Lilipat na ko ng blogsite.  Pero hindi naman ako gaanong lalayo kasi tabulas pa rin.

Notify ko na lang kayo sa bagong address.  Magandang araw! :)

A couple of hours ago, my girlfriend sent me a text message.  She let me know that her seminar has finished and also informed me that apparently some guy from the seminar gave her some flowers.  The way I understand, an anonymous guy asked someone (maybe a friend) to hand it to her. 

Normally, a man would go ballistic and utter words like, "You freakin' slut" or "I'm gonna burn his house down" or "That guy's friggin dead meat."  However in my case, I was actually proud of my girlfriend.  No doubt she's beautiful and attractive.  I feel like climbing Mt. Everest and once up there I'm gonna shout on top of my lungs:

You all want her,

but she's mine...

Mwahahaha!

Yes, she's mine.  And you can't have her! :) 

Pressure, Pressure 

My academic requirements are starting to take its toll on me.  An exam tomorrow, a report the day after and another exam on Friday.  Just thinking about it makes my head spin.  Sure, if this was just any other sem I'd say, "Hey what the heck.  Fail or not fail, I can still get another shot next sem."  But this time, it's different.  I can't afford to fail or else I'll be doomed to spend another sem in Academic Imprisonment.

My father loves to tell me stories about his co-workers' daughters and sons who have graduated in ECE, CoE or EE -- sort of making me feel regretful on my decision to shift to Geodetic Engineering.  Out of the blue he'll start something up like, "You remember <insert officemate's name>?  <His/Her daughter/son> graduated <ECE/CoE/EE> from <insert school name most probably not UP>.  Board passer!"  Sure, I can just shut up and ignore his remarks but I noticed lately that he has intensified his You-Must-Regret-Your-Decision routine.  He even discouraged me from working at provincial offices where Geodetic Engineers are most in demand saying that professionals assigned in such offices are "patapon" or "pinag-lumaan na."

Don't get me wrong here, I love my father very much.  But things are getting more difficult these days, I could use a little encouragement.  "No discouragement" is "good enough encouragement."

I hate discouragements even if they were meant as a joke.  Churchmates were asking me earlier today about the time of my graduation.  I tell them, "Next sem."  Some were reacting like, "Okey" and "Oh how come?  Delayed ka?"  But one particular person reacted like, "Yuck!"  Sure, I was just smiling like it was totally fine while she was repeating "Yuck" a couple of times.  Had I been in a bad mood, I could've...

Anyway, I wasn't in a bad mood but I ranted all the way to the church office.  One particular churchmate, Ate Carmi, heard me and told me "Take heart."  She understood me completely because she has experienced U.P. College of Engineering herself.  Her encouraging words helped me shrug off all the negative feedback that got stuck deeply into my nerves.

Missing People 

It's normal to miss a handful of friends every now and then.  However in my case, I miss my highschool friends, churchmates, blockmates -- almost every single acquaintance I've made for the past ten years.  Ah, the good days.  Ngayon ko lang na-appreciate ng ganito, ansarap pala maging highschool at freshman...  Friends were always at mere shouting distance.  Some were so near, you don't even need to shout.

Focus 

There are some things that keep preventing me from achieveing my desired goals.  I feel like there's currently a lot missing -- things that I've been forced to set aside in the name of good academic standing. 

One of which is my Sining (ART).  I don't get to doodle on my Sketch Pad anymore.  My Photoshop and Flash skills are getting rusty.  And to top it all off, this Blogsite's new layout remains unfinished.  Doodling was my favorite past time ever since the day I learned how to use a pencil.  Now, I can't afford to doodle that often.  Time is a valuable resource and doodling will take time.  Whoever said that "Time is Gold" doesn't really know the true value of time.  You can choose to save gold for later use but you can't do that with time.  If you don't use it now, you can never use it again later.

And the award goes to...

(drumrolls)

Big Tone, the author of this website. 

(cheers) 

Congratulations, you have written the most discriminatory and demeaning collection of articles I have seen in my entire cyberlife you deserve to have a coconut slammed into your skull -- preferrably a golden one.

I reserve no ill feelings with the way you see Filipinos behave in America, but the way you've boorishly described Philippines as "tribal" and how you've slandered and mocked our native language makes me want to work myself into a blind fury.

No, seriously.  That's just plain foul.  I don't care about your stupid rights or your cowardly disclaimer, your arrogance just sickens me.  In the first place, is it even right to create critical articles that lambaste on the Filipino culture or any other culture for that matter?  We're talking about ethics here, just in case your thick cranium didn't notice.

Well...  Uhm...  Alright, that's just an exaggeration...  But I do crave for something that has been a part of something with four/two legs...  And I want large portions of it!!!

Here are some that currently swirl around my head:

• Biggie-Sized Big Bacon Mushroom Melt meal (Wendy's)
  
• Big Classic meal and extra Cheeseburger (Tropical Hut)
• Quarter Pounder with Cheese meal and extra Double Cheeseburger (Mc Donald's)
• Jolli-Hotdog meal and two extra Jolli-Hotdogs (Jollibee)
• One-Whole Chicken no rice (Max's)
• Two servings of Jerk Chicken (World Chicken)
• Random images of Steaks and Pork Chops

Ako, na hindi nagsusuklay ng buhok.  Hindi malaman kung saan ang hati...  Bago umalis ng bahay, nasa kaliwa...  Pag-baba sa jeep, mapupunta sa kanan...  Biglang humangin, malilipat sa gitna.  Usong style ba yung tikwas na buhok?

Ako, na isang fashion disaster.  Kapag binuksan ang closet...  Black T-Shirt, black T-Shirt, black T-Shirt!!!  Okey fine, meron din dark blue...  Pero diba parang black na rin yun?  May collared nga, di naman planchado.  Yung mga white, pinambabahay.  Puro na lang blue jeans!!!  Andumi-dumi pa ng rubber shoes.  White pa man din...

Ako, na tamad mag-aral.  Katulad ngayon, imbes na mag-aral para sa Midterms at gumawa ng Laboratory Exercise...  Tabulas ang inaatupag.  Kung hindi Tabs, DotA.  Kung hindi DotA, texting.  Kung hindi texting, makikinig ng MP3.  Kahit ano talaga makaiwas lang sa pag-aaral.

Ako, na mahilig sa anime.  Wala naman siguro masama dun.  Pero...  Kasi, ayaw na ayaw niya yung anime.  Di raw niya ma-gets kung bakit andaming mahilig dun...

Ako, na lagi na lang walang oras mag-ahit ng bigote at balbas.  Mukha tuloy sabog na engineering student at/o adik sa droga.

Ako, na laging may nalilimutan...  Hindi tumutupad sa pangako...  Puro na lang drowing, wala namang tinutuloy.

Ako, na nahihirapan kumuha ng signal sa bahay...  Hindi nag-rereply sa tamang oras at kung minsan wala pang sense kausap.

Marahil dala ng swerte, iginuhit ng tadhana, mabuting karma, kagustuhan ng lumikha, o kung ano pa ang gusto niyong itawag dito.  Nguni't nais kong malaman niyo...  Siya ang pinaka-magandang bagay na nangyari sa tanambuhay ko.

Mahal na mahal kita. 

You

You are entitled to this explanation.  As my girlfriend, you have the right to know what's been eating me up lately.

I've accidentally pieced together some things that you did and some knowledge you shared with me.  Like lightning, it came like a flash to shake my confidence.  And...  Even upto now I'm still trying to assess the damage it has done.

• You told me something like...  You believe in Sigmund Freud's theory or concept or whatever...  That slips of the tongue are more truthful than premeditated statements...  I dunno, something like that.  You also said something about jokes telling more than half-truths of what the person really feels...
• In our less than a month time together, you've already threatened me (jokingly or not) that you will leave me...  That you'll walk out from me...  That...  ...  And it happened more than once.
  

I interpret it as subconsciously, you want to break free.  Or you're just thinking of the right time to...  Snap!  You suddenly tell me you don't love me anymore and you're dumping me.

I feel highly expendable and disposable...  Same feeling I have more or less a month ago.

Usually, I don't entertain this kind of paranoia.  Well...  I guess the habit of rationalizing fears is a contagious habit. 

I'm still confused...  Eeeepsky.  Cripes.  Cripes.  Cripes.  Cripes.  Cripes.  Cripes.  Cripes.

I was giving my face a treat, massaging it with an apricot scrub.  It went on while I was organizing in my head the activities for the day and the days ahead.  I enjoyed it, because it was really minty and it somehow gave me a kind of alertness most people get from coffee. 

However, that same alertness made me realize that the scrub are missing (those little seed-like things that supposedly help clean your skin).  I looked at the product label and it really cracked me up.  It read: "Colgate Total 12: Clean Mint Flouride Toothpaste"

Ha ha ha!  At least I'm sure my face has "No Toothdecay!"  Ha ha ha!!!

Syempre nag-Tabs muna ako bago pumasok.  Ha ha ha!

This is one of those times I wish I have high-explosives strapped into my body.  Then I'll find a populated area, let's say Baclaran, Divisoria or Ever Gotesco (aka Jologsville) during the christmas sale, and...

BOOM!!! 

Feel my pain!  Wa ha ha!!!  Boom boom!  Ka-pow!  Boom boom boom!!!  Die!  Pain!  Die!  Boom boom!!!  Die with me!  Bwa ha ha ha ha!

Man, just thinking about it makes me wanna crap my pants.  Woo hoo!!!  He he he...

Thanks for my father for helping me fix the table.  You see, I am as afraid as using the power tools in the garage as he is as afraid using those techie gadgets of my sister.

Friends 

However, I made friends earlier with three power tools.  I'll introduce them to you one by one:

Power Drill - "Mr. Bosch" is a black power drill who likes drilling holes into concrete, wood and metal.  Earlier I witnessed how easily he can bore through the thick metal frame of the computer table -- tiny shards of which were blown into the air.  He is scary at first, especially when he's producing that horrible scream each time you press his trigger.  To top it off, if you held it wrong while he's boring a hole there is a chance that the drill bit (the removable part that determines how large the hole will be) will fly off and pierce a body part while still spinning at an incredible speed.

Jig Saw - "Jiggy" reminds me of the Jigsaw puzzle game.  All the while I thought Jigsaw was a person and the puzzle was named after him/her.  It was when I met her that I formed another theory.  Maybe the first Jigsaw puzzles were pieces of decorated wood boards sliced into irregular pieces by this tool.  You see, that's her special talent.  Unlike most power saws, Jiggy has a thin blade which enables her to slice small curves or irregular shapes into wood.  Just make sure that you secure her blade.  Don't worry, it won't fly off and hurt you.  The blade will just snap and, worse comes to worst, your father will scold you.  The special blade that could cut through metal is definitely more expensive than the one used to cut wood.

Power Grinder - "Mr. Black and Decker" loves to show off with pretty orange sparks made up of heated shards of metal.  I used him for those jagged little edges Jiggy left behind that could pose serious skin abrasions to those who make contact.  Although he produces minimal sound, he screams worse than Mr. Bosch when in contact with the metal.  Always make sure that you have protective eyewear when handling him.  Those pretty orange sparks might be the last thing you'll ever see.

Annoying Fun

While I was hammering at a piece of metal (ala Panday) to shape it in a certain way, I was singing a song over and over again.  I made the song up, taking the melody from a song that hit the charts about the time my father was courting my mother while changing the lyrics.

The original lyrics goes:

If I had a hammer
I'd hammer in the morning
I'd hammer in the evening ... all over this land,
I'd hammer out danger
I'd hammer out a warning
I'd hammer out love between all of my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

And I sang:

If I had a hammer
I'll hammer your head
I'll hammer your toes... I'll hammer your hand
I'll hammer your ribs
Until I break your bones
I'll hammer your father, mother, your brothers and sisters
Wooooh...

(Repeat) 

Ha ha ha!  And I already had a hammer in my hands pounding strongly on a piece of metal.  My father watched from a distance, looking quite worried.  Ha ha ha!  That was fun.