mr/ms conductor

In EDSA, there are buses, many buses. In each and every single one of those buses, there is a conductor (konduktor). If you happen to need to ride in one of those buses, and the bus that you need is full, the conductor of that bus will still announce "maluwag pa, maluwag pa, pasok lang". Sweet.

Another unusual thing is that the conductor does not usually announce that the bus is still not loaded when there are few passengers in that bus. Reverse psych ni conductor.

humanities class is over

The class ended with us watching the conclusion of the movie "My Fair Lady". Wala lang, I'm sure gonna miss the class, I'm not gonna have any other class like it.

nasaan na ang mga pulis

Tuwing gabi, habang ako ay nagpapahinga na sa aking higaan, mayroon nalang ako biglang maririnig na humaharurot na mga kotse. Sa malamang, nagkakarera sila. Drag racing nga siguro. Ang nakakabagabag lang talaga eh wala man lamang sumisitang kung sino man. Nakakatakot din dahil baka makadisgrasya ang mga yun. Wala lang, wala ring pulis. Hindi ko alam eh, baka nga dito lang sa Baguio... Kaya kung ako, magiingat ako kapag gabi.

weekend

After all the "hard" work that I have been doing for the past months, my labors seem to be paying off. A while ago, I passed my 15-page BitTorrent continuation paper and my Haruhi Suzumiya book report. After passing the requirements I felt their weight slipping off my shoulders. Another requirement that I have just completed is the thesis prototype, which we finished in about five hours after cramming for several weeks. I could'nt be any happier about that. There are still a few more things to do before the semester ends, but I'm just happy that I can feel the fruits of my labor.

Its another weekend, I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but I'll most probably study for the Economics exam on monday, read the report on undecidable problems for automata, and prepare the presentation of the BitTorrent paper. If I finish them all, cool. XD

a thing about personal essays

I attended a short lecture by Jessica Zafra in the auditorium a while ago. Of course, it is another requirement for my Humanities class. Anyhow, the lecture was very entertaining and I learned a thing or two from it. The line that I can't forget from it is when she said that in order to write a personal essay, one should cannibalize one's self. That is, if there is actually a self to cannibalize. Then she also mentioned things about the importance of knowing one's self. She also mentioned something like a person develops his/her personality by reading books. And apparently she loves the Old Testament. Pretty cool lecture.

Movie: You, Me and Dupree

I watched the movie last night, twice. I was just bored and I thought that I could use a little entertainment. Anyhow, the movie was great. Many concepts and stuff were tackled. The casting was pretty sweet, too. The best thing about it is that it reminded me of the fun of being unmarried and the fact that sometimes people are too attached to their partners that they forget other things, friends for example. Yun lang. XD

non-academic exam

I took this work related exam, given by some company, in the morning and got the results in the afternoon. I failed. XD I really dislike the exam. In addition to being a multiple choice exam, it is full of iterations, and basic stuff that an examiner would just has to brute his/her way in order to get the correct answer. I wasn't in the mood for that kind of thing. The good news is that my friends passed it. :D

palarong pinoy

Kahapon, out of nowhere, hindi namin binalak, nasali kami sa isang palaro. Ganito kasi iyon, lolokohin dapat namin yung isa naming kaibigan dahil kasali siya sa palarong nabanggit. Bale pumunta kami sa lugar kung saan gagawin ang palaro, sa Oble grounds dito sa campus. Tapos, nakita kami nung isang tagapangasiwa ng palaro, kalbo siya. Bigla niya kaming tinuturo tapos, ayun, kasali na raw kami bigla kasi magkakasama kami at, siguro para sa kanya, mukhang kalahok grupo. Yung unang salang, relay siya na may piko, pagbalanse ng kalamnsi at kamatis sa kutsara, pagbubuhat ng tao, kadang-kadang at pagkarerang gamit ay isang paa lang. Ang masaya run, naka 3rd place kami sa first elimination round. XD Yung pangalawang salang, tirahang bola. Talo kami. XD Ayun, sa pagkakaalam namin tapos na kami, yun pala hindi pa, mayroon pa raw na moro-moro. Pero hindi na kami sasali. XD

all those short stories

The short story "saga" of my Humanities class is over. The period spanned about less than two months and covered nine short stories in total. Because of that "saga", I had to develop the habit of expecting to read a short story for the next meeting. If I didn't, I would have to sit like a rock in class without any idea what everyone else is talking about. Well, in reality, I would not have had the motivation or the idea itself to read stories like "Contents of the Dead Man's Pocket" or "Through the Tunnel" and everything else. Actually, I never knew that the stories and their corresponding authors existed. XD But now, I think that it is good that I had the chance to know those short stories. All of them are worth the effort and time to read. I learned and relearned concepts relating to value, challenges, life, death, time, freedom, youth, etc. because of those stories. Here is a brief list of ideas that I got from each story:
Contents of the Dead Man's Pocket
The concept of value is embedded within the story. The knowledge of what we should value will make us better off.
Through the Tunnel
The concept of value still appeared here. But the main idea that I got from the story is the importance of risks. The idea of risking a lot for something that we want to achieve...
The Widow and the Parrot
Oh, dear. Kindness to animals. I don't usually care about animals... XD I actually hate the dog at our front gate. It barks at me so loudly. I'm kind but I don't care about them. XD Moreover, the presentation of this story doesn't convince me to be any kinder to animals.
The Masque of the Red Death
Death will come for anyone, in time.
The concepts of egalitarianism, stages of life and unjust rulership also appeared in this story.
Two Friends
Responsibility is something that should always exist for any action.
Nationalism.
Doing what we want to do; freedom.
War affects everyone.
The Problem
The substance of this short story is pretty hard to digest. Something about disciplining and spoiling. I think it is about how "adults" should handle young people or youth. And that no matter how the adults handle youth, the latter will behave in the same manner (I don't believe that though). Or probably, adults should discipline the youth so that the latter will not be abusive or something.
Magnificence
Don't completely trust newly found friends.
Summer Solstice

All in all, the "saga" is a good find. Without it, I wouldn't have learned more about these concepts. The Humanities class is actually proving to be more beneficial than I thought.

The constant seating arrangement is unadvisable especially because the chairs are usually disarranged by some force. In addition, there is a scarcity in chairs; there are times when seats are taken to other classrooms.

Another suggestion is for the novel part to have a list of pre-chosen novels so that a student can choose a novel from a set of predetermined novels. This will make the choice easier, especially for preoccupied students. Custom choices are still available, nonetheless, for students who do not want any of the given choices.

Why is it that the Humanities I G.E. only got offered without prerequisites when I am already at my fourth year of college? If I took the course at an earlier year level, I would have understood what I just learned, to improve reading skills, read, read a lot.

The Humanities class is now off to poetry. I am hopeful that this time I will be able to appreciate the jibberish that Shakespeare utters.

damn

The Mac broke. Damn. Sana magawa agad.

word coinage

I was about to sleep when I suddenly recalled Mr. Garrison, from South Park, saying "fag". It was pretty funny, his articulation that is, and because other characters were censored upon uttering that word. And now, I've been wondering about the coinage of the word fag. In a dictionary (the built-in Oxford Mac dictionary)
fag 2 |føg| |fag|
noun informal chiefly offensive
a male homosexual. See usage at queer .
DERIVATIVES
faggy adjective
ORIGIN 1920s: short for faggot .

faggot |ˈfagət| |ˌføgət| |ˌfagət|
noun
1 informal chiefly offensive a male homosexual. See usage at queer .
2 British spelling of fagot .
DERIVATIVES
faggoty |ˌføgədi| adjective
ORIGIN early 20th cent.: perhaps from the obsolete sense of fagot ‘contemptible woman.’

Offensive is a relatively mild adjective, used to describe anyone or anything that is unpleasant or disagreeable

I was thinking about why this word ever came about. I mean, I don't have anything against homosexuals or anything. I certainly am not someone who advocates gay rights. And I am absolutely not gay. I'm just annoyed at the fact that the word fag is defined to be "offensive". There is no such word to describe "offensive" males and females, too. I think that it is not fair to have such a word. It is the coinage of these kinds of words that I find detestable. (Geez, I learned something from the dictionary).
People may say that words are empty and that their meaning lies in the interpretation, but having those kinds of words greatly demoralizes those who get hit by it. Another issue here is the "to not get hit by a word". Because social norms usually dictate people to behave in an accepted way, this issue makes some people uncomfortable, which leads to having people who cannot express themselves properly. In a sense, it makes some people become whom they are not. That is something that we do not want do we? I don't want to see any more pretenders. There are lots, by the way. Most of them are sitting in power. Like Glo.. Whatever. As a final note, although some people use these "offensive" kinds of words, their existence is somewhat detrimental to society. I think that the coinage of words deserves to have some sort of responsibility.

work work

Over the past few months, I've been thinking about why I succumb to finish anything that I start with. This spreads out from watching series, doing projects and other things. The point is I hate to leave anything unaccomplished. Yes, I have failed many times already. I've learned how to stand whenever I fall. The concept of failure is anything but outside of my heart and mind. But I guess, out of persistence, or perhaps stubbornness, I end up in situations where, even if the end result is apparently unfavorable, I still struggle in order to finish my work. Perhaps I'm just challenging myself to see how far I can go with my abilities. Or perhaps I'm just a real time workaholic.