probably) so it doesn't really matter. And of course, with easy tests, come great boredom.

That should be my new catch phrase. No! It should become this overused quote, like its spoof!

Joshua. No, he's not my crush. Actually, I don't know any guys named Joshua. The Joshua I'm referring to is Joshua, the nine year old boy, from his self-titled movie. You know, the psychological thriller. I swear, the movie's totally creepy. You have this little boy, only three years older than my newphew, with a completely innocent face and I suspect a sky high IQ, killing his family, or at least driving them insane. My goodness gracious gulay... I won't say anything more about it, lest a mark be left on this pretty pink and black blog, whose format I'm thinking of changing...

Now, what was the other thing I was going to talk about... Ah, my videos...

Last week was Math and Science week, I won't post its official name as it's too gross even for me. Last week was so fun. Ok, scratch that. Last Friday was so fun. Games and Goldbergs. Mini-architectural wonders and hyperactive little brats. What a day... I actually joined a game, but it was cancelled (can I hear a collective "aww"?). A Math game. *gasp* For plus points. *ah...* Yeah, me and my Snoopy-dancing persona are talking at once.

I have to remember to post those videos of our sister team's Goldberg! A flamethrower to cut a piece of green yarn. Then again, it was an ugly piece of string, so serves it right. Bleh.

Also, I must upload the beautiful picture of our, ahem, our master engineer's work of art? structural marvel? Whatever you'd like to call it, it's the Burg Al Arab. Coincidentally, the next morning (or was it afternoon by then) I was on National Geographic when the familiar sail shape came up on the show, Frontline of Construction. Oooh... Purdy... Now, we could've used that commentary to stupefy the judges to give us a perfect score...

Ah, and no AS4. *cries*

Pato Actually Saying Something About the ACET (and more AS4)

My new habit: Proclaiming, "I'm still alive!!!"

Yeah, because of all these entrance exams. Damn, they're really killers... Just kidding.

College entrance exams aren't as scary as they're cut out to be. Seriously. I have this theory that they make up all this propaganda up to scare students out of their wits that they end up not performing at their best during the test. That's probably not true, but who cares?

The only really scary part about the ACET was the, you guessed it, the time pressure. Now, setting that little menace aside, it wasn't too bad. Annoying, but completely bearable. I hate abstract reasoning. Simply said, and Neko's quote is applicable, I'm not a spatial girl. All those vague little drawings with claims of patterns just tick me off. Though, at least they weren't blurry, like the NCAE's...

What else... The Math, was blah... So much easier when compared to the UPCAT. No Science section either... (Whee~) Though, there was a trade-off. The English was harder, definitely. The vocab words... Well, I had to guess through some of them just to meet the time limit. Oh! And there was an essay. "Are people of the 21st century over reliant on technology?"

I'm glad Clarissa warned me about this, while I was still lining up. We actually arrived there before 10 AM, so I was just waiting, and waiting, and waiting... Dang... 2 hours left... Anyway, I texted her to ask how she was doing, and voila, revelation.

It was a great deal of fun afterwards too. Yup, all the waiting was a pile of fun. A truckload, actually. And that's partly true. There was this one selection on the ACET about exploring foreign lands without a plan or guide and just jumping in. It kinda inspired me to take a super-mini tour of Ateneo actually. I bet the passengers of the cars passing by thought that the strange girl balancing on the sidewalk was weird. Lol. Yeah, I'm a weirdo, and I know it.

But as after every exam, I make it a point to visit that no longer new smelling machine in G4.

Right now, I don't know what to feel about AS4. I just finished LoTS for the second time without having a horrid time beating them, except Takumi and Bunta (I just treat the old man as I do Iro Reverse, ignored. :P) they're like hell, as always. I don't know what to make my goals right now. I dislike Time Attacks for some reason, but I guess I'll have to give it another chance...

Sweet 16?!

Maybe this post should've been made when I just turned 16, not like 4 months afterwards, but what does it matter anyway? Besides, (and I just noticed that my current favorite transitional word now is "besides") I only thought of this topic this morning on the way to school, enduring the practically never-ending line to MHCS.

When I was younger, I used to believe that when I turned 16, so many doors would open up to me, being able to join more stuff (*cough* all-night pow-wow), do more stuff, and most importantly drive. So far, there haven't been anytime I want to join now, so that sucks. But to tell you the truth, the main issue is the driving one.

Legally, I am allowed to drive on public roads, with the condition that there is an adult with a driving license in the passenger seat.

Now, I've never been the legalism-type, actually, I try to maneuver around the rules in school, and try isn't even the appropriate word for it. Sometimes, I just ignore them. Now, I won't mention what I don't pay attention to, lest a teacher is reading this, or even *OMG gasp* the Prefect of Discipline, but I know that ain't happening. Still, I don't like taking those kind of risks.

Anyway, where was I...

Right. If I knew that my mom would pull a super-freak out on me if I took the CR-V for a little spin, I'd already have done just that. But, unfortunately, that isn't so. Pato-chan just ends up waiting till she's allowed to touch our old Corolla. :(

I guess, being 16 isn't all it's cut out to be...

Why do I get the feeling I'll be saying the same thing when I'm 18...

Pokalicious Poking

My name is Pokalicious, and I like to poke people, objects, and animals. Although I don't suggest you imitate me, at least when it comes to irritating animals. Being Pokalicious is fun, do you know why? Because I say so, therefore it is so.


Yeah, yeah, randomness you may claim, but it isn't. Not completely anyway. The short paragraph was, but the point of making something for Pokalicious to put on her site isn't. We have this school project to make a personal website with Adobe Dreamweaver (which I totally adore), and I'm having loads of fun with it.

To heck with long posts for now, I'm to distracted to make them.

Pato-chan on the ACET

My schedule:
September 15, 2007 (Saturday)
1:00 - 6:00 PM
Ateneo High School
Room # 11

Yeah, so obviously I haven't taken the dreaded exam yet. And I'm not yet terrified out of my wits, hopefully I never will. Because a witless Pato-chan plus one scary exam doesn't mix well.

I don't have much to say (yet). But I would like to express my happiness. For what you may ask? Well, my pretty new books. Yep, my pretty books from Powerbooks.

Boredom

To tell you the truth, I shouldn't be bored. I've got loads to do, but the thing is I really don't want to do it know, setting aside the little known fact that I don't know how to do it as well.

I've got tons of Filipino homework, but I figure that's the norm for Mrs. Caspilo, assign every major, or at least semi-major, work at the beginning of the quarter and leave the small ones till later. Apart from Filipino, we've got English. It's turning into a quarterly thing, having a book report. Now, for Filipino, that was actually announced. We are to review the entire El Filibusterismo ten chapters at a time. But for English, sigh... At least it's a self-help book this time, though that doesn't really mean anything to me as my book is as thick, or a bit less, than an average novel, not to mention the terms the authors use terms that leave my mind wandering the skies, trying to guess the definition. Don't expect me to carry a dictionary around everywhere I go (unless it's one of those tiny electronic ones). I'm not that much of a geek.

Did you know that at one point in the last quarter I worried for my the card grade in History, I mean, Economics? Scary that it came to that since I was a minor history, ahem, social studies, geek last year, and the year before, and the year before. Basically, if it's in English, I can understand it.

Math not included. Besides, our math teachers speak in both English and Filipino. Technically, it's math teacher, since he's responsible for both our Algebra, Advanced Algebra, and Calculus. Surprisingly, this past quarter wasn't so bad. I could actually understand it. It's amazing, isn't it? That goes to show for those out there like me, slightly impaired in the math department, there is hope. Or maybe it was just that our lessons weren't hard... I can't tell anymore.

I won't make a fuss about Science, apart from that my elementary and high school grades can't be compared, because there's that much of a difference. 99! My goodness, how much I've sunk.

Why am I blabbering about school right now? Because the NCAE (National Career Assesment Examination) has left me partially brain dead. Not because it was super-incredibly-extremely difficult, quite the opposite actually. It was easy. The only challenging portions were the ones with cute faded little pictures, meaning non-verbal ability, manipulative skills, and entrepreneurial skills. Would it do any good if I said that I didn't attend the review for the NVA and ES?

Anyway, why I'm brain dead. Because I was that bored.

...

...

Were you expecting that?

The "main" subtests were allotted so much time that right after the reading comprehension bit, I just fell asleep immediately. Take note that as always I was up late.

Where was I? Ah, the pointless, meaningless, rambling.

That kinda ends now...

Pato-chan on the UPCAT and AS4

Well, if you didn’t realize the UPCAT, my schedule at the very least was yesterday, at 12:30 (though it actually started at about 1:30 because the examiner took his sweet, sweet time) in the College of Arts and Letters. Sadly, I didn’t see anyone I knew. Even though I visited the campus the day before and was on the lookout for any Makati Hopians.

I’m alive, therefore I survived.

Yes, the UPCAT has forever scarred me. All the waiting in the hot, hot air, with insects flying around, crawling all over, and swinging from their little threads.

Isn’t that a bit screwed? It probably is.

The actual exam was, well, tough. I guess. Overall, yeah, tough.

The English and Filipino sections were overplayed by the review class I attended. Now, I’d give you a sample of the vocabulary and talasalitaan I can remember, but I can’t remember the unfamiliar Filipino words, so I won’t bother. But, all the words were used in a sentence, at the very least, and the context clues were pretty clear, so it wasn’t too difficult to guess what the words meant. The *cough* most difficult English word used as a vocabulary word I can recall was disheveled. *coughing fit*

Now, the Science subtest was, hm, moderate. I felt that I had wasted my time studying Physics, because they were totally focused on Biology and Chemistry. Which sucks even more, since I can no longer recall most of the stuff we had taken up in those classes, and I don’t believe I was paying much attention in those years in the first place. So, yeah. I guessed my way through 25% of it.

Math. Math was like blah… Here I guessed my way through 50-75% of it. There were a few questions where I was wondering if I’ve ever seen these things before. There was this weird rounded “E” symbol, which I just stared at for a few seconds and moved on. What I’ve got to say about Math to future examinees… Dearies, study your Geometry.

The Reading Comprehension… Hmm, not too hard, but I always imagine myself getting higher scores than I really do. So, oh well. Ah, the thing I hated about it most was that most of it was in Filipino. Most of the essays were centered on Filipino topics. Cory Aquino, the “joke lang” culture of Filipinos, neologism in the Filipino language, the three names of the Philippines, stuff like that.

By the way, did I mention that I only had a tiny breakfast before it? J After the exam, I was whining like hell, “I’m hungry…” And so, I disregarded the fact that I’m on a diet and ate a bowl of rice, Chinese style. Damn, I missed Chinese food.

Now, after that lovely dinner, I had fun. Waiting. There was this short line at the AS4 machine, and the two guys before me were pretty good, I guess, so it was a “learning experience” watching them. The friend of the guy playing kept giving me looks, so I wonder why. Is it A) I’m a girl watching the guy play. B) I’m a girl watching the guy play, and holding an IC card for it. Or C) I’m a girl watching the guy play, holding an IC card for it, and wearing a skirt, a pretty long one, by the way. But, bah, who cares. The two were really loud, too, if I might add.

Also, if anyone from TIDPH is reading this, I heard them talking about you guys. They were saying that, well, the guy with the name ANINO, he though that you guys were kinda mayabang, but fast anyway. This part, I’m not quite sure about, but I think he wanted to see you guys go against CKF, or some other top player. Then they went on about which of the top players went to the forums, and blah…

Ah, and before I forget, there was another guy playing with the name, Manu. Yeah…

Anyway… Previously, though I didn’t make an account of it, I had already beaten Lake Akina, Myogi, and up to Kyoupon on Akagi. Now, Kei-pi wasn’t too hard, I think I beat him on the second try, like yesterday. Then went off to beat Ryoupon on the second attempt, I think. Then Akina. Ryoupon was the challenge here again, three tries, and he was off the chart as well. The FC’s startup is, well, amazing. I had to ram into it just so I could get ahead. Then I just bypassed Takumi.

Now, Irohazaka had been calling out to me for some time now. So, I decided to play Sei-pi then realized that I don’t know how to play Irohazaka. At my third try, in CP3/4, I think I just about got the formula, but just about, since it only worked on some corners, others… well, I just ended up reversing myself. Either that, or ramming hood-first into the guardrail.

Since, I was running out of time, I decided to skip him and move on to Tsukuba and just try out Dai-pi. The first CP, or did it last to the second, was relatively easy to grasp, so I was able to overtake Dai-pi there. Past that point though, he passed me and left me in the dust.

In the end, I have about 60-70K points in my card, with two cars sitting in my garage, the S2000 and the RX8. I’m keeping that third space empty for the time being, since I simply cannot decide what car I’d like to put there. I’ve also heard several suggestions on how to play, like taking the card out after each race, so you could tune it faster, now I’d do that, except that it takes a lot of time putting it in and taking it out, so whatever, I can tune my cars in time and I really don’t have much time to play. And, I don’t even know yet if you can renew it, so I’m not taking any chances and taking my sweet time.

How to Deal with Annoying People (What to Do When You Can't Avoid Them)

How to Deal with Annoying People (What to Do When You Can't Avoid Them)
By: Bob Phillips and Kimberly Alyn

Don't you ever wish that some people could just go away and disappear? Well, you're certainly not alone. Psst... Everyone has moments like these, if you didn't realize that by now. How to Deal with Annoying People (or HTDWAP, as I will be referring to it) helps you realize how different people are, and makes the very old and generally accepted saying "Do onto other, as you would like others to do onto you." not as wise as it sounds.

The book explains why people act and react differently, so treating people how you want to be treated does not always garner the desired result. So, it identifies the general strengths and weakness of each one of the four social styles, and helps you determine the styles of others as well. The purpose? So you can adapt to them and reduce conflict.

That's what the book, this very enjoyable book, is all about. Reducing conflict. Though... HTDWAP does mention the point that conflict isn't all bad. It can build... stuff, stuff you have to read the book to find out about.

- by A Conspiracy Toss

Baby Cars and Barkadas

Well, today was the third day of driving school, A1, my sixth hour, though I wasn't driving for the entirety of the lessons. Either way, it's an exciting experience, getting in a car and going wherever. Wherever the instructor says anyway.

It gives me a chance to go to the mall as well. Today was... not particularly eventful.

I did buy three news car, baby cars!

Well, not baby cars, technically. They're just smaller than most of my die-cast models, so the appropriate term is mini, but when I'm left to decide which one I prefer, I'd take "baby" any day.

My new baby FC! My WRC Evo6! My yellow S2000! (And dang, now I realize how good the S2K looks in that color.)

The FC... *sigh* When I wandered around Toy Kingdom, I headed for the toy car section, as I always do, with the intention of searching for a nice Evo die-cast of some sort. And I did, as is apparent in the paragraph above. My FC, my new FC. It's a Ryousuke FC, not the big one I already have, but a baby (mini) version for my chibi Trueno to race (and the Evo6, and the S2000, and the RX8, and the 350Z, and the D1 FD) *sigh*

Anyway, what's the deal with barkadas, you may ask, as it seems to be a big deal of some sort in my title. Well, it's just that I find them annoying when it comes to IDAS. They flock to a machine, just for the heck of it. Of course, I can't say that they shouldn't be on a machine, it's just I find them vexing. Grr!

So instead of a flock of guys challenging me on ID, I got a trio of girls instead. Myogi. *falls asleep* Usually, I love racing these guys. More point to battle Bunta with, but then I had to go. Like, had to go. Not to the comfort room to seek comfort with Mr. Toilet, but back to SM. So I had to purposely lost against the 3rd girl, just so I could get out of there. *sigh* What a waste of load. I could've squeezed 10k points from them. And there was the bunch of guys. And that little boy who was stomping on the pedal. (Nooo... Don't kill the machine!!!)

Well, that was the rant, now the rave.

It is coming!

IDAS4 to G4 Timezone!

It was posted on the IDW forums, an e-mail from Timezone saying that IDAS4 and WMMT3 will be coming! And it is confirmed! IDAS4 is coming! The attendant said that the machines are being delivered this month! This month!

Which means... Which means... *passes out* I will probably be playing AS4 after the UPCAT! What a way to celebrate! :D

I don't care what the guys out there are saying. "The physics are out of whack" and shit, but I don't care. I want to play it. I don't care if it costs P29, I'm so playing it. Staring at the graphics make me practically drool. XD

Ok, out of hyper mode.... Now.

Frankie, you may take my picture. In front of the machine. Yay!

Old Journals and Ancient Script

I know, I said that I don't post inane stuff when I'm supposed to be busy, but I don't want to occupy myself with those charcters right now. And even if it does make me feel a bit bad, I'll live with it tomorrow.

The other day, probably two days ago, I was arranging my bookshelf, in anticipation of The Balikbayan box with all my books (>.< and shoes, and stuff... XD), when I saw a strange and utterly foreign-looking notebook. At first I dismissed it as my old autograph book, but when curiousity brought me to examine the old pad, I realized that it wasn't my autograph slambook, but an ancient journal.

Technically, not that ancient. It was written in my hand four years ago. When I was reading it, it made my eyes water. I was that stupid?!

The horrid topics, I shall never touch again, the horrid script, it had me screaming (mentally, as I hardly ever actually scream) in an outrage.

My god...

To be honest, Danilicious, and I mean no offence by this, I sounded like you... *shudder*

April 30

Ok, screw everything I wrote on my yellow pad, I don't want to have to type everything up again. So just screw it.


But at the same time, I don't want to leave this topic alone. I want to leave a bit of detail on what happened in America on paper, and since I lose my papers like I lose my pens, Blogger should suffice.


Stops:

1. New York city

Highlights: (1) Touring Manhattan, (2) Going north to Niagara falls, apparently that's how it's spelled, (3) Visiting my family there! Duh, purpose of visit. Not to mentioned we were their guests althroughout.


2. Maryland

Highlights: (1) Touring Washington D.C., (2) More family visitations! Ok... that sounded so wrong. We stayed there for most part of the week we were in Silver Springs, but we then moved to a hotel because we didn't want to feel like parasites.

3. Los Angeles, California

Highlights: (1) Disneyland!, (2) Universal City, (3) RX8s!!!

Talk about a summary.

First Survey Ever

[ Name ] Patricia
[ Nicknames ] Pat, Pato-chan, Patty, Trish, Yuzuki, Yu-chan, Kam, Yuz, Kamy, etc...
[ Screen name ] Kamaji Yuzuki, Yuzuki, Kamyuz, Kayu, obssdgb, dialinfita (luvs anagrams), Ashphodel*insert number here*, Ash
[ Birthday ] May 11
[ Age ] 16, but not sweet
[ Weight ] 120+ last time I checked
[ Astrological sign? ] Taurus...
[Chinese zodiac sign? ] Sheep...
[ Marital Status ] Single, but hardly available.
[ Eye color ] Black-Brown/Brown-black, I can no longer recall the difference.
[ Height ] 5'2+
[ Shoe size ] 7+
[ Parents still together? ] No.
[ Siblings? ] Brother.
[ Nieces/Nephews? ] Hm... I lost count, 2+
[ Kids of your own? ] None that I know of...
[ Grandkids? ] Am I that old?!
[ Pets? ] My dead turtle, my several dead hamsters, my several dead goldfish, my several dead lovebirds, my several dead stuff toys
[Education? ] What about it?
[ Rent, lease, or own your home? ] Still at home with mom.
[ Have any credit cards? ] Two, Bankard and MyDream.
[ What do you drive? ] Hmm... Mazda RX-7 FC, Mazda RX-8, Mitsubishi Evo III, Subaru Impreza STi (GC8V), Nissan 180SX... Oh, you do know that these are all in Initial D Arcade Stage Ver. 3, right?

Favorites
[ Color ] Black, White, Silver, Red, Pink (only in small amounts and when paired with either white or black, or both)
[ Number ] Random number generator: 785
[ Animal ] Dog, Bat...
[ Vehicle ] Current car: Nissan 180SX
[ Flower ] Lavender
[ Scent ] Lavender
[ Shape ] 104-sided polygon
[ Drinks ] Water, Iced Tea, Mango smoothie, Hot Chocolate, Cold Chocolate, anything else with chocolate
[ Soda ] None, don't drink soft drinks...
[ Book ] Helen of Troy
[ Band ] None at the moment, singer though... Melissa White
[ Song ] Switch! by Melissa White and Ace
[ Food ] Starbucks Tiramisu cake - I miss you!

Do you...
[ Color your hair? ] No, never... Although I might consider highlighting it one day...
[ Have tattoos? ] Unless you call the things I draw on my skin tatoos, no.
[ Piercing? ] One in each ear, don't want any more.
[ Cheat on tests/homework? ] Always a concern, so I hide...
[ Drink/Smoke? ] I tried to drink a bit of wine before (like for a toast)... Eew...
[ Like roller coasters? ] Anything except the ones with loops...
[ Wish you could live somewhere else] Yes, anywhere nicer and bigger.
[ Want more piercings? ] Read above.
[ Like cleaning? ] I like disorder...
[Write in cursive or print? ] Cursive with some print letters.
[ Carry a donor card? ] Maybe, haven't thought about it.
[ Swear a lot? ] When I'm pissed...
[Own a web cam?] No.
[ Know how to drive?] I will be learning soon.
[ Diet? ] Technically...
[ Own a cell phone? ] Yup.
[ Ever get off the damn computer? ] When I'm not home, and when I am home, I'm only off when I'm supposed to be studying or when I'm asleep.
[ Habla Espanol? ] Pardon?

Have you ever...
[ Gotten a speeding ticket?] Not yet.
[ DUI? ] Excuse me?
[ Been in a wreck? ] Not a severe one. Just a karting accident, where nothing was broken except some skin.
[ Been arrested? ] I'm used to evading the fuzz.
[ Been in a fist fight? ] I find other ways to get revenge or vent my anger.
[ Kicked someone in the nuts? ] Not of yet. If someone pushes me enough, I just might.
[ Stolen anything? ] Not anything I can remember... Oh! Music off the Internet!
[ Held a gun? ] A bunch of toy guns (i.e. water guns, pellet guns)
[ Drank? ] Water, juice...
[ Been so drunk you couldn't remember your name?] Never.
[Considered a life of crime?] Uh, no.
[ Considered being a hooker? ] Eew, no.
[ Cried over a girl?] Because I felt insulted.
[ Cried over a boy? ] Kinda.
[ Lied to someone? ] About what and who?
[ Been in love? ] Not really.
[ Fallen for your best friend? ] Me = straight
[ Made out with JUST a friend? ] Never even kissed someone before.
[Been rejected? ] Never asked, how can I be rejected?
[ Used someone? ] Yes, but who...
[ Been used? ] Yes.
[ Been kissed? ] No.
[Current mood] Bored, and slightly miffed.
[Current music] Eurobeat.
[Current taste] Sweet.
[Current hair] Past shoulder... My normal messy hair.
[Current annoyance] Our moderator, our school and the schedule.
[Current smell] Air?
[Current thing I ought to be doing] Typing up a fic, doing some defenition research
[Current windows open?] Yahoo! Mail, Blogger, Yahoo! Messenger
[Current desktop picture] Plain black.
[Current book] MSA Math Reviewer
[Current cds in stereo] None. iTunes eliminated the use of stereos.
[Current crush] Q-chan.
[Current favorite celeb] Err... None.
[Current hate] None.
[Current job] Student, driving student, writer-by-hobby...
[Last book you read] Helen of Troy
[Last movie you saw] Mr. Bean Goes on Vacation
[Last thing you had to drink] Water
[Last thing you ate] Instant Cook Nissin Noodles.
[Last person you talked to on the phone] Mom.

Do you...
[Do drugs?] Never wanted to.
[Have a dream that keeps coming back?] Never.
[Play an instrument?] Guitar, piano, bamboo flute... Only I suck...
[Believe there is life on other planets?] Not really...
[Remember your first love?] Who? I'ved been in love?!
[Still love him/her?] Since when?!
[Read the newspaper?] Occasionally, when I see something that interests me.
[Have any gay or lesbian friends?] I can never be sure.
[Believe in miracles?] Yeah, but one's never happened to me, I think.
[Believe it's possible to remain faithful forever?] Yes.
[Consider yourself tolerant of others?] Generally, unless I'm in a pissed off mood.
[Consider love a mistake?] Not as of yet.
[Have a favorite candy?] Do chocolates count?
[Do well in school?] Usually, except for Chinese and Math
[Go to or plan to go to college] Yes, Ateneo.
[Wear hats?] No.
[Hate yourself?] No, why would I? I have a pretty good life. I have a bed, I have a roof over my bed, and I have food when I venture out of my bed.
[Have an obsession?] Current one is Initial D, and the perfect line for IDAS.
[Have a secret crush?] It's not a secret.
[Do they know yet?] They who?
[Collect anything?] Die-cast models of cars I like... (i.e. RX-7s, RX-8s, 86s, Roadsters...), books, stuffed toys, pillows...
[Have a best friend?] Three.
[Close friends?] Not that many... No, right out few.
[Like your handwriting?] Yes, although it could be nicer.
[Care about looks?] Not most of the time...

=Love life=
[First crush] It's been a long time since I've thought of him...
[First kiss] Never.
[Single or attached?] Single.
[Ever been in love?] No.
[Do you believe in love at first sight?] No.
[Do you believe in "the one?"] Yes.
[Describe your ideal significant other] No.

First Day of School

"Today will be your last June 6 as a Makati Hope student." - Dr. Tiu

Kinda duh, but it does make you think. At least I did. After the entire program, which was as always, boring. Same old, same old. Except, it won't be happening anymore. That was our last first day orientation.

Wow... I'm a fourth year student with an application form for UP tucked into my clearbook. Although, I am veritably terrified of the entrance exam of UP... Filipino... Noooo... I can still remember my first day as a first year student pretty clearly, and here I am, only ten months away from graduation. It's scary how time flies.

You think you can still redeem yourself by studying hard for the next test, and the next thing you know, a new school year has already begun. It makes second-chances pass quickly that you have to learn to remember the you should do things right the first time around, prevent making mistakes you'll regret and forget to correct. It sucks really.

But enough with the pondering angst, our school looked so different this year! It was like a weirdly color-schemed office building. They extended the front of it, and made the first floor pretty and the front half of the second floor, but they forgot that the majority of their students aren't in grades 1 to 3.

The rest of the 2nd floor and the 3rd and 4th floors remained unchanged, unless you count the rebuffing of our floors a change. I get the feeling that they just want to draw the kids in, and hope that they stay for the rest of their primary and secondary education since they've been there since they were little kids. That was my case, and it's likely that there'd be many other parents around thinking the same as my mom probably did.

Something else... We have a bunch of new teachers this school year, as always, and it just happens that we have a new debate moderator. Yay, right? This time, I didn't bother to keep my hopes high. And rightly so. Even if the guy was from Ateneo, that doesn't mean that he'd attend to us.

Even if our "moderator" isn't brilliant, I'd rather have a moderately skilled one around, rather than have a brilliant one, who I hardly see. Though, in any case, I can't say that he's brilliant either. He seemed to have pretty good Engligh, but all he seemed interested in during his introductory speech was the "drama" club, or whatever he's calling it now.

Stupid shameless "High School Musical"-ish plug. What about the Debate Society?

The Drift-Grip Experiment

Being the insane teenagers we are, Neko-chan and I made an RPG blog. Yup, of our fanfic team, the D-GX.

We have some stuff planned for it, some weird stuff, funny stuff mostly. An RPG for fun!

Books this May

Well, well, well… Apparently three weeks time is a long enough time for things to change drastically.

For one, though this totally goes without saying, traveling through the International Date Line really does screw you up. I’m so confused right now, consciously and unconsciously. Consciously, I have no idea what day it is anymore and have to rely on my watch for that. Thank God for Digital watches. Subconsciously, two words: jet lag.

Argh!

Yep, that was both of frustration and excitement.

Excitement, because I have plans for the pirate movie of the year, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Is that the title? Correct me if I’m wrong.

Anyway, for those who don’t know or remember, take your pick, that empty interval in my blog was caused my escape from the heat of summer in the Philippines to the cold (in my opinion) of the States. Yes, the States that were united under the name of America. What about your opinion, was a temperature of 10-15 cold? In Celsius of course, in Fahrenheit I wouldn’t be even typing this. Hell, my fingers would’ve probably have fallen off from frostbite.

So should move on to the recap? Maybe later.

I can barely believe the number of books I consumed in those 20+ days… I think the number would be 15? Including the manga.

Not the Wallflower and xxxHolic manga I purchased from PowerBooks, but the ones I bought over yonder in Borders. Man, I love that place, Books, Music, Movies, and Coffee (well, chocolate for me) in one place, still I got volumes 9 and 11, I think, and am not sure about it ‘cause they’re still in a balikbayan box around somewhere, so are my other books. My mountain of books!!! TxT

Let me count what I’ve read throughout the summer… Not counting the manga since I can’t remember the volumes, which I read…

1. Consent to Kill by Vince Flynn – I just picked this up from National Bookstore since I thought the title was intriguing, but merely that it was a lovely book. A political thriller, I believe it was called. And indeed it was, a battle of politicians their little power struggles to have their way. Although a mere battle between those guys wouldn’t be too interesting, actually, the main character wasn’t in any way interested in the politics of his job, I forget how they call it so I’ll put it simply, assassin. The tale of an assassination attempt targeted at him and the venture for revenge had me folding the book in half. Gah… Currently I’m collecting Flynn’s other books because of this.

2. Shopaholic and Baby by Sophie Kinsella – The continuation is here!!! Whee~ Now we know about the first four books of Becky Bloomwood Brandon, don’t we? Well, her baby’s here to join the party now. When I first saw this on the net, I immediately scourged the bookstores for it, and when I didn’t find it in the Phil, I went abroad for it. Obviously you know that a mere book isn’t the reason for my vacation. The plot has basically the same structure as the rest of Kinsella’s books, but still, what can I say? I still love it.

3. The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by (someone) – Oh, I swear, I have to get the name of this author, although I’m quite sure that’s the author’s female. This simply does not do her honor… How can I explain how touching this book was? And I’m not one to get touched by something so easily. But it was… It proves that nothing in life and really be planned and go how you expect to occur. Something you intend for the good of others may end up becoming the worst decision of your life and ruining not only yours, but the lives of the ones you love as well. God, this was a great book the only downside was that it was so descriptive… You know, so descriptive that it became boring in some parts? Yeah…

4. Something Borrowed by Emily Griffin – At least that’s what I think her last name was… Damn my forgetfulness. How can you fall in my fiancée?! Imagine that. The twist is, we are seeing it from the point of view of the bitch fiancée stealer, except that she wasn’t the bitch, the engaged “best friend” was. Interesting twists and turns and a lovely ending. Gotta get my own copy of this.

5. Something Blue by Emily Griffin – Same author, same plot. The sequel, get into the mind of Darcy, who constantly gets her way. She actually sounds like someone we’d hate in real life, the way she’s portrayed in the first part anyway. Watch her change along with the development going on within her.

6. Empress Orchid by (someone) – Not the same someone from before, but another one. It actually reminds me of Memoirs of a Geisha. Except that it’s Chinese. And Orchid was one of the main concubines. And a lot of other stuff. But there was enough in common to draw an association between the two. Personally, I enjoyed it pretty much as much the Memoirs, except for this peeve of mine for the book. It translates many of the names into English, like Orchid, I don’t even remember her real name as it was only mentioned in passive. The descriptions she applied though were amazing that I could practically imagine it.

7. The Last Empress by (someone) – Same someone as above, same description applies, except there’s a delightful development of plot here. Did I mention that Orchid was based on the actual last Empress of China?

8. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by (someone) – You can tell that this is a different person right? I admit that I haven’t finished reading this yet, but I will. It’s just the old English gave me a headache. I hate old English.

9. Helen of Troy by Margaret George – Ah, Greek Mythology… It’s been a while. Really, great book. It portrays Helen, from her eyes instead of from someone else’s, you can read how she may have felt when this or that happens. You get some wonderful insight on the woman she may have been. The research she put into this thing really impresses me, it add so much more color to her story. I remember when I first saw this book in PowerBooks when I was browsing, I loved the cover then, but in this hardcover version, I really don’t appreciate it as much as I did the previous one. It’s amazingly long, 600+ pages… At least I’m already halfway though.

Aaand… I believe that there’s another book in between Confessions and Helen, but I cannot recall it. Not too impressive for one month… Well, two actually as I started Consent in April but read it irregularly… That sucks, but oh well… Books… $280+ For everything else there’s MasterCard.




I know it’s Visa, but I don’t use Visa, but MasterCard.


The recap, cars, and all the other things I bought will come in another post.

Summer Life, About to Begin

"Whee~"

We-ell... I've been going around and around squealing that very word there over and over and over again on IMs and forums... So, Frankie's right about me having gone insane. No wait... That seemed to be a (very) delayed diagnosis... I've been insane for about... Hmm... three, maybe four, years now...

And as a reply to Frankie's, ahem, comment on my previous post...

"I'm not in the States... Yet. I'll be leaving this weekend. Yehay!!! *goes on another hyper streak* And, you kinda are the meaner seed, I'm just the weirdo one. XD"

Ah... The joys of summer time... The sun, the sea, and the shit.

For the past, like probably four years, I've sworn allegiance to the moon and it's cool darkness. After the sunburns I've gotten from spending all day swimming in the sun, during summer, on my birthday, at the party, I've started to hate it and it's gradual plot to cook me into... Well, something cooked! Hopefully not letchon!

And since I hate the sun, I've grown to hate the sea as well... Not the sea in itself, per se, but what you do when you're within a 50 meter radius of it. In other words, the beach. The horrid air seems even hotter than usual, and I think it actually is. I believe we had a Science lesson on how it's hotter by the water than away from it, take note, this was from a Grade 4/5 class.

Damn. I remember stuff from elementary and I can't even retain what we learned from 1st year Biology?!

Oh, wait... I never learned those things in 1st year to even recall them... (I hope you're not reading this, Mrs. Peralta... *whistles innocently*

Well, that brings me to the shit. Not the dog shit you find on the street, or even the shit you find in the toilet, real shit. I want to elaborate on that, since for the past few months my figures of speach have been taken seriously, very much so that it really ticks me off. T.T Grrr... So, I'm an incoming senior in MHCS, big deal... Exactly, big deal. No metaphor, no simile, and definitely no irony there.

Big, BIG deal!

In the 1st quarter of our school year, we'll be sending in our application forms to the various universities and colleges (I'm not actually too clear on what the difference is...) we are interested in, and even some of those we aren't, just to be on the anxious, frantic safe side. And even right now, months from it, I feel a distinct pressure building up. I want to get into Ateneo, but I'm worried about my grades and my adversity for studying. It's gotten me here so far, but how long can I maintain this carefree attitute to studying? How long can my retention save me from failing?

That's why I'm taking this review class up. So everyday, I have to wake up before seven in the morning and rush around preparing myself for class. Since we can wear anything we like, I'm much faster than usual. There's even more incentive since my brother's bringing me there... Argh!!!

So, regardless of how much sleep I've had the previous night, ahem, day, I have to sit in a class of fifty or so mainly noisy male student and listen to a teacher. Sucks right? Actually, surprisingly not. At least apart from today.

The first day was a simple pre-diagnostic exam, "to test how much you know so far..." blah, blah... So, no more details on that, for now, so onto the second day, which was more or less easy enough as well... "Test taking strategies..."

The third and fifth days were English. I actually expected English to be relatively easy for me... 'Fraid not... For the most part, how do I put it, it was... Challenging. The vocabulary was much more advanced than I expected, but surprisingly, the logic part was quite fun. I enjoyed the games and arguments... We got an assignment from our teacher, a certain professor from UP, Ms. Edlyn Jimenez, we have to take note of 20-30 words per day to sufficiently raise our vocabulary level to what is required to get into UP.

Well, yeah, that UP, and I want to get into Ateneo. So... I'd have to work even harder, because I figure it, there'd be a tougher English regimen there. In addition to that, I'm horribly weak at Filipino, so when we had a practice test on Filipino, I was totally freaked out when I saw that I could only answer 4/40 of the vocabulary questions... T.T

Anyway, the 4th and 6th days were dedicated to the persuit of enlightenment in mathematics... ^^'' Right... Told you I was insane... Either way, the first day was spend reviewing our Albegraic knowledge. This surprised me a lot, since usually I have something that involves numbers and equations, but I enjoyed class, yes, indeed, I had fun... The world gets weirder everyday... Although, the Geometry class really gave me the much needed stability after all the confusion... Wahahaha! Geometry was all right, since I could remember part of what we studied in our sophomore year, but I enjoyed it much less than the Algebra class, which is opposite of what happens in school.

Aaand... Today was... dun-dun-dun! Totally boring! Biology... I was so bored that I almost fell asleep! >.<'' It was so embarassing as well, see, I'm seated in the center of the class, and am certain that our teacher can see me dozing off, eyes dropping from 2 meters away...

*sigh*

I hope Chemistry tomorrow is more fun. Learning is nice, that's for certain, but I wish it were fun.

IniD Freak, Ahoy Matey!

Well, yeah, I feel like a total weirdo right now. If you've read Solan's blog today, you've seen her side of the story (Ahem, dragging me around Greenbelt, Landmark, and Glorietta, I think not.) but hey, it's her side, it can be perceived any way she wants it to be. So, I'll just go on and nod at it, day dreaming about my intensing (is that really a word...?) addiction. And if you've seen the title, you know what I'm talking about.

Fujiwara, the man I have never defeated, advised a young and hopeful Iketani to keep thinking and trying out techniques, it's the only way he'd get better.

I've been thinking, and I've been trying out a portion of what I've thought of. My arms don't want to move, damnit! Also, I've been reading through the forum I recently joined, Initial D World (http://idforums.net/index.php) and it does help. A lot. Although, I'd have to say that regardless of all the frustration of not being able to turn as I want (note the keyword) to be able too (equals more trying to figure out the turns) my times are improving, even by a couple of (milli) seconds.

But enough of that, I'm actually in a happy mood now. Why?
1. I finally got 990+ points on the RX8 I've been playing for ages.
2. I tried the old Impreza (GC8V) I bought ages ago (as well) and totally fell in love with it's performance!

It was really amazing how it performed. At first, I didn't realize it, really. I had already finished Myogi, did it right after I bought it, so I tried the next few course this late afternoon. It was pretty good at Usui and Akagi (although Keisuke was able to pass me at one point), but it's performance on Akina really shocked me. It was totally, well, amazing. It took turns easily enough, much better than my RX8. After all the "it's", my conclusion is... I love it. XP

Really. A car that can beat the first four stages without any loss is one that I will love and treasure forEVAH! (Yeah, that's insanity right there.) Takumi, I'm coming for you!

And so, at the day's end, the blogger went insane and jumped on a pirate's ship and hijacked it, leaving all the scurvies writhing on the planks, waiting to be fed to the sharks awaiting their meal.

Boom Tara Boom-Boom!

So... The 13th Angel, or whatever her previous name was, I can't remember anymore, has become Solan, another translation of the Nightshade. Since she has gone back to blogging (she's free! Hurrah!), her blog inspired me to write something about what has been up since our release from our educational prison. Well, not quite anymore, seeing that the rules have become so freely un-enforced (Psst... I hardly wore my ID in the year.) I don't think that the title is so befitting anymore.

It has changed so much since my arrival there like... 11, dunno, years ago? Back in Kinder, life was so easy and simple... This school year, well... It's not quite so easy, and not as simple. I don't know why, but when I try, or try, but not so much, it already gets me places... So I ponder the effect of really trying. Hah! I hope to get a medal.

But really. The 4th quarter was moderately tough, my Filipino and Trigonometry dropped by a few points, but I was so HAPPY! My average for the quarter just rose 3 points! (>.<) Yayness! I got a sudden 89.75 somethings, compared to my 86 average, the increase in grades make me happy. I mean, who wouldn't be?

There was a really strange thing at the award ceremony though. This year, we had this special award thingy. I don't know really, I get the feeling that the school ordered more medals than medalists then decided to award those from the clubs who "did something for the school". Bah at the whateverness of the thing. Personally, since they said this, I expected that they'd give me something for my lackluster performance in the Debate Society, but the Journalism Club?! Heck, I could've gotten the position of Managing Editor (the exact title has faded from my memory after a grueling 10 months of school), but, quite honestly, I did not do a single damn thing there. So, my initial reaction was shock. My second reaction though was skepticism. You guess why.

Now, summer vacation has started! I'm freeeeeeeeee!!!




So, you'd think that summer has been a blast so far? Wrong.

Boring is the best word to describe my activity (inactivity) for the past 3 (?) weeks. Actually, I went shopping (Book shopping, not clothes shopping. I'll leave that to the 2 fashionistas on board.) and bought a pile of books. Out of the 6 books I've bought, I've already read 4. And that was last Tuesday, I think. The really stupid thing is, I bought 2 copies of the same book.

I just purchased the Tales of the Otori books. To my knowledge, so far there are 3 around, but to my stupidity, I have book 1 (Across the Nightingale Floor) and 2 copies of book 3 (Brilliance of the Moon). Man how I love the title. So since I have a thing for wanting to read it in order, I will not even touch the 3rd book till I've read the second. In the end, I have resorted to reading the Psychology textbook, college textbook, I purchased a year or so ago, out of pure boredome and a bit of interest and curiousity thrown in.

Just so you know, the title had no intended meaning, just some random crap title I dug up from the confines of the graves in my mind.

Realism

Ok, I just finished the one-shot. And I hope to keep it that way. Bitin. Tweaked it a bit, but nothing major.


The woman stared at the black beast silently, plotting down several simulations in her mind. This was a much tougher challenge than her normal ones, from racing or being a psychology student. Being emotionally attached to something made that certain thing a whole lot more complicated. Love definitely sucked.

The beast stopped and parked parallel to her precious RX8, her eyes stalking every moment of the way. As the driver stepped out of his car, she raised her hand as a cursory greeting, seeing him nod and smile, made her drop it.

Sudo Kyouichi didn’t know why he was here, exactly anyway. But such was his relationship with this girl, on some matters, no questions were asked. He closed the door with much care, holding the handle up to secure its locking. He let his fingers glide over his prized possession for a moment before approaching.

He tugged his jacket closer to him; glad, he had even brought one. The mountains were much cooler than the plains and valleys of Japan, especially during autumn, and of course winter. The well-built man watched her turn her head and silently suggest that they move the way she was directing, in this case it was the area where the plateau met the ravine, the cliff.

She leaned against the guardrails as she reached them. It left her with a few more seconds to think. Did she really want this?

She had been making several very rash decisions lately, most of which she was left still unsure whether to regret or not. Her decisions to help and support, her decision to be closer, but professional, her decision to be intimate, but not intimate, not in that way at least.

Kyouichi’s family was terribly worried for him when word had gotten to them that he had been in an accident, a racing accident. But apparently, he had been saved by his teammate, who had been kicked out then re-initiated quite recently. The guy named Iwaki Seiji, she’d have to keep an eye out for him; she wanted to psychoanalyze him on his reason why he saved his then enemy. Anyway, Kyouichi ended up having to stay in the hospital Ryousuke was currently taking residency at.

His family visited him, but they were worried about the confused mental state he was in. He was wondering the same thing as everybody, including her. She decided to take the job without pay since she was worried about her old friend herself, and it wouldn’t do to charge a family of family friends of something she was personally interested in herself.

There I go again, Yuzuki thought. I knew I swore off being too friendly with people for a reason.

When she got to his room, she was deeply touched and amused at his state. The man was wearing a neck brace, combined with his white bandana, which he never seemed to take off anymore, along with his platinum blond hair; he looked like a half-used cotton bud. In addition, he had that curious pensive look when he was in deep thought.

It was then when her damn feelings began to get the better of her again, and with the same man no less.

Kyouichi stopped when he was a few feet in front of his ex-girlfriend. “Yuzuki…” Her eyes seemed to awaken from her reverie of rocks and boulders at the bottom of the cliff. She seemed to study him, making him feel terribly conscious of the fact that he had been wearing the same sweatshirt for almost four days now.

“I'm sure you're wondering why I asked you to come…” He nodded slowly, as if comprehension were his weak point. She scratched the top of her head before running her hand through it, a nervous habit of hers, he knew. He wanted to draw closer to her, slip his arms around her slim waist and pull her into a deep hug, of which true meaning had become undefined for both of them.

“I don’t want to waste your time, so I’ll get to the point.” She seemed to choke on her words before continuing, “It was more or less an unspoken agreement between us that after we… grew apart, we broke up.” He blushed reflexively, so it was that topic, he expected as much.

It was common knowledge in their world, the racing world, that Sudo Kyouichi of the dominant Emperor team in Tochigi and Takahashi Ryousuke of the RedSuns and Project.D, which had reached their impossible, nearly impossible, goal with only one huge pothole, were once close friends. It wasn’t common knowledge though that the Sudos, Takahashis, and Kamajis were childhood friends. After all, the gossipers could only dig so deep.

Their family lived in Tokyo at the time; their childhood was spent being the good little children they were, in school, at each other’s houses, and inevitably the track. Little Sudo Kyouichi and Kamaji Yuzuki were best friends, who soon after the Takahashis moved to Gunma, became attached. Their middle school and high school years were spent holding hands and finding ways to excel at their particular forte while helping the other with their weakness.

Many memorable memories were made. Many firsts, but the most significant first was made after the Sudo family had moved to Tochigi. The two managed to keep their relationship throughout high school, and then cars.

All of them, both Takahashi brothers, all three of the Sudo siblings, and the Kamaji twins were into cars. Why was a mystery yet to be tackled and answered by them or their parents. So when the first batch, Ryousuke, Kyouichi, Kaisuke, and Yuzuki turned eighteen, they immediately got into the obvious field of street racing.

Racing was very difficult to master. It took hours of practice (and deep wallets) so that was exactly what they sacrificed. Soon, the two men who live in the Northern Kanto region began their rivalry like never before. And as their competition intensified, like the blazing racing spirit they harnessed in their hearts, even they had to admit that they were neglecting some things, some things.

The two slightly younger ones couldn’t blame them for not keeping in contact though, for when they got their licenses, the exact same thing happened to them. The twins spent their free time burning rubber on the mountain passes nearer to their area, all the while being guided around the new world by their elder cousin, who incidentally was a very good racer.

Yuzuki bit on the inside of her cheek before she continued once more, “Neither of us were too concerned with dating or being attached, I suppose we were too busy…” She blushed; this certainly wasn’t a comfortable subject.

Kyouichi watched her expression, before sighing and moving to the stop left of her. He took her hand in his and just clutched at it. “Yuzuki.” He said letting his eyes close. “I probably know you better than anyone else, so I know what you’re trying to say.” When he opened his eyes and turned to her, she was staring at him with her inquisitive eyes.

He didn’t want to back away. Not this time. Kyouichi brought her hand to his lips as an extended kiss. He closed his eyes again and leaned his head slightly forward. He then let an understanding smile spread across his lips. “I… I still love you.”

Time stopped for both of them at that instance. The words cutting through the thick autumn air of the pass had a certain effect for the slightly younger woman. She had little problem understanding things said, certainly ones in such simple terms.

Seconds passed, and her heart began racing wildly in her heart, like the cliché of romances. If they weren't leant against the guardrail, holding them, preventing them from falling into the dark ravine, she would have jumped-hugged him in that instance. Instead, she would show him her feelings, and what she had decided to do with them.

She stood up, making the guardrail relinquish its control over her body. Yuzuki held onto his hand and tugged at it, silently urging him to stand up as well. And he did. He opened his eyes and stared down at his best friend for the most part of his life. He released her hand in favor for wrapping his arms around her in a warm and longing hug.

Her arms were pressed between their bodies; she released their grasp of each other in favor of holding them against his muscular torso. She closed her eyes and leaned against him.

“You never answered me, Yuzuki.” He said after maintaining that pose for a few minutes. One of his hands was now running its fingers through her dark black tresses. Her silence was enough of a question for him. You, know…” He said hiding his blush against the top of her hair.

“I see…” The slightly younger woman said. She was facing him, or his chest to be precise. “Well, I hope this will be enough of an answer.” She continued, letting her hands glide to his face to cup his cheeks. Yuzuki tilted her head up while he did the same in reverse. And they did what any man and woman in love would do in their position. They kissed.