Gio M., my long-lost brother

After figuring out that I buckled down to work right after getting home from dinner with Bob S., Pauline M. and Brian M., Gio IM-ed me to tease me about it. Apparently, he also just wrote a blog entry referencing me. (I took the liberty of including the stupid/hilarious bits of that part of our conversation. Haha.)

(00:17:58) Gio Mauleon: onga eh. miss you powhz

(00:18:03) Pauline Gairanod: asussssss

(00:18:07) Pauline Gairanod: i miss you too!

(00:18:10) Pauline Gairanod: kahit ganyan ka,

(00:18:18) Pauline Gairanod: nakakamiss ka din *rolls eyes*

(00:18:19) Gio Mauleon: gumawa na nga ako ng blog entry na kasama ka indirectly eh

(00:18:22) Gio Mauleon: =))

(00:18:25) Pauline Gairanod: AWWWWW

(00:18:28) Pauline Gairanid: link moi! anong ginagawa mo?

(00:18:42) Gio Mauleon: katatapos ko lang mag kenpo

(00:18:47) Gio Mauleon: HAHA

(00:18:56) Gio Mauleon: yes, i have weird exercises

(00:19:12) Gio Mauleon: http://gi000.livejournal.com/

(00:21:09) Pauline Gairanod: what's kenpo?? :|

(00:21:17) Pauline Gairanod: last night's was weird too

(00:21:23) Pauline Gairanod: now it's kenpo?? it sounds like dimsum!

This was his journal entry:

Totems

A dream within a dream. Sometimes it’s hard to keep track of what's reality and what's fiction. In the movie Inception, the concept of having a totem was introduced - something close to you that you hold on to in order to keep you in check with what’s real and what isn’t. It’s interesting how the movie played on the notion that these little trinkets could keep you grounded. These things could be as simple as a top, a chess piece or a wedding ring. Basically anything that has particular significance in that person's life.

They say that people present themselves in layers, sometimes even giving the illusion of change when revealing another layer of themselves. (Don’t get me wrong, I believe that people can change, but they don’t do so drastically.) It’s problematic when the numerous layers that people keep and show to different audiences get mixed up. A person could get lost within those layers and totally lose his identity. That’s where the idea of a totem comes in. In my case, I have around 5 totems. A few selected people that I’ve come to know over my years of existence - people who remain objective and unbiased no matter how pressing the situation gets. People who I can go back to from time to time in order to regain my grip on who I am and who I'm not.

So to my totems, old and new, thanks for keeping me grounded bitches! (You know who you are. Well, I think you should. Haha!)

------

So, of course, I had to ask him which bit of the entry I was being indirectly referenced in. Am I one of those who'd always present themselves in layers? Am I one of his "totems"?

(00:28:07) Pauline Gairanod: asan ako dun???

bakit may indirect reference ako sa entry?

:))

(00:28:24) Gio Mauleon: ikaw si totem

(00:28:34) Gio Mauleon: yesss yun o

(00:28:34) Gio Mauleon: totem kita

(00:28:38) Pauline Gairanod: AWWWWWWW

(00:28:43) Pauline Gairanod: I LOVE YOU, GIO MAULEON!

(00:28:47) Pauline Gairanod: GAGO KANG AWESOME KA

(00:28:50) Pauline Gairanod: that made my day :)

(00:28:55) Pauline Gairanod: seryoso.

(00:29:00) Gio Mauleon: hahahahaha

(00:29:03) Pauline Gairanod: you're my long-lost brother :))

(00:29:15) Gio Mauleon: i love you too, G. -->It was actually a heart there instead of love but blogspot refuses to let me use the lesser-than sign+3 combo because it screws up the HTML code

(00:29:15) Gio Mauleon: :))

(00:29:16) Pauline Gairanod: awwww

(00:29:19) Gio Mauleon: and noprob

(00:29:22) Pauline Gairanod: HOY TAMA NA

(00:29:27) Pauline Gairanod: ANG MUSHY NA NATIN

(00:29:29) Pauline Gairanod: HAHAHAHAHAHA

(00:29:32) Gio Mauleon: you need some bitchin of cheering up kasi

To my long-lost brother, Gio, who keeps me calm and light-hearted even when my brain's short-circuiting, who knows how to cheer me up without making me lose focus, who is quite honestly one of the wittiest conversationalists I've ever met and who I'm sure I will still be having random midnight Melona sessions with even when I'm 45 and the godmother of his son, Darth (Darth Mau-leon. Get it? :)) ), I frickin' love you. And you can do all your gay yoga/ken po moves all you want and I'll still be right here.

I will kick ass this weekend/next week because of you!

Rested

I spent the previous Sunday with Brian M. and his family at Hacienda Linda, their lovely get-away farm compound, to celebrate his 22nd birthday. I spent most of the day with his younger cousins watching Kung Fu Panda, recounting his antics in school in exchange for stories about his more scandalous exploits and discussing random things with Andrea, who has the (mis)fortune of being the only girl among the cousins in that age group (My playmates and good friends as well as the cousins I spent time with, growing up, were mostly guys, so I could relate pretty well). Spending time with Brian's family made me miss mine so I sneaked in a call to Pice, my little sister, after lunch.

It was the most relaxing day I've had in a while, given all the work I've had to deal with (I have my Eco minor to thank for that. :| ), so I was happy Brian convinced me to go. I owed him a favor because he drove me to Greenbelt and back one crazy night when I was supposed to catch Inception with him but something came up with a friend so I had to run right back to Katipunan--so he figured I could make up for it by coming with him to his birthday lunch. I think he might have decided to save me from myself when he saw how agitated I was coming in to class everyday loaded with half a dozen books and a planner close to bursting the last two weeks. Haha!

Back home (and whenever the brood's here), I've always preferred just hanging out with my family and a couple of my parents' close friends and their kids, bonding over good food, movies and a bottle of wine or two for dinner over partying. I enjoy taking care of the young ones and amusing them with my stories and, when they're off playing new games or doing things no self-respecting teenager should take part of, I like joining in the adults' conversations, learning about their experiences and what they think of my generation. So my day with Brian and his family was refreshing and comforting, given that I haven't had time to see my family (save Daddy) since the first semester began.

Brian's mom is one of the coolest I've ever met. She's gorgeous and poised, but she's also quirky, witty and confident. I guess growing up spoiled by four (or five?) boys can make anyone a fun go-getter. She has great taste in music, judging by what she was asking Brian to play in the car, and she made me feel at ease within the first five minutes of meeting her. His grandmother was just as lovely, reminding me to feel at home every so often. Brian's uncles are an interesting mix. His Uncle Joel made it a point to introduce me to everyone, joined our table for lunch and had me cracking up every five minutes. Brian's cousins, Eric, Victor, Andrea and Nicole, were a delight and made me miss my siblings and cousins terribly. They aren't your typical kids--they're mature, quick-witted and their interests are...hilarious. :)) It was like being with my siblings and the Niners (the group of kids who'd always come over for playdates in the Zambo house while the adults are at parties), but with more disturbing YouTube videos!

I told Brian the afternoon made me see him in a different light and that I'm happy that I did. The group's always seen Brian as the quintessential party boy, the one who can make everyone crack up just by going, "Hey, G!" Seeing him being doted on by his grandmother and doting on his mother and cousins made Bri just a bit more...human to me. I've always been the most comfortable with Brian in the group but, even then, I was always wary. Seeing him drop the party boy nonchalance reminded me of how my brother is when he's around the family. Brian is now officially one of my "homeboys"! Haha!

I'm really glad my friends think I'm someone they'd feel fully comfortable introducing their families to. I like thinking it's a testament to how much they trust me--and the fact that, so far, I've gotten along with all the families of my friends that I've been introduced to makes me happy.

My love and thanks to Brian and the Manalac family!

The Geeks and The Jock

I spent Saturday afternoon with Miguel T. and was surprised when he volunteered to drive me to and join us at Victor B. and Jesus F.'s victory party in Amici - Tomas Morato because I wasn't sure Miguel would find it comfortable being around so many debaters, given how we always end up talking about tournaments and adjudication and motions....and, well, basically, things non-debaters would find hard to understand. Surprisingly, the jock fit in well with the geeks. Haha! He talked to Vic and Jesus about his work-out, the World Cup and UAAP football though. Too much testosterone for me, so I lured Vic into a conversation about LIV outfits and how Intramuros IV went. They tried to cajole us into knocking back a few drinks after, but Miguel had a Sunday morning game scheduled and I was keen on getting homework out of the way so we begged off and headed back to Katipunan after catching up with everyone else. Turns out we didn't get to Katipunan early either because the traffic was really heavy. We just kept switching radio stations in the car and laughing about the songs that came on. Fun night. I want to have dinner with Vic sometime soon again though, but just the two of us. I need to hear his hilarious (uncensored) IIV stories!

The decent group shot!

Me with Carlos and Miguel (I look...sleepy in this picture.)

The weird group pic!

Dani has her kissy face on and I look like I'm smirking.

Me with Miguel and Victor

Somewhere Only We Know

And if you have a minute

Why don't we go

Talk about it somewhere only we know

This could be the end of everything

So why don't we go somewhere only we know

Oh, sympathy, where have you gone

I'm getting old and I need something to rely on

So tell me when you're gonna let me in

I'm getting tired

And I need somewhere to begin

I'm shallow.

Bits of random YM conversations in the last two days with Gio that made me realize how incredibly shallow I can be:

Gio Mauleon (8/1/2010 2:57:32 PM): hahahaha well at least madali ka pasayahin

Gio Mauleon (8/1/2010 2:57:53 PM): para kang goldfish. just feed it and masaya na uli siya

Gio Mauleon (8/1/2010 2:57:54 PM): =))

Pauline Gairanod (8/1/2010 2:58:03 PM): ...

---

(On Plants V Zombies)

Gio Mauleon (7/30/2010 1:58:04 AM): hahahaha! i have a better formation than that sa survival endless

Gio Mauleon (7/30/2010 1:58:10 AM): 6 rocket corns

Gio Mauleon (7/30/2010 1:58:11 AM): ahhaahaha

Pauline Gairanod (7/30/2010 1:58:29 AM): dude, adik ka

Gio Mauleon (7/30/2010 1:58:35 AM): your walls are too far

Pauline Gairanod (7/30/2010 1:58:46 AM): kami naaliw lang kami sa cattails

Gio Mauleon (7/30/2010 1:59:01 AM): iba eh

Gio Mauleon (7/30/2010 1:59:01 AM): lahat tinitira eh

Pauline Gairanod (7/30/2010 1:59:08 AM): ...okay

Pauline Gairanod (7/30/2010 1:59:12 AM): our main reason was it's cute

Pauline Gairanod (7/30/2010 1:59:15 AM): but that works too!

Gio Mauleon (7/30/2010 1:59:38 AM): sometimes pau, you are a girl

Gio Mauleon (7/30/2010 1:59:40 AM): hahahaha

----

I can't help it! :| I'm really shallow and gullible!

On happiness and leopard print flats

Today, Chica Villarta, Daniel Velasco, Rae Esteban, Adrian Bernardo and I reported on The Peaceful Sea, the third chapter of Timothy Radcliffe's book, What Is The Point of Being A Christian?. We did really well and I think everyone enjoyed the report, at least if we base it on Prof. Rosana's comments and our classmates' feedback, especially the activity we had which involved having everyone write down what makes them happy on slips of paper and picking out two between report segments. We chose six and they each received a bar of chocolate (I bought them hurriedly on my way to the bathroom after I presented my segment. Haha!) .I'm incredibly proud of my groupmates! Everyone really stepped up during last night's brainstorming session and they held the crowd's attention well. We were all in yellow because the report's on happiness (and everyone knows how I feel about yellow).

We got really interesting answers on the slips of paper: trance music, vanilla ice cream, parental approval, shopping, shoes, video games, anime, lollipops, rain, fencing. The best answer had to be Nick Padilla's: surfing, photography, skateboarding, film making and seeing his parents smile because they're proud of him. When we picked out his answer, Chica and I were going, "Who is he? He's into everything!" Good job!

There was a bit of light-hearted teasing after the class that made us all laugh, thanks to Prof. Rosana, so we ended the class on a really high note. We were all...happy--which was the point of the discussion anyway!

I have no class tomorrow so this was a good way to jumpstart my (long) weekend!

Slow Me Down

Apparently, Slow Me Down by Emmy Rossum best describes my (love)life. I'm not sure if I should be flattered by this. :)) A very disturbing part of the song (that I hope to hell does not apply to me): Save me / Somebody take my hand and lead me.

Rushing and racing and running in circles
Moving so fast I'm forgetting my purpose
Blur of the traffic is sending me spinning
Getting nowhere

My head and my heart are colliding, chaotic
Pace of the world, I just wish I could stop it
Try to appear like I've got it together
I'm falling apart

Save me
Somebody take my hand and lead me
Slow me down
Don't let love pass me by
Just show me how
Cause I'm ready to fall
Slow me down

Don't let me live a lie
Before my life flies by
I need you to slow me down

Sometimes I fear that I might disappear
In the blur of fast forward I falter again
Forgetting to breathe
I need to sleep
I'm getting nowhere

All that I've missed I see in the reflection
Pass me while I wasn't paying attention
Tired of rushing, racing and running
I'm falling apart

Tell me
Oh won't you take my hand and lead me
Slow me down
Don't let love pass me by
Just show me how
Cause I'm ready to fall
Slow me down

Don't let me live a lie
Before my life flies by
I need you to slow me down

Just show me
Slow me down
Slow me down

The noise of the world is getting me caught up
Chasing the clock and I wish I could stop it
Just need to breathe
Somebody please
Slow me down

Stocky, short Iron Man

Gio M.'s Iron Man USB best represents him. He's geeky, boyish and, most of all, short. I kid, I kid! Rio S. and I have always been amused by Gio's USB. There's just something ridiculously funny about seeing a short, stocky Iron Man's decapitated body stuck to your laptop's USB port. During our last PoS 138 class, we ended up playing with his USB...again. This time though, I remembered to take a video!

Video of Gio making his Iron Man USB walk:

Yes, we were bored little children. Tee-hee!

Close-ups of the legen--wait for it--dary USB:

There's something spooky and sinister about it too. You have to take its head off to use it. Haha!

Cups

I couldn't sleep and my PoS 180.25 readings weren't making sense to me anymore (I kept reading one paragraph again and again--not because I couldn't understand what Claude Lefort was saying, but because my mind was wandering and I was drawing ducks on the margins) so I decided to do a 7-11 run at 3 AM to buy Gatorade and a pack of M&Ms. I was so amused when I saw that I could get my Gatorade in a special commemorative cup:

Inauguration cups! Haha! During the campaign period, 7-11 sold their drinks in cups featuring presidential candidates. People could show their support for their candidate by buying their drinks in their favored candidate's cup. I'd buy Gatorade in the Noynoy Aquino cup every other night because, at one point, Manny Villar was leading in the cup count. I like this commemorative cup better though.

Good company

I had dinner last night at Sweet Inspirations with Brian M., Martin L. and Gio M. I think we all realized just how unprepared we all are for "real life" when Martin talked about how he should have taken a year off after high school to think about what he really wants to do in life (He's a History major--and that's not a common course choice because there are very few things you can do with a history degree, I'm told). I think I should have done that--taken a year off to travel, take on internships in fields I'm interested in, sign up for random, short, quirky classes (maybe a jewelry design class in SOFA, or Art Appreciation in CSB or a fiction writing class in UP or Great Books in Ateneo), learn how to bake and sew, etc. I think they should mandate high school graduates to take a year off before going to college. We'd have less shiftees/jobless graduates that way. Apart from that, we teased Brian about his all-white ensembles, swapped tales about two of our more interesting professors and discussed horror films. Fun, fun.

Tonight, I had dinner with Brian M. and Karlo D. at Flaming Wings, during which I got oppressed for preferring to eat with a knife and a fork and for being a (neo)feminist. Haha! I also got oppressed for my "socialist tendencies"--and, because I didn't finish half my food, I ended up having it wrapped so we could find a street kid to hand it to, just so I didn't have to renege on a bet I made with Karlo. I really should learn to be less stubborn. Haha.

Choco Mallows!

I didn't have dinner last night and I was rushing to get to class so I didn't have breakfast either. I couldn't concentrate on what Prof. Rosana was saying because my stomach was growling so I ran down to the Bellarmine caf to get something to munch on. I got this:

Fibisco's Choco Mallows! I haven't had this in a really long time! The last time was...fourth grade, I think. I remember how I'd find this in my lunch box at recess with a tumbler of cold milk and sneak in bites even while in class (Ma'am Lily Rodriguez's math class, in particular) . Good times. I ate three in five minutes and left Theology happy. I was even cheerfully discussing the Heckscher-Ohlin model in my International Eco class!

Chinese food cravings

In International Eco yesterday, I started craving Chinese food. Gio M. and I realized that, apart from Chowking (and that doesn't really count), there are no Chinese restaurants in the Katipunan/Katipunan Ext. area. We both started thinking about salted fish fried rice and salt-and-pepper spare ribs--and that effectively meant we spent the rest of the session talking about finding a way to get our hands (and mouths) on Chinese food without venturing too far from the area (It was raining and I had to be back by 7). After his thesis consultation and my PoS 160 class, we decided to go to the North Park in the Ortigas Home Depot compound then, just so the impromptu trip's worth it, hoard DVDs in Metrowalk.

We had jaded salted fish fried rice and salt-and-pepper spare ribs, as expected (My phone ran out of battery so the pictures are with Gio). We couldn't finish our food though. Revelations galore about common friends, Gio's girls (and boys!), his stud of a grandfather, my weird habits (I'm surprised he didn't run out on me, screaming in horror) and how we were like in high school. As usual, I made fun of his protein shake intake and he made fun of how "intense" I am as a person. He's kind of like my brother, I realized--but with freaky (flirty, his thesis adviser says) eyebrows, a crazily strong desire to be all buff and Jude Law-ish by October and murderous intentions (He keeps on cracking jokes at all the wrong moments--I choked in Prof. Tolosa's class laughing at one his jokes and trying not to show it because I didn't want Sir to notice so bad I couldn't breathe right for about five minutes and then, another time, he cracked a joke just as I was drinking water and taking my medicines). I went home with the first season of Modern Family and the third season of Chuck. Yay.

Today, I was craving Chinese food again so, when PJ and I went to MPen to meet up with Daddy (who just arrived from Palawan where he, apparently, learned the art of fire-eating :|), I begged to go to Man Yann for dinner. Yang chow fried rice + salt-and-pepper spare ribs + taosi fish fillet + crab and corn soup + chopsuey = happy Pau! (Uh-huh, I'm shallow like that.)

Not a lot of people order this but I love their taosi fish fillet! I rarely order seafood in restaurants (I grew up in Zamboanga so I'm used to fresh seafood (huuuge prawns, crabs the size of a dinner plate, mussels by the truckload) so seafood in Manila, unless it's at a really good restaurant, disappoints me. :( ) but I never hesitate ordering Mann Yann's taosi fish fillet.

My other Mann Yann staple: salt-and-pepper spare ribs

I hope I don't start craving Chinese food again anytime soon. I've been steadily losing weight and I really want to keep that up. OH CRAP, HERE IT GOES AGAIN.

They shoot, they score!

I reported in PoS 138 today with Gio M. and Rio S. on Stiglitz's Globalization and Its Discontents. The report went really well and Sir Tolosa told us we did a good job. I love working with these boys because they're really smart so they really got the material (and helped me understand that bit I couldn't get on the East Asian Crisis) and helped me frame the post-report discussions, but they're fun and defnitely not ultra-nerdy and obsessive the way some PolSci/Econ majors can get, so the report was informative but still upbeat. We were even contemplating showing a Keynes rap after the report! :D I'm looking forward to working some more with the two of them this sem--they understand how obsessive I can get and keep me relaxed. Haha.

Congratulations, guys! At least we're done with one major 138 requirement!

One more for the road!

Another impromptu Cantina bonding session with Migs T., Frances B., and Brian M.! Some of Brian's friends joined us too so we had to move to a bigger table. Super fun. We've decided to 'adopt' one of Brian's friends, Anika, even if she's an EU major (Well, Migs isn't a PolSci major, so we had a precedent! Haha.)!

Oddly enough, we spent most of the night talking about our (very sad, practically empty) love lives after Brian revealed how he broke up with a girlfriend just three days back. Frances and I weren't elaborating on ours too much but we sure did learn a lot about Migs'! And, oh, because Migs is a football varsity star, we've decided to start calling him Superstar. I kind of feel bad for Migs--he's my seatmate in PoS 160 and, when I pick on him (I get really crabby in class because it's right around lunch), his comebacks just don't quite cut it because I have Luigi R. and Fran backing me up. Haha! Brian's leaving for Hongkong tomorrow so we made him promise to get us something (otherwise, he'd get kicked out of the group. JK!). Also, I just found out Fran's an ROTC officer! Now that's my kind of girl! Haha!

Migs had immersion the next day so he drove me and Fran back to school so we could pick up stuff from our lockers before heading home. I realized I'm sort of dreading my immersion. A weekend in Batangas helping out fishermen is a good deal, but a weekend in a hut with no plumbing on a mountain is...scary. But I suppose the experience will be eye-opening.

Fun night. More to come!

Paulino

I was having an incredibly horrible day yesterday. I won't elaborate on what made me crabby and irritable the whole day but my love goes out to Team Rio (Rio Delos Santos, Brian Manalac, Migs Tuazon and Frances Buendia) and Thea G. for cheering me up at Cantina last night. What was just supposed to be a meeting for Team Rio turned out to be a hilarious night, with Thea and Brian's cousin joining in the fun. More on last night later.

I lost my voice! When I do manage to rasp out a few words, I sound like a frog. Or a man. Haha. Time for charades, boys and girls! The timing's awful too--I've no free time from 10:30 to 7:30 tonight. Yayness. :|

What does a sad Pauline do?

I couldn't shake off Toy Story-induced nostalgia/sadness for about 36 hours so I decided it was time to take drastic measures. I trooped to Rustan's , as per my dad's request, and got this:

Yup, two pints of B&J's ice cream--one in Cherry Garcia and another in New York Super Fudge Chunk. I know I'm supposed to be calorie-counting, but I did share them with my dad and my brother so my moment of weakness wasn't all that bad (Fine, Dad only ate two spoonfuls because of his high blood sugar. Still!) . Haha! I was looking for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough but they ran out. On a normal day, I wouldn't condone consuming that much just to satisfy my craving for ice cream but crying because Andy left Woody with Bonnie isn't everyday fare either.

I remember that time in Ireland about a year and a half ago with Steph C., Shivs P., Ely Z., Berna A. and Gica M. when some or all of us would troop to the Sentra nearest our hotel and buy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream almost every day. We'd then hole up in our rooms and gorge on ice cream while watching random shows (I'm not sure but, if I remember correctly, in our room, Shivs and I would always somehow be watching what's on Fox Crime or reruns of The Nanny.). Oh, did I mention we were scarfing down ice cream in the middle of winter? Haha! I was going through a lot then but, somehow, gorging on ice cream while watching Horatio interrogate lowlifes or Fran hitting on her boss made me feel better. It might have been the conversations we had while eating ice cream that brightened me up but, since then, I've thought of ice cream as an antidote to momentary sadness.

So, how did your weekend go?

I spent the entire Saturday morning plowing through the PoS 180.25 readings for the week. I managed to finish Jose Casanova's Secularization, Enlightenment and Modern Religion from Public Religions in the Modern World and Talal Asad's What Might An Anthropology of Secularism Look Like? from Formations of the Secular. I still have the David Herbert selections to read, annotate and reread but it looks like I'll be ready for this week's class. Only about ten students are enrolled in Prof. Raneses' three-hour class (Contemporary Democratic Theory: Interrogating Secularism) so it's impossible to feign knowledge of the readings if you only quickly browsed through them. You will get asked to participate in the discussion at least five times and the length of the class period means a one-liner won't do. He also gives each student a grade per session based on the student's contributions to the discussion and the average of the student's grades per session will constitute 15% of his/her final mark, so you risk a low mark if it becomes painfully clear that , for whatever reason, you didn't carefully go through the readings. I got an A in the last session but I'm really looking forward to the next session because RR devised a cool star-moon-sun-cloud (?) system of grading. Haha!

I went to Gateway a little after lunch to pick up a stick of tea tree concealer from Body Shop then headed back to Katipunan to meet up with Shivs Parmanand at Seattle's Best. I hadn't had SB's chocolate milkshake in a while, so I decided to abandon my 1500 kcal diet (not self-imposed, mind you--my orthopedist says I have to maintain my weight or lose a couple of pounds so that my back stops giving me trouble) and ask for extra ice cream. In SB, the only drink I'm comfortable getting is the chocolate milkshake. I've gotten so used to Starbucks to bother trying anything else. We both lamented the fact that Seattle's and Kenny Rogers now share space (Their counters are only maybe ten meters apart). SB is the go-to of students who need to study or write papers when Starbucks gets too crowded. However, Kenny Rogers is frequented by families from the Xavierville area and rowdy students celebrating after grueling long tests, so the new arrangement makes it impossible to study/have a proper conversation unless you managed to nab a table far from the Kenny Rogers counter. Thankfully, because of the rain, there weren't a lot of people when Shivs and I got there.

I updated Shivs on my weird schedule and she told me about some of the more hilarious things that happened to her in the past week. Important realization: Never think everything's peachy and nothing can faze you--something's bound to surprise you and make you realize you haven't seen it all! Haha! Shivs is leaving for Auckland this week and the run-up to the trip has been quite exhausting for her, I think, so she deserved her coffee.

I had to leave at around 9:30 because my dad called to say he was on his way to Katipunan from the airport and I promised him we could have a late dinner together. On my way to Xanland, something really weird happened--but that's for another entry, and one I'm not going to write anytime in the near future.

Sunday was a bit more hectic. I had lunch with family and family friends who were in town then met up for coffee with Vic Baguilat. Vic Baguilat had a strawberry milkshake while I decided to experiment (gasp) and order a mocha cappuccino. I regretted my choice, though, when I saw how much Vic was enjoying his milkshake. He realized a bit too late, however, that he's lactose-intolerant. Whoops. We had fun catching up and sizing up random people in the vicinity. Haha! I had to leave a little past 6 though because the family decided to have dinner with Tita Rose Napao and her daughter, Yvonne. Oh, before I forget, congratulations to Vic for getting his own place in Taft! Housewarming party? Haha!

All in all, I had a pretty relaxed weekend. I have a bad feeling the next two weekends (at least) won't be as mellow. Oh well.

CotDs

I was running late to meet Dianna Yap and Gio Mauleon in school but stopped in my tracks when I saw Karl Libongco just as I was rushing out of my condominium building's lobby. From afar, he looked like Gio so I briefly wondered if Dianna had anticipated my tardiness and had Gio pass by for me. But, when he turned to wave at me, Karl's posture was so distinct that I could have had my contact lenses off and still be sure it was him.

Karl has a very...relaxed and leisurely way of moving. It's hard to describe Karl's carriage accurately, but he always gives off the vibe that he has all the time in the world--but not in a lazy, I-have-nothing-better-to-do way. Karl has a way of moving that makes you think everything he does is so instinctive that, when he focuses his attention on you, it's as if he deliberately and painstakingly rearranged his body to accommodate you. I noticed that when we first met and, when I voiced out my observation a year later, Faith Sta. Ana et al agreed. When he talks to someone, Karl turns to face the person very slowly, his upper body sort of leans away from the person (giving the impression that he's studying the person) and he has a look of carefree absorption on his face, as if he's weighing your every word but couldn't care less if you get something wrong.

I made that observation during the SOSS Night of our OrSem. I wasn't really into the bands playing and it was so crowded so I spent most of the night with him, Andre Co, Kevin Santiago, Faith S.A., Rootbeer Napiza, Bojie Bartolata and Randhel Laurente on the floor of the covered courts, drowning our sorrows in...mineral water. Haha!

Me, RBeer, Dhel and Karl (June 2006)

See how relaxed Karl seems?

Karl and Andre (June 2006)

I miss hanging out with Andre, Faith and Gina Tumlos. Andre (whose shirt in the picture reads 'Tough Enough to Wear Pink') left after freshman year to become a successful DJ (who has odd fan girls, apparently) and business major at the Entrepreneurial School of Asia. He had weird hair back then and I called him Coco (His family name's Co. He called me Gaga.). I spent most of freshman year (when I wasn't in debate training) with him. He'd drive me and Gina to and from school--even if we could've just walked. I have to schedule dinner with him and the girls soon.

Anyway, Karl and I talked for a bit and I laughed at some of his responses (non-verbatim):

Me: Karl! What are you doing here??

Karl: Bum ako! (shrugs with his signature easy smile)

Karl: Grabe, super proud mo kay Rootbeer!

Me: Of course. I mean, she's really determined to do things her way and I know a lot of people used to think Rootbeer's indecisive. In that way, I kinda thought pareho kami. But, well, now,she's showing them! Self-confidence boost!

Karl: Oo nga eh, picture niya kasama si Robin Padilla, pinost mo sa Wall mo!

Me: We all go through a wild-child phase.

Karl: Kakaiba naman yung wild-child phase mo, eh!

Of course, when I finally met up with them at the library, on our way to the caf, Gio had to have his share of CotDs (Like QotDs but C stands for Conversations. Haha!) too:

Me: (teasingly) Naku, hindi ka na nga nag-gym kasi tamad ka tapos kakain ka pa!

Gio: Iinom na lang ako ng pangpa-buff!

Me: (to Dianna) Para-paraan talaga, noh?

Gio: Once, uminom ako ng pangpa-buff tapos nakalagay bawal to take it with alcohol. Hindi ako naniwala. One week akong nagkasakit!

Me: (incredulous) And you're still going to take them??

Gio: Dati, sobrang buff na nga ako! Tapos pumayat kasi nga nagkasakit ako ng one week!

Me: Grabeng one week naman yun! What were you sick with--dengue??

Me: Hmm, so maybe I should go to the Coheed and Cambria concert na lang, noh?

Gio: Why?? Are you into emo music?? You're going to pay to listen to emo music??

Me: Well, it's open bar.

Gio: Huh. Niiice motivation.

All in all, I had a mellow Friday. My parents didn't want me venturing too far from Katipunan because the rain wouldn't let up so I decided to stay in and watch Friends all night. I've been needing a bit of alone time and I slept like a baby! Today, I'm having lunch with Victor Baguilat then coffee with Shivs Parmanand. My dad's arriving tonight so we're probably going to eat out for dinner and get a bit of shopping done, then I might catch up with Vic et al in Makati. I'm going to lock myself up tomorrow to wade through (a ton of) readings and do my International Eco case study, so I want to just take it easy today and not do anything too taxing.

The Fall of Icarus

In Philosophy today, Prof. JC Uy asked us if we've ever come across Pieter Breughel The Elder's The Fall of Icarus. In high school, after reading William Carlos William's Landscape with The Fall of Icarus, I looked up Breughel's piece and something about it made me feel sad. I couldn't quite articulate why the painting triggered such a feeling of desolation in me (Prior to that, the only other paintings that moved me were Vincent Van Gogh's Wheatfield with Crows and Edgar Degas' Absinthe Drinker--and neither painting made me quite as sad.) . It wasn't because the subject of the painting was inherently sad--there was no depiction of how he had fallen; the painting only showed Icarus' lower legs. I guess it was the fact that such a tragic event seemed to not have been noticed by the others characters in the painting.

Today, Prof. Uy read W.H. Auden's Musee des Beaux Arts, another poem on Breughel's piece, in class. The poem perfectly summed up how I felt the first time I came across the painting:

Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, c. 1558

Pieter Breughel the Elder,

Musee Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels

Musée des Beaux Arts (W.H. Auden)

About suffering they were never wrong, The Old Masters; how well, they understood Its human position; how it takes place While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along; How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting For the miraculous birth, there always must be Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating On a pond at the edge of the wood: They never forgot That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer's horse Scratches its innocent behind on a tree. In Breughel's Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry, But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green Water; and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky, had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.

Putocopy and Letters to Juliet

After a two hour-long graphing/gabbing session for International Economics in the library, I met up with Thea Guanzon in Eastwood to watch Letters to Juliet. I arrived a little past noon and the next screening was at 3 PM so we had close to three hours to spare. Since she hadn't had lunch yet, we headed to Jack's Loft. Thea had baked potato soup (I expressly advised her against it because, for me at least, baked potato in a form other than, well, baked potato is just too weird. It would be like eating a bowl of sour cream with maybe a few chunks of potato thrown in. But Thei says it was good so I guess my tastes are just too primitive.) and we shared a plate of fried mozarella sticks. As usual, we had the weirdest conversations (Too weird to post here, yes. Haha!). How we managed to finish our food, given how much talking we were doing, is beyond me.

We headed up to the cinema to buy our tickets after lunch (Thank you, Citibank!) and, while waiting in line, sang songs from Glee out loud. It's a wonder they didn't ask us to leave the premises--people were openly staring at us! I sounded like a sick cat singing Rachel's part in Faithfully but I figured noone I know would be watching a movie on an early Tuesday afternoon, so we regaled everyone within a three-kilometer radius with our warbly version of Total Eclipse of the Heart. I think the lady at the counter was seriously considering not selling us tickets. Haha!

While waiting for the cinema doors to open, we checked out an art exhibit beside the concessionaire and I couldn't stop laughing when I saw this:

Yes, I know it's an old joke. That doesn't make it any less hilarious though--especially on a painting. :))

Letters to Juliet was okay. We obviously didn't watch it because we thought it would be a cinematic masterpiece. We needed something easy to digest, preferably one with a cheesy, easy-to-follow plot and predictable characters. Of course, the fact that Chris Egan's in it was a plus. It was just really too funny though when, while Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) was in deep thought, Taylor Swift's Love Story began to play. I know the song's apt, given the allusions to Romeo and Juliet's tragic love affair in the movie; but it just ruined the mood and made us go, "What just happened? She's emotional and contemplating leaving her fiancee--and they decided to play a semi-upbeat Taylor Swift pop song??" . And the 'twist' in the end (if you could even call it that) which involved Charlie (Chris Egan) explaining that the Patricia he had with him at the wedding was, in fact, his cousin, left me laughing even harder.

All in all, it wasn't so bad spending a Tuesday afternoon watching it, especially since, when I got to Eastwood, I had images of graphs and pie charts swimming in my head. Chris Egan in a tailored suit ( and the Puto-Putocopy painting) blew that all away. Haha!

Tarsy and Crabby Adventures, Chapter 1

I went to visit Rootbeer Napiza at the ABSCBN compound last weekend because I've missed her sooo much (We needed gab time!) and we decided to squeeze in lunch before getting caught up in everything we had to do (backlogged editing for her and preparations for the week ahead + an essay for me). We had been intending to meet up for weeks but cancelled our plans twice because she had to deal with some things at work and one of my closest high school friends flew in at the last minute. And, no, RB wasn't in ABSCBN for a Goin' Bulilit (Apparently, that's this generation's equivalent to Ang TV) shooting. Haha! She's all grown-up and a writer now. AND, at the same time, she's in law school. Yes, we're very proud of her and I'm a "stage friend". Haha!

RB took pictures over lunch at Grams! Porkchops + pancakes + vanilla milkshake + weird carrot-mushroom-onion soup + coffee = diner love, baby!

(I'll be writing about my visit in another entry. Hilarious conversations galore.)

I ♥ Grams! I'm a sucker for old diner-themed places. Bright lights, colorful booths, uncomplicated feel-good food--what's not to love? At Grams, I always end up having either pancakes or pork chops. I ordered pork chops this time, with soup and coffee.

RB and her vanilla milkshake! I wanted a milkshake too. :( But I had to restrain myself. RB doesn't need to worry about carbs. She has such a thin, sexy frame that gaining weight is never a problem for her. :|

I think everyone now gets why RB calls me Tarsy. :))

Happy, contented, fulfilled Ms. I-Want-It-All Napiza. ♥

"Parurusahan kita sa ngalan ng buwan!"
"Fighting crime, trying to save the world! Here they come just in time! The Powerpuff Girls! Powerpuff!"

Yeah, we're retarded. :|

Tarsy and Crabby

In the morning, happiness is a good sandwich.

I'd been running low on anti-bacterial wipes so I went to Rustan's Katipunan after lunch to restock. I was in such a hurry that I didn't notice, until I decided to look for wheat bread , that a new section, Gourmet to Go, had just opened. Apparently, Rustan's Katipunan now offers sandwiches and salads for take-out! And they have a wide selection too!

My maid wakes up at 6 AM so, when I have to head out early, I no longer have time to wait for her to prepare breakfast. There aren't a lot of breakfast offerings in Ateneo at 7 AM so I have to make do with cookies from AMPC or hope I have enough coins in my purse to get crackers from the vendo machine. These days, given my schedule, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have no time to get lunch either so I have to pass by JSEC to pick up a sandwich on my way home if it isn't close to dinnertime yet because I don't want to pass out from hunger. Thanks to Gourmet to Go, I can just walk to Rustan's in the morning, choose from any of their delectable sandwiches and salads before walking to school!

I ordered their smoked salmon sandwich and their apple and walnut salad with curried mayo. I couldn't finish the sandwich because it was too big for me (I must remember to have them slice it in half if I'm bringing it to school so that I don't have to gobble the entire thing up in one sitting) but the salad was really good so it didn't take me long to finish it.

Good job, Rustan's Katips! :D

Major LSS!

I heard Knock You Down by Keri Hilson ft. Ne-Yo and Kanye while going around NBS and I can't stop singing it! :))

Sometimes, love comes around

It knocks you down

Just get back up

When it knocks you down

The Reasonability of Unreasonability

Ken Abante, one of nicest people I know (I swear, the guy's a walking ray of sunshine. He has a ready smile for everyone and has a heart as big as all outdoors. The day Ken isn't optimistic about the state of the world is the day we should all come to terms with the fact that the human race is doomed and cry ourselves to sleep. Haha.), wrote this a while back (I was reading What Is The Point of Being a Christian? by Tim Radcliffe for my Theology class under Prof. Rosana and I was reminded of this):

Christianity is unreasonable because it begs you to believe in something that you don't understand -- a God which cannot be described or explained. This statement makes sense: why would you believe in something that you cannot comprehend?

But if you think about it, it's the only reasonable thing to believe in. Why would you believe in a God which you can totally box in, limit into and level with the realms of limited, imperfect human reason? That would make the all-powerful God, imperfect.

The complexity and incomprehensibility of God is therefore a tenacious proof of His existence, and is not at all contradictory to His Power.

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I can never claim to be religious but I admire people who are, for as long as they don't try to impose their beliefs on others. It takes a lot to cling to something so intangible, especially when you have skeptics like me who privilege logic above all else. What I've always appreciated about Jesuit education is its attempt to reconcile reason and faith. In some cases, it's not apparent or effective but it's a relief to know that a blind adherence to Christianity is not required of me despite my choice of university and background.