Always Have Moral

I made a tumblr account because I can't flood my blog with all of my one liners that suddenly spring into existence.

St Ignatius de Loyola, the patron saint of the Ateneo de Manila University, valued reflection. Its powers are beyond imagination. He suggested to reflect on our experiences as much as we can - daily if possible.

I believe that there is something to learn from our experiences. And if that experience got the chance to be entered in my blog, you know there's a diamond of learning waiting in the rough. I don't always have to look hard for it to unearth it.


MORAL: What you know now is not less of what you will know tomorrow. You don't compare it, you keep it, you treasure it. Question, why do you still have to go to school tomorrow? Answer, because what I learned today is not yet enough. Learning is an endless endeavor because there is just so much to know and to learn. And learning doesn't stop after school. (I just made-up everything you read.)

Present IT

AVP for Document Management

AVP for Projects

VP for Externals

Have you ever been part of a school organization? Well, I'm an officer in our organization and we're promoting a new thing for all the projects we do. The project officers have to present their plans and updates to the management officers. Mark, my blockmate and also the AVP for Member Development, is fond of whipping up these caricatures of people around. It's his way of spacing out. He did a lot of caricatures and comic strips during our 6-unit Calculus class. We were seatmates and yes, I bore witness to all of the wasted tuition fee great stuff he has drawn. We even composed a song instead of listening to every detail of Calculus. Dang, Calculus took much of our lives!

Anyway, after every presentation is the much awaited question and answer portion. There were a lot of questions and clarifications so I guess Mark spaced out again. Then he drew those beside him, the AVP for Projects and VP for Externals who asked a lot of questions, and the AVP for Document Management who was going haywire.

Good job for the project officers, though! The AVPs were just weird a while ago. Haha.

MORAL: Any meeting after the duration goes beyond the set time usually drops the "attentive percentage" from 90% to as low as 10%. So, be strict with the time. Start on time, end on time.

Top 5 Happiest Cities

According to Yahoo!, the top 5 happiest cities in the world are:

1. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

2. Sydney, Australia

3. Barcelona, Spain

4. Amsterdam, Netherlands

5. Melbourne, Australia

6. Manila, Philippines

Yay! Two are from Australia! I like Australia, well I like my idea of Australia. Laid back life, friendly people, and skin cancer. Then, there's the Netherlands! I have stated previously how much I like the Netherlands.

So why the post? The article has been in Yahoo! for quite sometime. I just thought of posting it because I'm really getting haywired with all the stuff I have to do. I am living the zombie season. I don't know why, but I have been doing so much lately. Lately meaning since August. Really. There's no "hell week" for me. There are hell weekS (please notice the emphasis on the letter S) and the possibility of hell month. Hmm. I think they should change the name of hell weeek into like "challenge week" or "inferno month." OK. That was a fugly idea which deserves death by firing squad.

MORAL: If you want something done well, do it yourself. However, if you know you would produce a less competent end-result, well, admit it and give the task to someone else whom you know (and trust) can make the "something" better.

*insert a happy face here*

Scalpburn Aftermath

Is one of the worst things that I have seen. What the *bleep* is that?! I'll share to you a story from an anonymous contributor.

A mother thought she saw oatmeal in her kid's head. The mom panicked too much when she saw it, and then removed what was left of the "oatmeal" from this kid's hair. Dandruff? Nopes. Flakes? More like toasted flakes! I think it's (really) disgusting, but heck it happened. Until now, the sight and idea of it make me cringe. I think I just vomitted in my mouth.

MORAL: Don't expose anything for too long under the sun, unless you want some dried products. Sheesh. Scalpburn sucks. Bigtime.

Kadiri talaga.

Sweat, Blood, and Tears

This is really bizarre, but I would be like this kid with all the work and all the stress I am under with. Next time, I'll be featured in a video as well showing me sweating blood. I am not complaining, I'm just saying.

MORAL: The blood is the lifeline of the body. This video is really uhmm, creepy. Lachrymal duct + blood = not fun.

Blowfish and Starfish

I had my immersion last August 28-30, 2009 at San Salvador, Masinloc, Zambales. I knew that it would be a great adventure, because of the diving, swimming and well, the thrill of meeting new people and living with them. That includes my immersion partner, someone who's not your classmate/groupmate, who's paired with you by your formator, to live with a foster family. I enjoyed the immersion. I really, really enjoyed it. I don't regret missing my midterm exam because I got to take it at a later date anyway.

The weather was on our side. Amen to that!

What do I think of my sunburned skin and uneven skin tone? Nothing, I just think of the experience and I feel like my sunburned skin is healing now. (Yeah I'm "molting" so what. Haha.)

What do I think of my scratch-free diving mask that someone accidentally took? Hmm, I'll just think that it's my gift to them.

What do I think of my immersion-mates? They rock! They're some of the coolest, funniest people I have met.

What do I think of the place where we stayed? Thank God I brought those trekking sandals. Thanks to my Mom for funding those sandals.

What do I think of the whole experience? I know I'm immersed.

Why do I keep on using "what"? Good question! I really don't know!

I got around 300 worth of pictures. A lot of them involve people, and there were a lot of scenery shots as well. I chose these two pictures because well, most of us could take photos of "amazing views" or scenes that could give you the "awww" moments but it's not everyday one could capture a starfish and a blowfish underwater. So yeah, I'm somewhat proud of these pictures.

Will I post an entry about the immersion experience? Yeah, sure. Just not now.

MORAL: There's beauty in everything. If you can't see it, maybe you just have to look more intently. Remember to rinse your sea-soaked camera with freshwater after use. Amen!

CO2

Yay! This is going to be my second post through the trial version of this blogging app. Like the previous post, I'm using my trusty phone to post.

When you're inside a tricycle and you're going to pass through gate 3.5 on a 4:30pm schedule, it'll feel like being in Makati and Manila (at the same time) while trying really hard not to breathe all the fumes from the mufflers / car exhausts. My lungs probably feel like it has smoked a CR-V's worth of carbon monoxide, and a Pajero's worth of second hand smoke. All cars coming from Ateneo, cars going to UP/Miriam area, all their fumes combined is the best lung-friendly combination out there. And you'll smell like crap in the end aside from paying that much for the trike fare.


MORAL: Whether you walk or you ride the trike, pollution and global warming will still get the best of you. They'll haunt you. Scary crap.

Kagats / Phone Blogging Trial

Ang sarap ng nangangamoy balm. Yung pangmatandang balm. Hindi pala pangmatanda, basta yung sanitary balm, yung amoy maanghang, amoy puro kagat ng lamok yung katabi mo. Nakaupo kayo sa may aircon ng train tapos umaalingasaw yung amoy ng balm. Feeling mo either pinutakte ng lamok yung katabi mo o may arthritis siya at nilagyan niya ng balm yung katawan niya. Tipong hindi mo alam kung saang parte ng katawan niya may balm kaya medyo lang, medyo ayaw mo dumikit.

Badtrip. Ako yung nangangamoy balm eh. Mga lamok ng Zambales, humanda kayo sakin kapag bumalik ako. Bobombahin ko kayo. Nagsilabasan mga kagat ko pag-uwi.


MORAL: Ganun talaga pag rural areas, chong. Bawal maarte, nakamamatay ang kaartehan. Joke. Ang paglagay ng Off Lotion ay hindi kaartehan. Nakalimutan ko lang talaga. Boo.

Sinubukan ko lang yung Wavelog pampost ng entry. Cool. Kaso trial lang eh. Try ko yung Scribe next time.

Internet Addiction and Mountain English

The topic in the ABS-CBN show Kalye aside from the previous topic (they have multiple topics per episode) on Kidnap, is Internet Addiction. One group who was really fond of the Internet and playing LAN games set-up their own Internet shop instead. They even customized the seats because their clients want reclining chairs when they play for 12 hours. They reasoned that while they're enjoying what they are doing, they're earning money in the process. One girl interviewed who considered herself an Internet addict said that, "sana pagnagka-anak ako, hindi sila maadik sa Internet, because it's not very good," then giggled. Then my dad and my yaya were telling me stuff like I'm always online and always typing stuff or something. "Mag-apply na kayo as typist." I'm like, "hello? I'm excused! I am on a computer course!" I think my dad just rolled his eyes on me.

Then switch to GMA and there's iWitness and their topic was faulty English. They went around to check the proficiency of Filipinos in English. It's common to see typos in signages around the metro, so aside from that, they interviewed random passers-by and elementary public school students. Lo and behold, the elementary school with the highest proficiency in English can be found in the rural areas of Mt. Province. NCR elementary schools? Not so good. Spell SCIENCE. S-C-I-A-N-S-C-E. English is not our national language, yes I know that, but when we're teaching something, make it real good not just in the theory part but in the application part as well. Written and spoken English are not mutually exclusive, you know.

MORAL: Development is good, bending it to suffice one's own personal interest while stepping on someone else's rights is not good. Internet is not bad, abusing it is bad. English is not bad, but some English are really bad.

*Next post would be my Immersion post. :)