i’m forcing myself, now, to finish what i started. yeah, maybe i won’t be able to actually come back and finish it but at least i could say that i tried coming back and finishing it. or perhaps take the same path but with a different goal or destination. hay…

ah basta! kailangan tong tapusin! i hope that i will be guided well. i pray that this would be the answer…

^yeah, that’s me there, seated! pwede na ba akong model ng course/department namen? hahaha…

basta, tatapusin ko to! aja!!!

just arrived sa office. lunch time na. nag-enroll pa kasi ako. actually, i was just going to check if i as elligible to enroll this sem. miraculously enough, i was! so i decided to go through with my enrollment kahit walang paalam sa opis. “saka na lang ako magpapaliwanag. bahala na si batman,” ‘ka ko.

ngayon, payment na lang kulang. i’ll probably do that next week para konti ang pila. and ngayon nga, dahil sa mabait akong empleyado, magba-blog muna ako! haha…

well, dahil nga (again. ang kulet! oo na! lunch na nga!) lunch time na halos, nag McDo na lang ako kasi nahihiya din naman ako… working lunch na lang muna. ayoko muna mag Chicken at rice kaya nag BigMac ako, with certain reservations.

i used to love the Big Mac when it was, well, BIG. as in you could hardly put it in your mouth and use up a roll of tissue for wiping every part of your face because of the mess you’ll be making trying to eat it! and then after a while, it just got smaller and smaller (to me, at least) and parang di na siya nakakatuwang kainin. i used to say na “if you don’t soil your clothes or any part of your body while eating a Big Mac, it’s not a Big Mac.” and so, i gave up ordering and eating this for a while because it wasn’t the same anymore. the experience was forgettable… until today!

it’s confirmed, ladies and gentlemen, the Big Mac is back! and even if i soil my keyboard in the office, i don’t care right now. i can always wipe and clean it. but enjoying the return of this burger is just… *sigh*

you can tell, i’m satisfied right?.

“The Heritage Bells are among the artifacts from the Padre Faura campus.
The bell of 1832 was dedicated to Our Lady of Peace.
The bell of 1932 bears the seal of the Society of Jesus.”

the site of the Heritage Bells monument is inside the AdMU Campus in front of Rizal Library.

has anyone noticed that the logo of MIss Saigon is a helicopter and a woman with a conical straw hat?

My sister pointed this out when i started crushing on Lea Salonga still in my single-digit years! (maharot na talaga ako nung bata pa! LOL). Of course, i just enjoy sharing pointless trivia anywhere and everywhere, looking like Mr. Smartypants.

Just had this feeling this morning… much like seeing Miss Saigon again. Seeing Lea Salonga on-stage with that dress that had a slit as long as NLEX. And there’s that other scene with her back to the audience during her ‘first time’ with Chris as he takes him into a room and started ‘negotiating’, she takes off her bra! Merciful Mother!!!

But of course, that wasn’t the first time i saw somebody undress on-stage. i’ve had my eyes’ fill during compulsory college plays at Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theatre. but seeing Lea… THE Lea Salonga in some form of nakedness, that was unbelievable! i was seeing something private, something really REALLY intimate. not because i had perverted thoughts but rather because she was close to my heart! she was someone i adored completely and to see her as ‘vulnerable’ (i can’t put my finger on a better word. i’m sorry.) as she was in that scene just shocked my neurons, activated my sweat glands despite feeling cold! butterflies emerged from my stomach and my heart beat like it had run a marathon!

*sigh* oh well… the feeling is just a feeling. nevertheless, i’m happy it’s there somewhere. it means i’m still human. ahhhh… reminiscing.

i know it’s been a long time since i last wrote anything here. and i guess those who frequent my blog, no matter how small the population, began to get bored of seeing the same old article on the front. of course, those in search of the famous car logos have always been successful with google but those who read my content (again, no matter how scarce) might have just given up on my blog.you might have noticed, too, that i’ve just been posting song lyrics on my blog. yeah, i know it’s a pathetic way of updating a blog without really updating readers and just keep em guessing what you’re feeling or what you’ve been up to lately. *sigh* sorry for that.

once you start a blog, you have to keep it updated. it’s not enough that you keep it ‘clean’. part of maintenance is having the time to write in it. articles having enough sense about your activities throughout the day or things on your mind. and that’s where i’ve been failing these past few weeks.

stress got the better of me. i got sick, work started piling up, the end of the semester came and requirements for subjects kept on overwhelming. and my mind was as cluttered as my office desk. well, my office desk is still cluttered but it’s in a state of ‘orderly chaos’. but still, i will need time to fix it up.

from despair.com

i gave up on my acads this semester and it will haunt me forever, i know. it was just because it required so much from me that i just broke down at times and wished i could find a savior of sorts and help, if not save, me from the trouble. 3 laboratory exercises undone and one machine problem (akin to a final exam) unsolved. will there be a next semester for me? i don’t know.

here at work, there are now two other projects i’m asked to work on at the same time. one would be hazard mapping and the other, ionospheric observation and data collection. yeah, weird-sounding and geeky stuff but it’s part of the job. only problem is i can’t cope up with information being thrown at me. i was trained to be an engineer although i’ve always wanted to become a scientist since i was small. but maybe after 3 years of having a “routine”, burnout starts to set it. and then add to it information overload, not a good combination.

of course, there are other stuff that are personal in nature and i guess i just can’t blog about them right now. that’s one thing i hate about blogs. privacy (or lack thereof). it’s like you want to share what you feel to the universe but keep it a secret from people at the same time. now, how do you go about that on a blog? you can’t. even if it’s on a “keep this post private” setting. that’s when your notebooks/diaries become your friends again.

anyway, while we’re on the subject, i might as well promote miss toni’s contest. (you can tell i’m addicted to her blog with my numerous references to hers) she’s giving away a Moleskine notebook courtesy of avalon.ph. just write down in your blog what you would write in your Moleskine and then link back to her blog or leave a comment regarding the topic. simple as that. to the contestants, best of luck!

oh, yeah. by the way, i’m back. but don’t expect much yet, i guess. i’m still not me yet.

But how much more are you, [UP students and alumni] Harvard graduates of 2008, likely to touch other people’s lives? Your intelligence, your capacity for hard work, the education you have earned and received, give you unique status, and unique responsibilities. Even your [university] nationality sets you apart. The great majority of you belong to the world’s only remaining superpower. The way you vote, the way you live, the way you protest, the pressure you bring to bear on your government, has an impact way beyond your borders. That is your privilege, and your burden.

If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped transform for the better. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.

-J.K. Rowling, Harvard 2008

read the full Commencement Address here. You can find it in youtube, too.

I just see how one from UP could be given the privilege and burden of having such a big influence on the government and how it could overflow to affect policies that could very well reach the people whom they owe their education to. (please correct my grammar). remember the oblation. mahiya ka kung hindi mo alam ibig sabihin ng Oblation — or ni Oble –  kung tiga-UP ka.

i hope we don’t stop at imagination. let’s transform these ‘dreams’ and imagined things into action. stop the apathy, UP.

i can’t believe it! PAGASA does it again!

typhoon hits manila, because they said it’ll hit quezon.they coordinate with DepEd, DepEd announces the suspension of classes in all levels the following day, and guess what? NO RAIN!

i love PAGASA. consistency is the key to reliability.

swak na swak ang phdcomics ngayong araw sa akin…

ang sakit ng ulo ko ngayon. i’m grumpy. badtrip…

kuha lang nung sunday. well, it’s meant for alaya, so dimensions are 1280×800. pwedeng i-resize ko if you want a copy. kontak na lang ako.

it’s amazing how some people could dedicate so much to a cause. one of the most amazing advocates of capampangan culture and heritage is jason laxamana who i’ve previously met and talked about. and he does it once again, with a translation of UNESCO’s director general koichiro matsuura’s message. mahirap na mag-translate from english to tagalog which are two languages often used even in schools. mabuti pa ang foreign languages, may kurso sa kolehiyo. that’s why i’m really proud whenever i read an article in kapampangan. it also forces me to find out these vocabulary words that i should know since i’m kapampangan but don’t.

fitting nga na magkaroon ng kapampangan translation ang message na to…

Tegurian ne ning United Nations General Assembly bilang Pang-Meto Yatung Banua Da Ring Amanu ing banuang 2008. Masigasig neng pánigobran ning UNESCO ing gampa na bilang mámuntukan a aptas a mirian tokang samasan la ring aktibidadis para king banua. Tune nang balu ning Aptas ing ulaga da ring amanu pelalu na patye pákikorkula no ring dakal a tinggasing malyaring arapan ning meto ketawan karing paratang a dekada.

Tutu lang kailangan ding amanu king identidad da ring balen ampong tau at bang kumabiye lang abe-abe masalese. Maragul la ambag king panyulung pataglus king kasaplalan at pamiyugne da ring bagebageng pang-meto yatu at pambalen.

Palak lang maulaga king pamanabut karing anam a tagimpan ning education for all (EFA) at ding Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) a píkasundu da ring king United Nations inyang 2000. Bilang mákáyambag king pamiyabeyabe da ring memalen, dakal la asasaup ding amanu king pamagwaksi king kakaluluan at karanupan (MDG 1); bilang suporta karing tenakan king pamamásâ, pamanyulat, pamanigaral, at kabiyayan, maulaga la ring amanu king kaganapan ning universal primary education (MDG 2); dápat ing laban king HIV/AIDS, malaria, at aliwa pang salun (MDG 6) masiwala ya king amanu da ring memalen nung ila ring pilit pákiabutan; at ing pamanyiguradu king kaligtasan ning tibuan a kabiasnan at tenakan, kambe ning kaburian da ring taung masalese ya bili ing karelang kapaligiran (MDG 7), atin ya mu namang ugne karing amanung sisuan.

Ing makuleng pamiyayaliwa da ring kultura makayugne ya mu naman king makuleng pamiyayaliwa da ring amanu, ngara pin ketang UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity at king binalak nang pangimut (2001), itang Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005).

Ita mu pin, mánganib lang mabura ring mayigit kapitna karing pitung libung amanung magagamit keti yatu kilub ning mapilan a henerasyun. Manga sikapat mu karing salitang deta ring magagamit king iskuela at king Internet, at keraklan magagamit la mu pamisanmisan. Bista man masalese do pang agagamit ding memalen karing karelang pibalebale, libulibu lang amanu ring e mákátuklu karing iskuela, karing media, karing libru, magasin, at dyaryu, at karing sular a pampubliku.

Maulaga ing kímut ta’nang tambing. Makananu? King kapamilatan ning pamangawang batas pang-amanung mamiye upaya karing balang komunidad a gamitan ing karelang amanung sisuan angga’t malyari king nanu mang sular ning sosyedad, pati na ring iskuela, kabang pákiabutan ing kagalasgasan king metung a amanung pambansa o panlalawigan at king metung a banyagang amanu. King kapamilatan na mu rin ning pamanusig karing gagamit amanung makasiduan a magpakabiasa la pa karing aliwang pambansa o panlalawigan a salita at metung o adua pang banyagang amanu. Akit da ring keganaganang amanu ing lugal da king kekatamung yatu nung matanggap ya mung ganap ing multilingualismu.

Inya naman ágkatan no ning UNESCO ring kapanibalan, ding aptas a makapalalam king United Nations, ding lualung aptas karing balen, ding iskuela, ding aptas da ring propesyunal, at ding aliwa pang makarame, na magpasimula lang sarili rang aktibidadis a maglayung itanam karing pusu da ring sabla ing respetu, pakamal, at pamaglualu karing keganaganang salita, pelalu na retang bagya-bagya nang mamamate.

Agyang pang kapamilatan de ring miyayaliwang dapát king labuad ning pamanigaral, ning Internet, o ring matenakan; kapamilatan de man ding proyektung mánagimpang protektan ding mamamatdang amanu, proyektung mágnasang ipabalu karing memalen ing kagiwan da ring amanu king pamagpasibul pamisasanmetung karing memalen; o proyektung máglayung ipakit karing tau ing kaugnayan ning amanu at ekonomya, ning amanu at katutubung kabiasnan, o ning amanu at kalalangan—ing importanti malansangan ya king balang suluk ning yatu ing kasebian a “maulaga la ring amanu!”

Maging yang makabaldugan ing aldong ka-21 ning Pebreru 2008, ing aldo ning kasiam a Pang-Meto Yatung Aldo Da Ring Amanung Sisuan. Aparti pa kanita, iya pin ing mamiye bageng tauling aldo para king pamagpakilala karing proyektung mágnasang magpalaganap karing amanu.

Ing para tamung págnasan iya pin ing siguraduang mapansin ya king pambansa, panlalawigan, at pang-sumangid laut a balitang ing kaulagan ning pamakiatin dakal a amanu at multilingualismu karing iskuela, kapanibalan, sistemang ligal, karing pangkulturang pamamasyag at media, king Internet at king pamangalakal.

Magdaun yang bukud a oportunidad ing Pang-Meto Yatung Banua Da Ring Amanu 2008 king pamanabut tamu karing mesambitlang kapagnasan.
Koïchiro Matsuura