I cannot wait for this semester to end. The solitary thing that keeps me going, is the thought that only a little less than a month is left on the academic calendar. After that, bliss and eternal happiness. Not unless, of course, I flunk a subject or two. Oh, God. Please make the bad man stop.
This, by the way, is the heaviest, most loaded semester we ever had, and hopefully, ever will have for the rest of our stay at hell, both with respect to the number of courses and the number of units. As you can well surmise, I am trying to reassure, if not convince, myself that it's going to be relatively easier after this. Yeah. Who the fuck am I kidding?
We have discovered during the course of the semester that the number of units per subject don't mean shit. Two-unit subjects, in particular, are utterly misleading. We did not know, for instance, that they require four-hour exams. Where you really get to use the whole four hours. That is about as long as the entrance exam to the college. Without breaks.
The three unit subjects, on the other hand are something else. One has been expressly made to be a distance education course - we meet only a week before the exams, ala Open U, and the other has been a de facto holiday practically every single week. Yep. It's deja vu all over again.
* * *
On a lighter note, I was told that there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that James Yap begged off playing for Philippine team because Coach Chot Reyes has scheduled practice every Monday. So there.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Friday, February 23, 2007
Curriculum Vitae
I once shook hands with Eddie Vedder (Tibetan Freedom Concert, Alpine Valley, WI, 1999). I was once also a member of the Ten Club. I saw Star Wars Episodes I and III on opening day, and have an autographed copy of the Eraserheads' Natin99 album. I have written for the Youngblood column of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and covered the UAAP for the college paper.
I was able to watch live sporting events at America West Arena (Suns), Soldier Field (Bears), Sun Devil Stadium (Cardinals, Arizona State Sun Devils), United Center (Bulls), Ryan Field (Northwestern Wildcats), and Wrigley Field (Cubs). I have been to the following HRC locations: New York, Chicago, Phoenix, Dallas, Niagara Falls, Washington DC, San Francisco, Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Key West, Tijuana, San Juan (Puerto Rico), Atlanta, and needless to say, Makati.
I made my first strike on a bowling alley in Puerto Rico; I was robbed in Tijuana; and I was once sitting on the earth 90 miles off Cuba.
I have seen Les Mis at Broadway, Cats and The Who's Tommy at Chicago, and Pagsi's Sinta at Naga. In high school, I was once a member of the chorus of Ang Pagkamulat ni Fernan Bulastog.
Twice in my life I drove a car at 100 mph (160.93 kph): once when we drove from KC to to Iowa to see the Bridges of Madison County (on a Honda Accord), and another on a stretch of I-65 in Indiana on a long drive from Chicago to Atlanta (on a Honda Civic). I have never had a single ticket for a traffic violation, moving or otherwise, in my life.
My PE subjects in college were: Fitness Walking, Chess, Orienteering, and the required PE101 lecture class. I played, in chronological order, Double Dribble (NES), Lakers vs. Celtics and the NBA Playoffs (PC), and the NBA Live franchise (PS). I played real basketball in the dorm intramurals on my senior year, and played for two seasons in the alumni league (career averages: 0.7 ppg, 1.0 rpg). Virtually, no one - and I mean no one - can beat me at basketball. On a real court, I really suck.
The best job I ever had was teaching at a university 377 kms. south of Manila. The lowest paying job I ever had was teaching at a university 377 kms. south of Manila.
In my opinion, the best bargain in life is still Chinese buffet.
I was able to watch live sporting events at America West Arena (Suns), Soldier Field (Bears), Sun Devil Stadium (Cardinals, Arizona State Sun Devils), United Center (Bulls), Ryan Field (Northwestern Wildcats), and Wrigley Field (Cubs). I have been to the following HRC locations: New York, Chicago, Phoenix, Dallas, Niagara Falls, Washington DC, San Francisco, Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Key West, Tijuana, San Juan (Puerto Rico), Atlanta, and needless to say, Makati.
I made my first strike on a bowling alley in Puerto Rico; I was robbed in Tijuana; and I was once sitting on the earth 90 miles off Cuba.
I have seen Les Mis at Broadway, Cats and The Who's Tommy at Chicago, and Pagsi's Sinta at Naga. In high school, I was once a member of the chorus of Ang Pagkamulat ni Fernan Bulastog.
Twice in my life I drove a car at 100 mph (160.93 kph): once when we drove from KC to to Iowa to see the Bridges of Madison County (on a Honda Accord), and another on a stretch of I-65 in Indiana on a long drive from Chicago to Atlanta (on a Honda Civic). I have never had a single ticket for a traffic violation, moving or otherwise, in my life.
My PE subjects in college were: Fitness Walking, Chess, Orienteering, and the required PE101 lecture class. I played, in chronological order, Double Dribble (NES), Lakers vs. Celtics and the NBA Playoffs (PC), and the NBA Live franchise (PS). I played real basketball in the dorm intramurals on my senior year, and played for two seasons in the alumni league (career averages: 0.7 ppg, 1.0 rpg). Virtually, no one - and I mean no one - can beat me at basketball. On a real court, I really suck.
The best job I ever had was teaching at a university 377 kms. south of Manila. The lowest paying job I ever had was teaching at a university 377 kms. south of Manila.
In my opinion, the best bargain in life is still Chinese buffet.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Cardiology, or Valentine's Day Redux
The faculty manual, officially, strongly discouraged me from proceeding with the course of action that I was about to take. Well, obviously I didn't care.
Admittedly, it helped that you were past the age of majority, you already had a college degree, the summer term was over, the dean was a dormmate, a batchmate and a friend, and yep, I didn't care. In addition, the unconfirmed rumors that almost everybody else in the college did the exact same thing at some point before, did not make the decision any harder. I was also advised early on, that the Supreme Court has subscribed to the notion / truism that the heart has reasons of its own which reason does not know, and has held that “yielding to this gentle and universal emotion is not to be so casually equated with immorality” (Chua-Cua v. Clave GRN 49549 August 30, 1990). Yep. I had all my bases covered.
So almost six years after that rather fateful first day of summer, I remain humble and thankful for being truly blessed with someone to annoy, irritate, vex, and infuriate for every single day for the rest of her life. Knowing myself, it's either you really love me or you're a hopeless masochist. Needless to say, I am sincerely hoping it's the former.
I never really watched TV soap - unless, of course, they feature the great thespians Angel Locsin, Katrina Halili, or both - much less, TV soap from other countries. But, somehow, I have learned how to understand koreanovelas in spite of their horrible English (I think it's English) subtitles. If and when we become filthy rich someday, maybe we'll go see Jeju Island.
I apologize for being mentally absent sometimes. They say that law is a jealous mistress. Which is just a fancy way of saying that it is hell on relationships. I know that a part of you is wondering why I did not do this before, but if it makes you feel better, please believe me when I say that I wouldn't have lasted as long as I have now, if I did.
"...I give you my hand!
I give you my love, more precious than money,
I give you myself, before preaching or law;
Will you give me yourself, will you come travel with me?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?"
Admittedly, it helped that you were past the age of majority, you already had a college degree, the summer term was over, the dean was a dormmate, a batchmate and a friend, and yep, I didn't care. In addition, the unconfirmed rumors that almost everybody else in the college did the exact same thing at some point before, did not make the decision any harder. I was also advised early on, that the Supreme Court has subscribed to the notion / truism that the heart has reasons of its own which reason does not know, and has held that “yielding to this gentle and universal emotion is not to be so casually equated with immorality” (Chua-Cua v. Clave GRN 49549 August 30, 1990). Yep. I had all my bases covered.
So almost six years after that rather fateful first day of summer, I remain humble and thankful for being truly blessed with someone to annoy, irritate, vex, and infuriate for every single day for the rest of her life. Knowing myself, it's either you really love me or you're a hopeless masochist. Needless to say, I am sincerely hoping it's the former.
I never really watched TV soap - unless, of course, they feature the great thespians Angel Locsin, Katrina Halili, or both - much less, TV soap from other countries. But, somehow, I have learned how to understand koreanovelas in spite of their horrible English (I think it's English) subtitles. If and when we become filthy rich someday, maybe we'll go see Jeju Island.
I apologize for being mentally absent sometimes. They say that law is a jealous mistress. Which is just a fancy way of saying that it is hell on relationships. I know that a part of you is wondering why I did not do this before, but if it makes you feel better, please believe me when I say that I wouldn't have lasted as long as I have now, if I did.
"...I give you my hand!
I give you my love, more precious than money,
I give you myself, before preaching or law;
Will you give me yourself, will you come travel with me?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?"
Monday, February 12, 2007
W.T.F.
Turns out that "TEAM" in Team Unity stands for something: Together Everyone Achieves More.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
What the flying fuck?! I guess some idiot happened to pick up his daughter's slumbook from grade school and decided that those old cheesy and tacky acronyms in the "dedication" section are cool. Or, more probably, he thought that they sum up well enough the level of maturity of the Filipino voter who he plans to screw within the next few months. Who the hell even dared to come up with that crap?
What's next? J.A.P.A.N. (Just Always Pray At Night)? I.T.A.L.Y. (I Trust and Love You)? H.O.L.L.A.N.D. (Hope Our Love Lasts and Never Dies)? Or maybe P.A.R.I.S. (Please Always Remember I’m Sincere)? Note: you can find these acronyms on the Internet. No, really. - d.
O.M.G.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
What the flying fuck?! I guess some idiot happened to pick up his daughter's slumbook from grade school and decided that those old cheesy and tacky acronyms in the "dedication" section are cool. Or, more probably, he thought that they sum up well enough the level of maturity of the Filipino voter who he plans to screw within the next few months. Who the hell even dared to come up with that crap?
What's next? J.A.P.A.N. (Just Always Pray At Night)? I.T.A.L.Y. (I Trust and Love You)? H.O.L.L.A.N.D. (Hope Our Love Lasts and Never Dies)? Or maybe P.A.R.I.S. (Please Always Remember I’m Sincere)? Note: you can find these acronyms on the Internet. No, really. - d.
O.M.G.
Monday, February 05, 2007
The Ninth Circle of Hell
The universe is conspiring.
After reading a pathetic 20 pages (target: 60 pages) of the narcolepsy-inducing textbook in Crimpro last Saturday, it is slowly becoming evident that independent self-learning probably is not best for me. Which is not to say that this is the first time we had a chance to try distance education in the college. We have done it before. With disastrous results.
The PBA is really bad for my Credit class. In a cardiac-finish Game 6 last night, Red Bull went past SMB to live another day and get one last shot at the final All-Filipino championship berth on Wednesday. (How come its not bad for my Torts class, you ask? You see, in Torts, we usually have waaaaaaaay plenty of time to prepare for class. If and when there's class, that is.) I barely finished the 30-something pages of commentary before the game, and ended up finishing a grand total of four assigned cases by 1 am. I was about to start on case no. 6 (at work, earlier today), before good news came down like manna from heaven.
So, basically, there are no classes for the whole week - except for the elective on Friday, with no new assigned cases, mind you - which gives me no reason whatsoever not to prepare for the old man on Saturday. It's really freaking me out, since most of it still doesn't make sense. Wish me luck.
Illegitimi non carborundum.
After reading a pathetic 20 pages (target: 60 pages) of the narcolepsy-inducing textbook in Crimpro last Saturday, it is slowly becoming evident that independent self-learning probably is not best for me. Which is not to say that this is the first time we had a chance to try distance education in the college. We have done it before. With disastrous results.
The PBA is really bad for my Credit class. In a cardiac-finish Game 6 last night, Red Bull went past SMB to live another day and get one last shot at the final All-Filipino championship berth on Wednesday. (How come its not bad for my Torts class, you ask? You see, in Torts, we usually have waaaaaaaay plenty of time to prepare for class. If and when there's class, that is.) I barely finished the 30-something pages of commentary before the game, and ended up finishing a grand total of four assigned cases by 1 am. I was about to start on case no. 6 (at work, earlier today), before good news came down like manna from heaven.
So, basically, there are no classes for the whole week - except for the elective on Friday, with no new assigned cases, mind you - which gives me no reason whatsoever not to prepare for the old man on Saturday. It's really freaking me out, since most of it still doesn't make sense. Wish me luck.
Illegitimi non carborundum.
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