The Kiss

Our class watched the school play "Kung paano ko pinatay si Diana Ross", we were actually required to do so since our World Literature class asked us to do a reaction paper. The plot is all about a closet gay [Surprise! actually a lot of plays I have seen here in my school always has a gay theme] and "Diana Ross" is the "alter ego" or the gay side that Andy [the lead] is hiding all his life. Honestly, the story was good and the screenplay was fantastic. But one thing that I did really likie, it had kissing scene between two men. And it is not just a simple kiss, it was a long, torrid kissing. Okay, you might think that I'm fickleminded but I just want you to know that I have nothing against homosexuals. I agree that there is nothing wrong or sinful about being such. I don't want to be judgemental yet I don't want to be a hypocrite. I'm not really comfortable with seeing a kiss between two individuals of the same gender. But I know the kiss was necesarry for the story and I salute the actors for being brave to do that since I know they are aware that people might give negative feedbacks.

Challenges

This second semester will surely be a challenging one. First, we have our three major subjects already. I'm glad that the professors of these subjects are really good. I've heard from the third year students that when they took these subjects last year the teachers they had were not really good, I was really worried that we will have the same ones too.. Thank God that was not the case... Ms. Carillo of Introduction to Journalism is no non sense teacher while Mr.Umali of Intoduction to Broadcasting will surely put out skills to its best... To be honest I'm worried that I will not perform well with this subjects but I'm excited as well since this is it, the subjects that will make or break us [our class].

***

During HF's midyear seminar workshop, I was promoted from being an apprentice to junior staff. I was so happy that the Editorial Board appreciated for the work that I have done. But I was also sad that some of my batchmates [and good friends as well] did not get promoted. I know they felt sad because if I will feel the same way too if I were in their shoes. Being promoted means more challenges in fact for the fourth edition of HF I have 6 assignments one of which is the banner story. Also, I'm also a trainee of our Office and Circulations manager, so I'm trying my best not to disappoint her. Two days ago, I had my first experience with circulating the the third issue of HF. It was one tiring task but at the same time fulfilling. Being part of HF, mushy as it may sounds, is one the best things that happened in my life.

Holiday Hassles

Second semester started last Monday, well, for some I guess. Because of the week long holiday DLSU-D had last week it had affected the enrollment schedule of some students (Good thing my schedule was not affected). Thus resulting to a pandemonium since lots of students (mostly freshmen) lined up to enroll. I felt sorry for the students who have to endure severe inconvenience since the lines were really loooooooong. And that line is for one process only. Some said to me that they finished the procedure late afternoon and some were not able to finish it. That's why I dont like too many holidays, some of the work that needs to be done were not accomplished. It's okay to relax and unwind but we must not overdo it.

Journalism… from the experts themselves.

The Inkblots 2005 is seminar/workshop attended by different student publications from all over The Philippines. The event, also known as the National Journalism Fellowship, is organized by University of Santo Tomas’ official student publication “The Varsitarian”. Held in Thomas Aquinas Research Complex and Beato Angelico Building, University of Santo Tomas from October 17-19, 2005, The seminar/workshop is a three-day series of lectures on news writing, features writing, culture and lifestyle writing, cartooning, broadcast journalism, campus paper management among others. I and staffers Patricia Aurora Cruz, German John Sipin and Associate Editor Mary Claire Mercado represented Heraldo Filipino, the official student publication of De La Salle University- Dasmariñas. Mr. Christopher Gabriel, Student Publications Director of DLSU-D, attended the event also.

The first day was held at the Thomas Aquinas Research Complex. It was started by Charie Villa, a former Reuters correspondent who is now part of ABS CBN. She relayed her experiences on being a journalist for more than a decade. After the keynote speech it was followed by lectures on Investigative Journalism by Sheila Coronel of Philippine Center on Investigative Journalism [PCIJ], Filipino literature by Michael Coroza and Culture and Lifestyle writing Ruel De Vera, a Philippine Daily Inquirer writer. The lectures were very informative and the speakers entertained questions from the audience. Mr. Coroza and Mr. De Vera livened up the discussion with their sense of humor. The lectures ended around 6 PM after that an opening cocktails followed however, the Heraldo Filipino team did not attend due to time constraint.

On the second day, the seminar was moved to the Beato Angelico Building. Two lectures were delivered on that morning first was News writing conducted by another Inquirer writer, Luige Del Puerto followed by Features writing conducted by Mr. Nestor Cuartero, entertainment editor of Tempo and feature writer of Manila Bulletin. The latter conducted a “mock” press conference to test the participants’ skill on writing. The “mock” press conference featured Champ, the lead vocalist of the popular band Hale. Several participants (mostly girls) lined up to ask questions to Champ. However a lot of time was consumed for that activity since the participants also asked for an autograph and to take their picture with Champ. When the speaker noticed that he is running out of time he announced that they will not entertain “questions and requests” for Champ anymore. He then asked the participants to write a lead for an article that will talk about the aforementioned activity. His comments on our pieces was that it was more of a “news lead” rather than a “features lead” but staffer Patricia Cruz was commended for her lead since it was creatively written and not stiff. On the afternoon session of the seminar, there were four parallel sessions lined up namely Photojournalism by Ernie Sarmiento, Cartooning by Rene Aranda of The Philippine Star, Column writing by Rina Jimenez David and Broadcast Journalism by Arnold Clavio of GMA 7. However, we were not able to attend all of the sessions since we were asked to choose only one session since all four sessions will be done simultaneously. The HF team picked cartooning by Rene Aranda. Aranda discussed that what is important in drawing an editorial cartoon is the concept. He also cleared that sometimes not all he draws is exactly the same way he felt. He said that it is the paper’s stand and not his personal conviction. After his discussion he asked the delegates to make an editorial cartoon base on the topic Calibrated Pre-emptive Response. Later on he selected the three best editorial cartoons and fortunately two members of the Heraldo Filipino made the cut, yours truly garnered third place and German placed second. Aranda commended my concept despite the lack of artistic style and he liked the sarcasm of Sipin’s work [He referred the hosing down of the rallyists as “patubig ni Gloria”]. After the parallel session we went home.

The third and final day of Inkblots started with a Plenary Session with Christian Esguerra, former Editor in Chief of ‘The Varsitarian” and currently working with The Philippine Daily Inquirer. He discussed Campus Paper Management; he was an effective speaker since he really knows what he is talking about and is experienced with the topic. He also gave advice to the student publications that are having conflicts with their school administration. After that session was the lecture on Sports writing with seasoned sports analyst Quinito Henson. He also conducted a “mock” press conference, the guests were coach Ryan Gregorio, rookie Jondan Salvador and veteran Richard Yee coming from Purefoods, a team from the Philippine Basketball Association [PBA]. This time several guys lined up to have their chance to ask questions to the three. After that Mr. Henson asked the participants to write an article about the press conference. He picked top five articles and unfortunately no one from HF made the list. The winners were awarded with Chunkee corned beef gift packs. The next lecture was about Journalism Ethics delivered by Marites Vitug, publisher and editor in chief of Newsbreak. The last activity was a Panel discussion and open forum with the topic on the dangers of being a journalist. Panelists include Alice Colet Villaloid, a former New York Times correspondent, Jiggy Manicad, a GMA 7 reporter and Glenda Gloria, managing editor of Newsbreak. It was enriching activity since the speakers gave out sensible answers to the questions raised by the respondents. However Ms. Villaloid talks so much that she took a lot of time when she answers questions which sometimes bores the delegates. To cap off the night and the whole seminar as well the organizers conducted a Fellowship night where the different student publications are expected to mingle and share experiences. But due to the fact that we live in a far place and it’s not really practical to stay that late we decided not to attend the said activity.

Inkblots 2005 is one of the best conferences, campus journalists could be a part of. This is where student writers learn from the people who know well how powerful the media is. It inspires the student scribes to further hone their talent because we after all are destined to be at the forefront of the media industry in the future.

Recap

I had my last exam today [Philippine Constitution] and I have submitted my final paper [Introduction to Communcation Theory].

Now I have no more academic worries..... woohooo!!!

To sum up the past months of my life, let me share to you some of this semester's higlights:

• Of course, My big achievement for this semester is being a part of Heraldo Filipino[HF]. I learned a lot during my 3 month stay so far. I have met a lot of people, from our editors to my fellow staff to the different people I have interviewed. I have learned how to overcome some of my inhibitions and work professionally. Plus, I finally put to practice what I love doing, writing. I'm not a "good" journalist yet but I know I will be someday. Seeing my articles for the first on print is something that I will cherish for a long time.
• The subjects this semester are more interesting than what I have taken up the previous semesters. I obtained better grades [I have gotten my first grade of 4.00, the highest grade in my school,for my REED class]. I hope to be a Dean's lister but I'm not holding my breath. The most memorable subject will be Art Appreciation, where my leadership skills was tested as I have been designated as Assistant Producer for our theater play. Fortunately, the turn out was a success.
• The population of my class,JOU21, went down. Some shifted to another course, some have to stop because of financial difficulties while others just vanished without a trace.But also this semester we welcome shiftees and a transferee namely Gerard,Daryl and Jennifer. We also had a classmate who is part of our block but she only have one class with us, Pauline. And I must that girl is smart, she was the one who had the initial idea of doing the [award winning] story of "Sayaw sa Dilim" that we performed.
• I joined La Sallian Speech Club but I'm disappointed since I did not really enjoy being part of it. I guess I had high expectations. It was the same feeling I felt with Friends of the Library[FL] last year. Speaking of FL, I was the Vice President of that club for a month but I have to resign since HF has this policy that the staff are prohibited to be officers of any student organizations since it might cause a conflict of interest. I must say FL is a better club compared last year, I'm so proud with the current officers.

Another chapter of my college journey comes to an end. I'm looking forward for more "adventures" for the coming semesters.

And the award goes to...

Broadcast Journalism 2-1!

Our class won the Best Play in our Art Appreciation class. We bested out 5 other classes. We also won Best Actress and Best Screenplay. Actually we did not receive trophy, plaque or anything; just a simple "Certificate of Participation".Don't get me wrong I'm not being maarte, I'm okay with a certificate but it would have been nice if they have given us certificate of recognition rather than a certificate of participation. Anyways, The fact that we won is aready one big achievement. All the hardwork paid off. My classmates we're cooperative even the irregular students also help to make our play a success [oh... there is one who did not help but she rarely attends class] I salute all of them, the actors and the production people. Compared to our [horrendous] performance in Buwan ng Wika last year, this production prove that our class could do great when it comes to class presentations. As the assistant producer, I'm really proud that everything went smoothly. I just hope this will continue until we reach our major subjects wherein we need to really work hard because as I have observed with the upperclassmen, the productions they do are really difficult and delicate.

More Power to Broadcast Journalism Batch 4!

Moments

....of Embarassment

Yesterday, we had our Foreign Dance Competition. As expected my group, "The Yellow Earth" dance from China made a big mess. The boys of our class were combined with Management and Marketing students and all of us did bad on our performance. Our timing sucks, we our not in unison, some forgot the steps, in short it was a nightmare! Plus our drums that we paid for 450 pesos was a joke, the drums were obviously rushed and it really looks awful. We felt cheated. One the hosts for that program was annoying, he keeps cracking up lame jokes that only he finds funny. The girls of our class who were merged with Psychology students did fine. They performed Japanese Parasol. I did not finish the program becasue I know we will not win anyway an I'm really exhausted both physically and mentally. I'm glad that this thing is over.

....of Pride

After that unforgettable experience, I went to HF's office and I was informed that the second issue of HF will be circulated today. I was excited since this is my "official debut" as student scribe. When I first hold a copy of HF2 I immediately search for my articles, two of my articles are at the front page. I felt an overwelming feeling of joy. After three months on working on my articles, I finally see it on print. Maybe to some it may sound corny and mushy but as you know this is my first time to write for a school paper and ever since I was a child I have always dream of it. Finally it happened and I'm so glad. It's worth the wait.

Flaws

I am disappointed.

I cant seem to do things as I hope for. Yesterday, I had my speech for my Speech and Oral communication class and I failed to deliver it well. Although I did not hear a feedback from my professor I just know that I will not get the grade I want. Sometimes there are stuff that dont need to be verbalize for me to get the message. I messed it up. My topic was not that interesting plus I delivered it bad. I mis pronounced words, I have poor diction plus I was really conscious on forgetting that I glance constantly on my piece which is so wrong since it will really look that I am just reading my piece rather than speaking it from the heart. That was my problem, I did not spoke from the heart. I just talk and read the words. I was impressed with my classmate Nelly who gave a good speech. Her was speech was moving, she was honest and sincere, qualities that I lack. Delivering a speech is not just using deep words or voice projection but really having the knowledge on what you are talking about. The speech may have a nice content but if the speaker is like machine operated who just throw out words the speech will not be effective. Lastly, the reason for the speech must be to express and not to impress.

Another lesson learned.

Leash

Today, my brother finally ends his "hiatus". He graduated from college about two years ago but he did not work nor to attempt to have one. It's not that he do not want to but there were reasons why he was unemployed for the past years. My brother is not confident that he has the skills to handle a job. I can't blame he graduated from a school where he was not trained that well to face the real world. Plus my parents seems to like that he stays home. My brother helps my mother doing house chores. As for my father...well... he always like us,his children,to be "at home and safe from harm". Don't get me wrong, my father is a good person, he is hardworking and caring. But he has one BIG flaw, he is a worry rat and overprotective. He seems like he want us to be in his "leash" forever. I remember many "verbal sessions with voices that could match up a microphone's voulume" between my father and brothers everytime they went home past curfew [the curfew is 6 or 7pm at least or in some lucky time 8pm]. My father is always scared that my brothers might get get into danger when they are out at night. I appreciate his concern but he is already suffocating us. When the cellphone became popular I thought this might ease my father's constant feeling of worry since he could now contact his kids but I guess it became even worse. He sends SMS like every hour, and if you missed a call or text his nervous cell will work again and negative things will be running through his head. What's even worse is if you have a lowbat phone thus you could not response to him, he will be frantic. My father thinks that we are still young kids who could not take care of ourself.When he is not in his "worrying period" my father is a sweet guy. I just hope that someday he would loosen up and let us grow up. My brother started work today and since today is my father's day off he insisted on accompanying him there. My brother agreed on it to avoid complications. It's not a good sign.

Soon to be Stressed-out

My problem is that I procastinate. I tend to do things the last minute. I really get the energy to do stuff when the deadline is near. But I'm worried since the next few weeks will be h-e-c-t-i-c.
Practices for our chinese dance to be performed on September 30. Debates scheduled on the 27th. There is also my speech [date not known yet] andI'm the assitant producer for out play on October 7. Plus I have five articles for HF3 and the deadline is near and I haven't started anything mainly because I have to do two articles for HF2 that were originally assigned to somebody but they weren't able to do it. I have to rush it really. Now I'm scared if only this time that we are just taking minors and we are so busy, how much more if we take the major subjects? We will have three major subjects next sem: Introduction to Journalism, Introduction to Broadcasting and Laws of Mass Media. I just hope I could handle my academics and HF well since I don't want to give up the latter. And also still hoping that despite all these stuff occupying my time I could still have the time to do something for fun [In my case,watching TV]. For now, i better start working....or else.....

edited forwarded blog entry

courtesy of http://www.angelfire.com/ar3/ewan/

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY
1. jec
2.jay-kuh [my name is pronounced as je-kup but most people call me that way]
3.jiboy

THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU HAVE HAD
1.forg
2.ajb2091
3.gilmore guy

THREE THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF
1.my perserverance
2.being helpful
3.being simple

THREE THINGS YOU DON'T LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF
1.my penmanship
2.my speed of speaking
3. my hesitations

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU
1.snatchers,holduppers
2.cancer
3.rabies

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS
1.eyeglasses (I always wear it anyway)
2.wallet
3.cellphone

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW
1.pink shirt
2.maon
3.rubber shoes

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE MUSICAL ARTISTS
1.Lifehouse
2.Michelle Branch
3.Freestyle

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS (OF ALL TIME)
1.'Hanging by a moment'- Lifehouse
2.'Goodbye to you'-Michelle Branch
3. 'Before I let you go'-Freestyle

NEW THINGS YOU WANT TO TRY IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS
1. write for the sports/features sections of HF
2. photography
3. public speaking

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP
1.understanding
2.truth
3.love

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE (in no particular order)
1. I don't play any kind of sports
2.I can't be a vegetarian
3. I always study

THREE THINGS ABOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX THAT APPEAL TO YOU

1.sense of humor
2. good conversationalist
3. being caring

THREE THINGS YOU JUST CAN'T DO
1. smoke
2. drive
3. play sports

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES
1. Watching TV
2. reading
3.surfing the internet

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW
1. write my pending articles
2. buy a new book
3. watch TV

THREE CAREERS YOU'RE CONSIDERING
1.newpaper writer
2. scripwriter
3. teacher

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION TO
1.Baguio
2.Bohol
3. England

THREE WAYS I AM STEREOTYPICALLY A GIRL

1. I like romantic shows/movies
2. I'm physically weak
3. I like listening to mellow music

THREE WAYS I AM STEREOTYPICALLY A BOY

1. I hate shopping
2. I don't spend too much time in the CR
3. I don't care how I look

Legally Human

Today I turn 18. I'm now legally human. I'm not a "minor" anymore. But I don't feel 18, I feel like I'm still 15. [Hence,when I was 15 I still feel 12,well I guess I'm 3 years delayed] When I look in the mirror I don't see an eighteen year old. I feel that I'm not ready to grow up. In the States 18 is the time when some kids starts to be independent but I could never see myself in that situation. I guess at 18 I should be mature but I'm not. I'm still a kid but I'm now nearing the end of my "teenhood" phase of life but I can't see myself evolved to a young adult anytime soon. Maybe when I turned 21 I will feel 18.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I never celebrated my birthday with a party. I know some kids beg their parents to throw them a party but I did not feel that urge to ask my parents that. Actually for sometime they were encouraging me to have a birthday party but I decline. I just don't want to do it. I don't like experiencing the hassles of preparing food and other stuff and cleaning up. I just want to celebrate my birtday in a simple way. I also never treat my classmates, I'm not being selfish or what but the times are hard today I don't want to make any unnecessary expenses. Plus if they are real friends they don't have to pressure me to treat them.

Birthday wishes:

* No more asthma attacks [So far this I did not have any serious attack of asthma]
* Good grades [I hope that I and my class will do good on the activities fo the finals]
* Peaceful home[I just hope my family will not face big problems in the near future]
* Good economy [sounds traditional? but that is true I am really hoping for the best for the Philippines]
* Away from harm [like holduppers,snatchers,juvenile deliquents,dengue etc...]

113 days to go

Today I woke up at 4am to review for my midterm exams. My mother who wakes up early to do some early housechores was listening to the a radio program on AM radio and then this particular show started with a Christmas song then the announcer hollered "113 days to go before Christmas!". I was surprised since I did not notice that Christmas is coming already. When I was young once September 1 comes, I will start my Christmas countdown because I am so excited about it. But as years goes by I'm starting to forget my tradition since I don't "feel" Christmas anymore. Last year was the worst since I was not really happy during Christmas season. What's even worst is that there is no particular reason why I was feeling that way last year, I just felt nothing special. That's why sometimes I wish I am a kid again.

Smoke gets into my Nerves!

While in the jeep this morning something annoyed me.It's not the music nor the noisy DJ of Love Radio (kailangan pa bang i memorized yan, for pete's sake), it is not the traffic caused by people who are ignorant or lazy to cross in the right way nor the insensitivity of some passengers ("Hello Lady, someone just left the jeep could you move a little since I'm only sitting like a quarter of space") but the oh-so nice driver stop in the middle of the road to buy his precious cigarette and he smoked it till his lungs content. I hate smoke.Any kind of smoke wheter it came from burning leaves, from a vehicle or incense. But what really irritates me is smoke coming from cigarettes. This is something I could not fathom, Why do people smoke cigarettes?. Come on what are the benefits do cigarette bring us? And when I see cigarette ads there is this"government warning" that says cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health, if is really hazardous why show it in the first place? It is like saying buy this it could kill you. I do not want to lecture on how bad smoking cigarettes because this topic has been discussed a lot of times from our parents to school teachers to the media, people already know how dangerous it is but still they still continue it. Well I'm not telling people to stop smoking since it's their prerogative. Smoke until your lungs burn out but please DO NOT SMOKE IN PUBLIC PLACES because there are still people who cares about their lungs.

"Short" Stories

Another overdue update, You see the internet connection here in my school is malfunctioning. One time the connection is good then after a few minutes it will be gone again. Seeing "cannot find server" and "page cannot be displayed" on the screen annoys me. Well today the connection is okay but the question is for how long? Anyways here are my "short" stories about what's goin on with my life.

Heraldo Filipino

* The first issue of Heraldo Filipino will be released finally. It was way long overdue. It should have been released in July but HF experienced problems. Sometimes I feel that I'm a jinx coz why does this problem happened during the time I'm a part of HF?

*I will be part of the second issue of HF intially I have 3 articles but it went down to one.I wasn't able to interview bro.armin because of class conflicts. Then my article on economic crisis was moved to HF3 and the only article left is my story about the Dean's list. Oh well :(

*The news assignments for HF3 was released and I have 2 tasks: about SPO and Cavite Studies Center. Our news coordianator also assigned assignments to non-news staff. I felt sad since I know that our news coordinator is disappointed since we (the news staff) are so slow on our assignments.

*There will be this PALAD writing workshop this September. Last year I planned to join this workshop but my shyness ruled over me so I did not pursue on doing it. Good thing now I could now attend since I'm part of HF already. I'm also persuading my other classmates to participate since I know they write good they just need some boost and I think this writing workshop will be of a good way on unleashing their skills

Academics

* Midterm examinations is next week already and it will be another busy week for me.However we have two days that we do not have an exam scheduled. But the bad thing is are exams are piled up in the succeding days plus we have this "schedule made from heaven" You see on Sepember 2 our first exam is scheduled from 8-9m then the next exam is 4-5:30pm, talk about giving us time. Oh well I hope I will do good in my exams

*I'm worried for the final period since I know JOU21 will face lots of school work. Here is a preview on what awaits us:

for PE: We will join this competition on foreign dance, the girls will do Japanese Parasol and us guys Chinese Dance.
problems: Physical Exhaustion and a big amount of money will be spend on costume and props

for Art Appreciation: We will do a production (Theater I guess).
problems: Since It's a class thing I expect problems on cooperation and the process of doing a play

for Retorika: Debate and Forum
problems: Public speaking skills and Filipino teachers are somewhat hard to please like when we did our speech in FILI101 we did our best but the teacher gave us not so satisfying grades

for Speech and Oral communication: what else but addressing a speech
problems: same with Retorika

TV Stuff

I do not watch TV as frequent as before but still I still manage to watch some shows

*I like this new show on studio 23 "Jack and Bobby". The actors are good they really are effective and I like Grace, the eccentric mother of Jack and Bobby. Sometimes you wanna slap her then in some instances you want to symphatize her. On the second episode she delivered a speech and it was powerful. Here it is (courtesy of TwizTv BTW):

Good evening. I'd like to welcome all of you tonight to a renaissance. For some of you, tonight marks a return to your college life. For some, a new beginning. And so on the eve of the tremendous journey upon which you are all embarking, I would like to offer you a thought to take with you. Okay, listen carefully. You will fail here. All of you. College is not the culmination of your high-school career; it is the beginning of your adult life. Only it's a slow, sweet beginning that feels nothing like what life in all it's attending obligations will eventually bring, so fail here. Be bad at things. Be embarrassed, be afraid. Be vulnerable. Go out on a limb, or two, or twelve, and you'll fall, and it'll hurt ... but the harder you fall, the further you'll rise. The louder you fail the clearer your future becomes. Failure is a gift, welcome it! There are people who spend their whole lives wondering how they became the people they became. How certain chances passed them by. Why they didn't take the road less travelled. Those people are not you. You have the front-row seats to your own transformation! And in transforming yourself you might even transform the world! And it'll be electric, I promise you it'll be terrifying, but embrace that. Embrace the new person you're becoming. This is your moment. I promise you it is now. Now! Not, not two minutes from now, not tomorrow, but REALLY NOW. Own that, know that, deep in your bones, and go to sleep every night knowing that, and wake up every single morning remembering it. And then ... (She laughs. "Have a Little Faith In Me" is playing again in the background) ... keep going. Keep going. (wild applause)

*On September 3 season 5 of Gilmore Girls will premiere on Studio 23.I'm so excited since the season 4 finale was a cliffhanger and I really want to know what happens to Rory's stupid decision and Luke's surprise

*The Amazing Race: family edition is also coming soon, I'm really curious on how will this competition with 4 people per team as oppose to the usual pair. Plus the fact that it is a"family edition" mothers,fathers,brothers,sisters,uncles,aunties,cousins in one team, will it bring good or bad to the show?

*Survivor Guatemala will premiere this September. This is the 11th installment ;I wonder how will Mark Burnett keep the show's torch flaming since they have almost done all things to keep this show interesting

Delayed

I have been wanting to update my blog for the past days but there were lot of circumstances that stop me from doing it. I was busy with school and HF stuff, then if I had the time to visit ERS it was closed and when it was on line again their server was so slow that opening up this site takes a a lot of time. Because of that my stories that I want to write about had piled up which leaded to this multi-story entry.

Revelation

My REED professor revealed something that really shocked me. His colleagues tried to get rid fo him by falsificating documents. I could not believe this of all people that could do this shameless act, Religious education professors! They who supposed to teach us good acts. But I know my professor was hurt I could see it into his eyes.

Hassle

Last week my uniform (the barong) was burned when it was ironed by my mother. It was not her fault since the iron malfunctioned and when it was pressed on to my uniform it automatically burned it. I only had two barongs and that lead me to have one barong to wear last week. When I got home I wash the barong and when I wake up in the morning I ask my mother to iron it (I don't know how to iron and I don't want to take risk). Good thing last Monday I bought a new barong, I will no longer experience the hassle of having a wash and wear uniform.

Haircut

Two Sundays I finally had my haircut. I have been wanting to have a haircut but I was either busy or lazy. I was really uncomfortable with my old hair since it perspires me more. Plus I have been having pimples at the back of my head due to my heavy perspiration. When I saw my the back of my hair through a mirror I saw that I had scars already due to this pimples. Now I will really try to have a haircut once a month.
Also when I had my haircut I saw this mother dragging his kid to the barbershop. The kid was wailing like a pig being butchered. When it was his time to have his hair cut the kid was hysterical, his mother have to hold him so that the barber will not have a hard time. I really wonder what was the kid thinking about, when I was young I never really got scared with getting my haircut. Maybe the kid thought he might die when he ahve his hair cut. or maybe he was so attatched to his hair that cutting it is like taking something away from you. Oh well, anyways the kid had a semi-kalbo haircut.

Disgusting

My father accomnpanied my brother to get his driver's license. They had a hard time since the people there are making their life hell. But when my father asked someone to help them, the guy ask "How much?". My father was so desperate that he agreed on giving lagay to that guy. My father said that if they did not do that it will take months before my brother gets his driver's license. Shortly after my father gave the money his license was released. That is how dirty the government agencies are. I thought this things only happen in Metro Manila but it is also present here In Cavite. That's why we cant see progress because the people in the government agencies are rotten.

Cancelled

I watch Tru Calling and I like the show. The season one finale had a good twist. It left me wanting for more but the show's second season only had six episodes since FOX cancelled it due to low ratings. I am disappointed because just when the story is just getting exciting it will end abrubtly. I know that it will not have a proper conlcusion. Tru Calling will now belong to the group of TV shows that left me hanging.

Monthsary

It has been a month since I became part of the team of Heraldo Filipino. I had three assignments. Two of it are already in the typing process and I will pass it later this week. But my interview with Bro.Armin is still not accomplised due to some uncontrollable forces. During the month I stayed at HF I have met lots of new people and gained new friends. I also have interviewed two people in the school administration and I had a good time. I'm looking forward to more learning experiences at HF.

Surprises

The Prelim grades were released I was surprised with the results. The highest grade you could obtain is 4.00 and the lowest is 1.00 and grade of 0.00 is a failing mark. Although I did mediocre in my examinations (except REED where I have gotten a perpect score) my preliminary grades are high.

REED- 3.75 (I love this subject and I'm glad I have gotten a high grade)

PE- 3.50 (Good thing it had a written exam)

Art Appreciation-3.25 (This is the most shocking grade I had since I barely passed the exams and my "works of art" that I passed are horrible, the teacher even commented that it was monotonous, I think I don't deserve that grade)

Retorika,Intro to Communication Theory- 3.00 (I'm happy to get a high score in intro to com theory since a lot of my classmates have gotten low grades)

Computer and Philippine Constitution- 2.75 (I thought I will get a lower grade on both subjects since I did get low scores on quizzes)

Speech and Oral Communication- 2.25 ( I am disappointed to get this grade since it ruined my "winning streak" however I feel that I deserve this grade since I did not excel in the oral exercises and thw written quizzes are low, I hope to get a better grade for the Midterms)

The Open Window

Something happened in my Introduction to Communication Theory class. The topic for the day was the Johari Window. The Johari Window is a way of intrapersonal relationship that tackles four windows which tells something about your personality assesment

The OPEN window tells something that I and everybody else know

The BLIND window tells something that I don't know but another person know

The HIDDEN window tells something that I know but nobody else know

The UNKNOWN window tells something that I and other people don't know

We we're asked to do a presentation about it. It was good since we got to open up something about ourselves but when Joselito who is a irregular student presented his hidden window the mood of the class changed. He opened up how he feels alone and unwanted and then he cried. Our class transformed from a simple lecture to a sharing/advising/counselling session. My classmates gave thier advices,views and some also shared their own experiences. Joselito spoke again and he said that he also feels bad when people (his own father too) suspected him of being gay because of his mannerisms and the fact that he is the only male of three offsprings;her sisters might have influnced her to turn gay. He also said that his classmates mock him about that. That's when I also shared something and gave him advice. I was also been suspected of being gay due to many reasons like I don't do "macho" things. I told Joselito that I know what he feels since I also feel it. I know it's hard when people(friends,family) judge your personality. But don't let them bother you as long as you know within your heart that you are not homosexual do not care what they tell about you. I used to be really bothered when people suspect me of being gay to the point that I try to do those "manly" stuff just to prove them wrong. But I got tired eventually I just thought let them be on what they think of me. I know being a man is not measured on how macho you are or how many girls you dated so why do I let myself be bothered with this? I hope Joselito understand what I was talking about (you know I talk fast). Also another irregular classmate of ours Arvie also spoke his mind. He revealed that he is gay and he was really conscious on what we (my block JOU21) will think about him so that's why he rarely participates in class. He went on saying the experience he had and how he learned from it. I admire him for openingh up to us. Our block really don't mind of him being gay (well some girls find it sayang since they find him cute). We accept him whoever he is because there is nothing wrong with being gay. It was a thought provoking class it was good to know that some people are brave enough to unleash their inner feelings. Some may find what happened mushy but for me it will be one of the memorable classes I ever had.

Scores

Well it's been a week since I updated my blog. I have been busy with my exams and some other stuff. Well here is a summary on how I faired on my exams: MEDIOCRE. I think will not get low scores but the results are not that high, just okay. I don't think having a OK grade is bad is just that I feel if I study more I will get better scores. Some of the exams could been easy but I just did not prepare that much because I was too lazy. I just browsed my notes and some subjects are just not that interesting to me so I'm not really motivated to study. In my first sem here I had a subject which I really did great, it was Literature of the Philippines. I have gotten perfect scores on both prelims and midterms, nobody else in my class have done that. So far in my almost two years stay here in DLSU-D that's the only time that I had 100% on a major exam. My average on major exams is 10 points away to a perfect score. During that time I was really engrossed with the subject and the professor is really great. After that no other subject really gave me that effect. Well I'm just taking up minors and a "minor" major maybe as I go on with my course I will encounter subjects that will get me moving.

*************

Last Monday La Sallian Speech Club release the students that passed the screening and fortunately I'm included in the list. To be honest I am confident that I will make it to LSC since I did fair well on their screening but what surprise me is that I had a high score= 93%. I did not expect that and by the way I ranked no.2. It's a given fact that I talk fast and I really need to work on my speech skills so I was really surprised that they find me good enough to get that score. It gave me hope that I could still be able to speak with confidence and clarity (and slowly of course). Well it's been good semester so far,first I was accepted at HF and now I'm a part of LSC and I passed with flying colors.

*************

Yesterday I saw my English teacher in highschool. We had a small talk and when I told him that I'm taking up Broadcast Journalism he said that I could make it. He also said to me that it was his frustration to be a journalist too bad circumstances prohibited him to attain it. My English professor is one of the one I look up to. Because of him I got interested with communication and it lead to me taking up this course. He is an excellent teacher, I learned a lot from him. Seeing him reminded me of why I love working with words. I hope that I will meet his expectations and could really make it.

Prelude to Prelims

Today is the start of the Preliminary Examinations. But I'm here at ERS (the internet section of the library) surfing the net. Why am I doing this? I should have been studying right now. Well,I have no exams scheduled today. Here is my examination schedule:


Wed 07/20
08:00-09:00
ERH106
RETORIKA

10:00-11:30
CET406
ART APPRECIATION

16:00-17:30
ERH105
BASIC COMPUTER OPERATIONS

Thu 07/21
08:00-09:30
OSH104
PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT & NEW CONSTITUTION

14:00-15:00
JFH310
SPEECH AND ORAL COMMUNICATION

16:00-17:30
OSH202
INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION THEORY

Fri 07/22
08:00-09:00
MTH104
LIVING OUR CHRISTIAN COMMITMENT (REED143)


So far my favorite subject is Philippine Constitution because I like the scope of the subject. Plus the professor is good he knows what he is saying, he is not the bookish type. I'm attentive at his class and it wakens up my soul after being inside a one and a half hour class that is not so interesting (read:boring). But my favorite teacher is my REED143 prof. He really has a positive aura and he makes us laugh which I did not expect from him since he is the soft spoken type. He delivers jokes unexpectedly and the punchlines makes us cringe. My other classes are just okay. I'm not good with art so i don't enjoy art appreciation class. Introduction to communcation started good but when we started discussing theories my interest went down. Speech and Oral Communication is a good class aside that we are in an air conditioned room I love the oral exercises although I still find being videotaped awkward,I realized how imortant it is it since I could see what aspects I should improve on. Retorika is a so-so class aside that the topics are not really interesting the schedule is from 7-8:30am my energy is quite low and with that class I'm really having a hard time to concentrate. Computer classes are okay, the hands on exercises are easy since it only involves MS Word but the quizzes I'm just mediocre. I could have done better with my quizzes if I studied more; I only scanned the hand outs because I was too lazy to review.
Anyways I'll do my best to get good scores with my prelims tomorrow.

Inside The Office

Yesterday I stayed at the Heraldo Filipino office from 1pm till 7pm. The first four hours I spent practically doing nothing. Anyways I read the rough draft of the forthcoming issue,actually they asked us to proofread it. But I really did not do that since well the other staff already did it and there's nothing much left for me to correct since they did a good job and I think I'm not really good in proofreading especially when it comes to grammar. There were also other apprentices mostly frsehmen in the office we had some chat later on the senior staff joined us but the conversation went to Bush to PGMA to World History to Religion to Philosophy, topics that I know little about. But I enjoyed listening to them, I just love how their views contradict sometimes. I like listening to debates but I don't like participating that much . Around 4pm the news staff had an orientation leaded by our news coordinator Deofelyn Ocayo or Ate Lhen as she likes people to call her (not the ate part actually but I choose to call her with ate since I'm her subordinate) . We started by some "getting to know each other" activity where each of us take turns in asking questions and of course answering it. I got questions like what's your favorite book,strengths and weaknesses and expectations at HF news. Someone ask her(Ate Lhen) to described us (the news staff) in one word she described me as articulate. I was surprised since being articulate is something that I could never think of myself. To be articulate is to be clear; distinct; express with clarity and is skillful with words. I assumed that most people do not find the way I speak clear since I talk so fast, well I may sound distinct; skillfull with words? Hmmmm.... Now this is a challenge. The orientation covered topics such as rules and regulations, the people we need to know and some other guidelines to be an efficient HF news staff. Then came our assignments, I was tasked to write about Bro.Luistro's stand on the PGMA issue. Ate Lhen told me that she will assist me on how to work this article out, she said that she has talk to me personally but since we already lack the time she said to me to come tomorrow (which is today) at the office. I'm really nervous about this, this is my first assignment for HF I hope I won't mess up.