hiatus from blogging does not mean hiatus from life.

well unfortunately, it doesnt indicate a hectic one as well. if anything, it shows laziness to type. i never saw myself implying that: me too lazy to actually write stuff ABOUT MYSELF. moving on, nowadays we classify food as "real" food or fastfood. this, dear reader, is the fastpost as opposed to real post. comecome.

how do you measure a life? in decades? years? no. thanks to mtv, short attention span would allow me to sum up my life in a week. scrutinize a week, u get a rhythm. a bad rhythm spells doom and despair.

and then, as we would further have it, i begin a new cycle that is second semester. every student would surely talk about his classes. as to brag about it and show the world: hey, this is me inching my way to greatness. just wait and i'll make my mark, i'll make a difference in the universe. let us oblige.

i have signed up for six units: fiction workshop 1 under dr. butch dalisay (fridays 5-8p), and creative nonfiction workshop 2 under ms. marra pl. lannot (sat 1-4p). la-dida. because i swore 2 things: 1. i will find a job so better dodge the weekdays. no.2 i will be a good boy-slash-serious grad student. minimize socials, pump up academia.

both promises are yet to be fulfilled.

i had my first class last friday. i actually arrived at the diliman campus on time, took my sweet time and had a couple of smokes outside the rizal building. then i went on to look for my class. i have grown accustomed to camping outside the classrooms. in up, thrity minutes late is actually on time. however, after noticing that there are no other people waiting for that oh-so-in-demand class to start, and after pounding on the door of specified classroom (not to mention performing rituals on my registartion form to make sure if it was indeed showing me the correct classroom) i shoved my way to the english department. of course only to find out that ive been waiting in front of the wrong office. in the wrong building, for that matter. my prize for being late for the first day of dr. dalisay's class is precious: walking through the door and finding familiar faces on the other side. The faces were familiar because they taught in ateneo. to make one understand the gravity of this detail, how's this: this semester, i will be having my work critiqued by my former teachers and of course let's not dodge the impending awkward-o-rama of having me critique their work as well. splendid.

after this, i hit (ta-daaa) rack's el pueblo. it's no use bashing this hole as i will find myself in it again (for the 3rd time in my life) the following week--as in moments before i type this down. instead of going heavy on alcohol, i trooped to the nearby 7-11 and finished 2 monster tumblers of slurpee. in all honesty (and stupidity) i thought that i was doing the better thing to do. having classes the following day, that night was not the time to get drunk. i completely forgot about the fact that mirinda slurpee contained caffeine, but i actually had time to think about the wrongness of that decision as i watched the sun rise outside my bedroom.

zombie was the motif during the creative nonfiction class. the homework (and it was the first meeting!) is just so...too painfull to even type down.

that night i attended a party with a 90's theme. i wore a big striped chaps tee, khaki walking shorts and sandals with socks. harhar i was trying to look for my windbreakers and failed to find them.

the days that will follow are packed with the following activities:









having had done all this for this week, i once again hit a friday. my friday (as in yesterday) would begin at around three. i wake up and watch a couple of telecrap. i get ready for school and scram.

the second session for the fiction workshop had us talking about three short stories. i had read them, enjoyed them, and had nothing to say about them. marvel at my intelligence, people. during the only time i recited, i wasn't able to articulate my point.

after class, i go to racks el pueblo again. basically with the same people. pleasant surprise: mojofly was on. so i proceded to melt under ricci gurango's (the stunning bassist) gaze. i assume that he was gazing at me. looking, staring, seeing, viewing and every other word that means this. he has eyes solamente pare me. after their final set, i walked out of the resto-bar pregnant with his child. i swear.

(by the way, their new vocalist is soooo pretty. possibly prettier than the last one, even. well, its a matter of taste, and for me, she might be. they had a smashing repertois which included sweet child of mine and king (or queen) of pain. yes, apparently, the nineties is still following me. but it really was a smashing sonic experience and i was reminded of how much i missed live alternative gigs. by good bands.)

i will not fail to mention that my friend's cell phone was stolen, but this adventure is worthy of a separate post. tomorrow, i have two party invitations. i still havent figured out how i will arrange my schedule to fit both, or which one to go to if i get too lazy to attend both. OR WHAT TO WEAR. (i actually turn down parties! my life has got to be good. i should start feeling this.)

but that will have to wait because i just got home and have just finished typing my homework for later. i've already crammed my reading asignment as well and according to the manual, what i'm writing right now is the familiar essay.

there. the week: basically two weekends juxtaposed. feel the rhythm. it's an iamb, i surmise. i have no other recourse but to make the most out of this. to enjoy my freshly assumed status: fully-fledged scum of the universe, minor godess of pain and beauty.

posted by carl @ 4:24 AM 0 comments

reminiscing The Great Futile College Enterprise. this stuff is imported from friendster and it was such great fun and very telling that i decided to post it here too.

1.School and course?
ateneo de manila, ab communication

2. What year are you in?
after college? half a year.

3. Favorite professor/s?
Mark Escaler! Dr. Violet Valdez, Mr. Calasanz, Ms. Boots Anson-Roa, and Danton Remoto (well, it's so much easier to admit that i actually like them since i no longer have to cram any of their requirements. also, i don't have to care anymore if other people might think they're lousy teachers. i'm a ditz and i guess i just have to live with that.)

4. Favorite subject/s?
classes, actually. Fiction Workshop, Philippine Literature in English, Communication Theory, Photography, Acting for the Camera, Performance and Presentation

5. subjects you dislike?
Math 11 and Math 12. oh, and Math 12. (i had to take the goddam thing twice.)
im sure there are more but these are the ones that really stand out.

6. First you got to know?
Blockmates. Crissy and Maita (within close proximity during the Orsem) Randy and Mac. Ava in Freshman English class--7 in the freakin morning! i had to talk to my seatmate lest id end up drooling on my notebook with my pen sticking in my ear.

7. Crush in the same room?
Argh im really tempted to say "no one" but i will admit that there was one in my Freshman English class. As i have said, it was so early in the freakin morning and i had to fabricate a reason to get myself to wake up so freakin early. Now, i realize that it was huge lapse on my judgement. HUGE.
wait! is this considered: film theory and criticism class and we viewed Donnie Darko. Donnie Darko. is he considered?

8. Most embarassing experience?
When my test tube exploded. Wait, was that in high school?
Well, in that case: when i smashed my car into a truck on my way back from a break. I was with friends. fifth gear, but i was able to step on the breaks on time. a truly edge-of-my-seat experience.
but it not end there.
i released the fuckin clutch but failed to put the gear on neutral prior to it. the truck did not acquire any damage. spotless. My car was a different story. I believe that to this day, fragments of what used to belong to my unofficial first car is still scattered in front of gate 3.

9. Have you ever failed in a quiz? what subject?
Gawd! fail is such a dignified way of putting it. Getting zero in Mr. Calasanz's class, at one point, started to become the norm.
If u insist in knowing which specific classes i had failing quizzes in, then leave me ur email address and i'll send you my transcript--all the classes i have ever taken in college are listed there.

10. Favorite place in school?
SEC B foyer (bench), caf up (before it became Hans' Gourmet and it was still airconditioned), pubroom (before it got airconditioned and got partitioned into these rabbitholes with locks), my catwalk (aka EDSA walk) and the smoking pocket gardens during senior year. I had also developed an appreciation for the Guidance Center. There were times when i pretended to be coocoo and invent problems just so i can lounge in Ms. Mia's office. But don't get me wrong, i'm completely normal.
Oh yeah, behind the sacred heart statue before the Church of Gesu was erected. (pun intended)

11. What do you often buy in school?
test answers. sometimes, friends and company. and. tocino from my teacher.
hehe seriously: fruitshakes, specifically mango-banana. chicken strips and tuna casserole pasta. bluebook test booklets and cd-r from orp.

12. Friends?
Some Fellow Comm Majors, Benchmates & former HS classmates, Heightsers, Orgmates and other blahblahwhatevermates. Some individuals as well. I think even the manang who sells the fruitshakes is my friend cos she started prying into my lovelife while i waited for my drink. she gave me free refills though. ;p

13. Favorite book?
As in required? Cubao-Kalaw Kalaw-Cubao (by Tony perez, required for my Fil13 class) Gangster of Love (by Jessica Hagedorn for my Phil Lit in English Class)

14. Most unforgettable quote from one of your profs?
"Carl, button your shirt!" --Mr. Calasanz

15. Organizations you were in?
Heights, etc.

16. Highest Grade You Got?
A!!! I'm not that stupid. Mostly my major subjects. Besides, there are many many ways to get this... (see numbers11&19)

17. favorite semester
none in particular. when i realized that it was making fun of me, i just said whattathehey and proceded to make fun of college too. Rules are there for the thrill of it.
(the lottery and the random number registration system never made sense. getting the worst teachers possible was no joke. looking back on everything is just plainly relieving and ego-bloating.)

18. Gen Ave.
does this mean general avenue or general average? if it is the former, then no, i havent been down there. if it is the latter, and u expect me to compute, then ur dreaming.

19. Ever cheated?
On my lover?
oh yeah. always.
In like school and all?
Of course. I should devote a separate entry just to answer this question.

20. Describe college life in 1 word
cacophonous

posted by carl @ 3:19 AM 1 comments

what is halloween without costumes? this is nika, me and missy. originally, we wanted to go to the party plainly in formal attire and those cool, cheap masks missy and i found in some photolab along katipunan. but as the night neared, our ideas got a little carried away. we wanted to all go as characters that had something to do with magic, so here we are: nika as the 80's young fairy godmother (with the closed white shoes and all), me as puck, the mischievous faerie from midsummer night's dream (no, the sweat is not part of the look) and missy as the typical storybook witch. shame, her knee-high black stripe socks can't be seen in the pic.

posted by carl @ 3:56 AM 2 comments