a dream of johnny

I was in REM just now, before I woke up (of course, duh!). It seems strange because last night, I slept at around 7pm. Then when I woke up, it was 2 am. Then I don’t remember sleeping, but just being in the transition state of waking and sleeping. And then when I was wide awake, it was already 5.

Anyway, today’s dream is pretty farfetched. And really weird when you think about it. I’m still pretty much in disbelief. Well, here goes… I dreamt of Johnny Depp. Besides him, there were two other people there named Brandon and Cale. All of them are people I know by name and face (of course Johnny has his filmography) but I haven’t actually talked to them. How weird was that? Even weirder would be the setting. And another thing, I believe Joe deV was also there. O diba? Oh yeah, a certain Julius was also there. He attended the same high school as I did, only he was in the batch lower than I was. So those were all the people I know in that wildly inane dream. Everybody else – and there were plenty of people there – was just an extra, just like I was in the movie that I believe Johnny was shooting. I didn’t see any cameras, the only thing I saw was Johnny, attired as Sweeney Todd. I was probably some sort of slave girl dressed in some Indian (the Asian ones) attire. I was doing something on the roof of some building when Johnny came up the stairs, but I was only seeing the lower part of his body, and before he came out into full view, I had the feeling that all I am was absorbed into contemplating his presence, waiting for him to show himself completely. I was no longer in character the moment I saw his steps. I was probably star-struck, and though my master, who was situated in some mini-control booth on the roof, was about to be slain in the movie, I think all I ever showed in my face was, would you call it delight and/or longing (a longing to be near Johnny, hehe)? Anyway, I haven’t watched Sweeney, so I guess that’s why the characters there were swinging swords and all the other members of the cast were attired ala Pirates. So he came and slain my master (though I was not able to see this scene) and he went back down. So that was my part in the movie. When I went down, it was a sort of gymnasium, the usual ones you see in municipalities or towns, well at least, in my experience. And there was some sort of face off between Johnny and Brandon with a circle of small children brandishing makeshift arrows and spears (made of paper!). The two were trying to kill each other, and I was just behind the children on one part of the circle. And when I think about it now, it’s quite funny because they were trying to kill each other by flinging their swords as if they were spears. And those were made of material so that when you are standing on the circumference of the circle opposite the other, the sword could actually reach your opponent. They went at it for quite awhile. Then somehow, one of the swords flew in my direction and Brandon (who, incidentally was in blue long sleeves) had to signal to me to move away. The kids were also attacking those opposite them. And then Johnny was beside me asking me if I knew how to use one of the paper arrows. He gave me one, and he was sort of demonstrating how it was used, with regards to the arm being stretched and where to place the quiver. And up close, his hair seemed really curly. And I’m not sure if after that, he was still interested in killing the character played by Brandon.

Next thing I knew, the shooting was done. I was sitting with many other people in the gym. Cale and Julius were there. Cale was teasing one of the female extras whom he met earlier during the day. Somehow, the fact that Cale and Julius were siblings was established. And then that was it. I think Joe deV figured in the beginning by giving a speech or some sort of mini-lecture. And we were like bored out of our minds when it went on for longer than he should have.

So what would be a fitting ending to this post? I think I’ll just end it right here.

l'étude dans Europe

Reading the guide for international students in Germany got me excited. I wanted to go there and experience the student atmosphere right away. The number of festivals, musicals, operas, open air cinemas, flea markets, football fans, bread, winter sports and races that they have actually had me clamoring for a student visa and flight straight to Deutschland right now. Ah… if only.

I got the guide from the recent European Higher Educational Fair held in the Makati Shangri-La during the weekend. In the pre-registration form, I was asked to rank 3 countries where I would be interested in studying. I put Spain first because foremost, the Castilian language is similar to our very own Filipino; therefore, studying it wouldn’t require as much effort as when you would study French or German. The second compelling reason is because of its great football with many international players opting to play there. Sabi nga ni kuya Pat, Spanish football is all about strategy and you would need lots of them to be able to make a good team. And I can’t possibly pass up a chance to see some of them famous players live in the Primera Liga, no? The second country I placed was Germany. Because of the 2006 World Cup and their extensive promotion, Germany seemed like a really interesting country with interesting people. And, they also have the relatively well-known Bundesliga. There goes the football connection again. Well, I don’t think European country could possibly be separated from football. So yeah, that’s a second compelling reason to go study in Germany. And I think learning German would be interesting. For the last, I placed the UK, because if I’ve no time to learn a foreign language, I would be sticking to the only other language I know which would be English. So there’s UK. And besides, they also got great football there with the English Premier League. A runner-up would’ve been Italy. I was thinking whether I should put it, because I was planning to take up Italian during my last sem, and their interesting cuisine of pizza, pasta, breads and wine. Add in their distinguished defensive play against all the other teams in the World Cup and the Italian Serie A with Kaka among its more famous personalities and there, another compelling reason to go study in the boot-shaped country. However, there seems to be some political instability with the resignation of the premier (or was that prime minister) recently, and well, I don’t think it would be very good. I also didn’t consider France because of reasons in the same thread, like the student protests conducted in Paris for some months, I think. Well, the speakers at the fair changed my mind. I only got to watch the presentations by France and Spain. I missed out on Germany because it was the same time as Spain. UK was later in the day and Alessa and I joined her sister and her friends at Max Brenner’s in Greenbelt.

France seems a very ideal place to study because of the very low tuition rates. This due to the fact that the French government allots ¼ of its budget to education, so a year in the undergraduate would cost as low as 300 euros. Compare a four-year baccalaureate here (around 14,000 euros – the basis was P60,000 a sem) with a two-year masters degree in France which is about 8,000 euros and you’d find that studying in France is as good as studying here. Living expenses are also quite cheap. And foreign students have the same rights as French students so you can work as well. Yeah, France is so tempting.

The presentation by the Spanish delegation only informed us time and again that learning Spanish is very easy for Filipinos, and that we could easily pass the beginner’s exam. For the intermediate and superior levels, enrolling at the Instituto Cervantes would be an advantage. Compared to France, their tuition fee is slightly more expensive at 600 euros. On the other side of the room, I thought I heard those sitting in the Germany presentation laughing. I wish I was able to sit in there. Germany’s education system I only learned from the pamphlets I gathered. They even have university for the applied sciences where the tuition fee is free because of the free education rule in that state. You only have to pay for some student services which is as much as 54 euros. How’s that for cheap? But that’s for the applied sciences. I’m not sure I want to venture more into it. But Spain has its charms. Barcelona, Madrid… I think Zafon’s Shadow of the Wind contributed to the country’s appeal for me. Ye should read it too.

Well, it’s nice to think about other things when you’re stressed. Something for me to chew on as I think of my future, since it’s practically nonexistent as of the moment.

me an orange

You Are an Orange

You have a zest for life, especially for anything colorful, wild, or dramatic. You have a unique take on the world, and you're not afraid to be a little funky. You are a bit reserved toward people who don't know you well. You have a thick skin, which can protect you from anything that goes wrong in your life. Once someone does get to know you, they totally get and appreciate you. Your friends see you as a bright person with a refreshing take on life.

What Type of Fruit Are You?

...

certain recent events, or the knowledge brought me by those events, have caused me to feel let down, or something of that sort.. like i was just existing the whole time. like i'm not using my head enough, when i and the human race have resolved to call anybody of the homo sapiens as a thinking being.

i'm now lapsing into a depressive mood. this is not good.

Elated. Excited. Relieved. [mahaba lang talaga akong mag-blog minsan, gaya nito]

January 31, 2008, 10:40 pm

I feel elated. Glad is an understatement, happy kind of requires something more than what I’m feeling right now so I’ll use elated. I felt like jumping, shouting, reaching for the sky some minutes ago while I was doing my laundry – and thoughts and some of the words you’ll read here are streaming from my head just as I was imagining things.

Yes, after a hiatus from blogging and any sort of personal writing in general, I’m back. And well, I can’t say there’s a better time to start blogging again. Now on to the main thought. All these things I’m feeling stem from my experience just tonight with blockmates Ariel and Imang. We won!

Hehe. We won 2^nd place in the Stat-en-ek-ek quiz show organized by UP StatSoc. Besides 6 bottles of Nestea Apple, we also received P2,000 in cash. Thank goodness. Quiz shows in UP are a good way to get some dough when you’re in need. It’s just that you’re not the only one and you have to battle it out with a number of other hopefuls, and hopefully, snag the prize.

From some 60 or so teams, we made it to the top of the 15 to get through the elimination, and, with a bit of luck in the questions thrown our way, we managed to score in the difficult round to go to the tiebreaking round which we won, thanks to the question chosen by the quizmasters.

We made it since we had Ariel. He knew almost or was that every question asked about UP. I salute you for being able to scan through all the pages of a newspaper and read through each and every issue. I know I should be doing that but when I read, it takes me a long time because there are a lot of articles which get my attention, so I feel that when I read, I’ve wasted a lot of time since I haven’t read much of the current news which are more important. And besides being able to read them all, he also gets to remember them. Wow, astig! Ang galling mo Ariel!

The trend was almost the same during the elimination and the final round, except that we didn’t emerge on top to be able to bring home the P4,000 but P2,000 is alright. At least I have just the amount to pay for the last installment of the yearbook tomorrow to Deb (o Deb, starring ka pa dito hehe). During the first round of the elimination, we didn’t score as well, managing only 7 out of 15 possible correct answers with each question worth 5 points. It was the questions in the second round that propelled us through the top of the rankings, although we only got 7 out of 15 correct, each was worth 10 points and not many of the other teams were able to answer. By the way, we’re Team Yap (Ariel’s doing). He’s always the one who chose our team names whenever we join quiz shows, which may make you wonder how many times we’ve joined already. If you’re not, let me just state that for the record, this is our fifth quiz show together. The first one was the 1^st ICUP Whiz Quiz last year, during their 50^th year. That was when our partnership started and we brought home the 1^st place with an accompanying P3,000. And this was the first time I ever joined quiz shows in UP. The second was in Cliptomania with Epay where we made it to the final around but didn’t make it to the top 3. Next was in CORE’s quiz show where we were not able to get past the elims, and the latest one before tonight was in ICUP’s 2^nd Whiz Quiz last week.

And may I add that besides the prize money, I have another source of elation from the events that happened tonight. I found a new crush. Hehe… Some engineering guy who expressed, um, his could I say admiration for us? Well, he did say “Ang galing n’yo” after saying that we topped the eliminations. Wihee…

Hay… And there’s a smile on my face while I’m typing this. Waah! I’m so thankful. Thanks Imang and Ariel and also to the otherworldly forces at work. Now I will remember the motto of the Olympics, which I first encountered during the first ICUP quiz but wasn’t able to answer. It’s “Citius. Altius. Fortius.” Or in English, “Faster. Higher. Stronger.” Is that right? I feel like I’ve mixed up the Latin words with their English equivalents. And the question about the fair coin seems kind of familiar, like I’ve heard it before, now that I think about it. And I thought the question about Anne Hathaway is showbiz-related. I was thinking, “Did she star in a lot of period movies?” But when I heard the choice that she’s the wife of Shakespeare, everything else clicked into place. It’s also a good thing that I’m from Pangasinan and my mom’s house was just beside the PANTRANCO terminal so I knew what it meant, although I don’t recall how I came to know about it.

Wow, I’m such a blabbermouth tonight.

Idadagdag ko lang na hindi ganun kadalian ang mga tanong. Kung detalye lang ang pag-uusapan, kailangan alam na alam mo ang lahat, hindi lang iyong pangunahing detalye tungkol sa nabasa mo (nag-Tatagalog ako. Naalala ko tuloy iyong haraya, Tagalog (o Pilipino?) ng imagination. Ang galing mo talaga Ariel!). Gaya ng buwan ng kapanganakan ng 97-year-old lang pala na alumnus ng UP na torchbearer nung Centennial celebrations. O iyong cell ID ng last cell sa rightmost corner na makikita pag wala pang data na nakapasok sa MS Excel 2003. Which sa case ng Excel 2007 ay XFD 1048575 (siyempre, kailangan talaga alamin). Mas madami na siya ngaun kumpara sa Office 2003 na hanggang IV lang ang inabot tapos mga 10 thousand lang iyong highest place value. O ano iyong parating ibinibigay ni Alice Longbottom sa kanyang anak tuwing binibisita siya nito. Ang naalala ko lang ay wrapper iyon ng kung alin, pero ang tamang sagot ay bubblegum wrapper. O magdadalawang pahina na tong sinusulat ko sa MS Word. Moving on.

Basta masasabi ko lang, salamat para sa araw na to. Iba pa sa pagkapanalo namin, naipresenta ko na rin ang aking thesis proposal – one hurdle overcome para sa FS199, na kahit di sa ganung kaayos na anyo (bilang may ubo at sipon ako, at nung nagsasalita ako ay may plema na hindi naman lumalabas) ay natapos din. And in record time of 7 minutes ayon kay Kurt. Ewan ko lang kung may tumalo nun nung afternoon session, na di ko na pinasukan dahil natulog nalang ako. Por dat, tapos na ang pagpupuyat para sa proposal at kung anu-ano pang kailangang i-type. Ilang araw na rin akong puyat ha. Medyo matitigil na rin ako sa pagpapa-photocopy ng kung anu-anong journal articles. Hay. Ang saya. Kailangan ko nalang linisin pa iyong konsepto. Konting pagbabasa pa. Tapos kailangan nang simulan ang preliminary study. Wah, thesis na ito. Pero bago pa iyon, may panahon na akong gawin ang iba pang mga bagay na naudlot dahil sa napipintong pagpriprisinta na ngayon ay tapos na. For instance, futbol. Na-miss ko to. Last training ko ay Wednesday, at nung weekend na nasa bahay ako sa Pangasinan, ang kaharap ko lang ay iyong mga journal articles. Tapos matatapos ko na ring basahin ang Anna Karenina (sana ha, ang kapal kasi, tapos mahigit isang linggo nang overdue pero ayaw ko munang pakawalan). Mababasa ko na rin yong mga nais kong basahin sa Kas2. Tapos kailangan ko na ring simulang aralin ang mga talakayan naming sa physics72, na kahit gaano ko masugid na pakinggan ang pagtuturo ng guro, hindi ko pa rin mai-konek sa isa’t-isa ang mga konsepto upang makasagot ng isang problema. Frustrating talaga. Kailangan ko ng tutor, isang taong kayang ipa-realize sa akin ang essence ng electric field, flux, magnetic field, flux, Kirchoff’s junction loop, mutual inductance at kung anu-ano pa, at bakit at paano sila related sa isa’t-isa at kung paano mag-isip kapag magso-solve ng isang physics problem. Nalalapit na ang pangalawang pagsusulit. At mukhang hindi ganun kaganda ang resulta ng unang pagsusulit ko. Reporting na rin pala sa Kas2 so kailangan bibo ever. At interesting ever. Bilang mga bata ang karamihan sa mga kaklase ko (feeling ko ako lang iyong matanda dun, meaning 3^rd year or older), mas mag-eenjoy sila sa isang masaya at magaling na presentasyon. Na hindi ko naman talaga naranasan ever dahil di naman ako usually ganun ka-creative. O pangatlong pahina na to. Na-eexcite tuloy ako sa mga mangyayari. Except sa physics exam. Thesis shoot na ni Dood Joyce nitong weekend. Continuity ako. Na parang ayoko nang ulitin bilang crew sa isang produksyon. Pero dahil wala naman akong silbi sa ibang aspeto ng produksyon bilang di naman ako film major at wala rin akong gaanong karanasan sa pagshu-shoot dahil ma-teknikal din ito lalo na sa lighting, gagawin ko na ito. Sana lang hindi ako makatulog habang nagshu-shoot upang walang laktaw sa dope sheet na kailangan sa editing. Patawad na lang kung makatulog ako.

Matagal ko na ring gustong mag-jam. Paging alessa, sally, tracey… Si Alessa tutugtog na kasi sa Fair. Astig! Sama-sama lang ako sa jam, kung pwede hehe.. kung kaya ng skills ko ang mga kagalingan na ipapamalas nyo.

Bilang isang napakahabang blog entry, ayaw ko paring tumigil habang nasa mood pa ako. Kahit wala pang ibang ideas. Kasi pag nawala ako sa mood, at wala na akong maisip, tingin ko matagal pa uli bago ako makapagsulat. Na-mimiss ko na ang ganito. Gaya ng pagka-miss ko sa Coffee Prince.

Oo, nanonood na rin ako nito. Una ko siyang napanood sa Crunchyroll, bilang sinusubaybayan ko ang Japanese series starring Jun Matsumoto na Bambino na tungkol sa isang wannabe chef from the countryside na nag-training sandali sa Tokyo. Tapos iyong Coffee Prince episode 7 ay andun sa mga listahan ng links so ki-nlick ko siya. At ayun, na-introduce ako kay Gao Encan at ang isa pa nyang goodlooking coworker sa shop ni guy. Bale Intsik kasi iyong pagkaka-dub so iba iyong pagkakakilala ko. Hanggang episode 8 iyong napanood kong Chinese-dubbed. Tapos sa rekomendasyon ni Kirsten, nagpunta akong mysoju.com kagabi, kung kalian dapat ay naghahanda ako para sa presentasyon ng thesis proposal pero nauwi sa panonood (isang oras pa naman iyon) pero blessing pa rin kasi natanggap ko rin iyong comments ni Mam Djanna sa powerpoint presentation ko para kanina. Dun sa mysoju.com, Korean-dubbed naman so ayun, nakilala ko si Han Soo Joo (siya lang kasi iyong maalala kong pangalan) at si Han Suk Kyul (ito si Arthur(?) sa Filipino-dubbed Coffee Prince). At bilang unang episode, nagalingan ako sa kanya kasi naipakita niya lahat nung mga importanteng tauhan at kung paano sila naging related sa isa’t-isa sila. Medyo astig-astigin pa iyong asta dun sa opening scene dahil meals delivery girl si dating Princess sa Princess Hours tapos coupled with the pseudo-bad ass shots while riding her motorbike, e you get the sense na she’s not like your typical character. And she’s not. Parang ang bilis lang ng development ng pagkakagusto ni Coffee Prince sa kanya dahil by episode 7 ay tsinatsansingan na niya ito nung ito’y nakatulog, at nung episode 8 ay niyakap na niyia ito sa pagnanais na matahimik ang kanyang nababagabag na loob, na hindi naman natahimik. Ayan, na-eexcite tuloy ako. Pati ang katuluyan ng Bambino at Gensomaden Saiyuki. Waah! Puro gastos itey. (Woah, pang-apat na pahina na ito).

Sana mapanood ko rin ang Sweeney Todd. Napalampas ko na ang Transformers, The Simpsons at Stardust sa big screen. Sana wag ito. Tsaka gusto kong mabasa ang Atonement ni Ian McEwan. Meron na b a nito dito sa Pinas? Kung may nagtitiyaga pang magbasa nito, pwede bang i-bertdey gift mo nalang sa akin? Sa Marso pa naman e. May isang buwan pa para pwedeng mag-ipon.

Hmmm. Sige, ititigil ko na dito. Kailangan ko nang matulog (pagkatapos maligo) dahil may klase pa bukas ng alas-siyete. Tapos training sa Sunken (na bagong araro) tapos futsal afterwards. Am excited. I love this life!

(bale natapos akong mag-type nito ng alas-dose nwebe ng unang araw ng Pebrero taong dalawang libo’t walo). J