attack of the jitters

I'm a total wreck. I can't concentrate. My mind is going everywhere and nowhere.

It will all end in six hours. After that, all I have to worry about are papers, papers, and more papers. However, typing on a keyboard at 3 AM has got to be a whole lot easier than standing in front of a class and speaking for seven minutes.

I need a cup of coffee.

rude awakening

Something has got to be done about flash drives.

I woke up this morning feeling 'relatively' refreshed thanks to that wonderful Korean movie I watched last night. Yes, I watched a Korean movie last night at the opening of the Korean Film Festival. Taeguk-Gi was about two brothers drafted to fight in the Korean War... and everything else was just fluff to me. They had me at 'war'. Hehehehe...

What made the movie even more enjoyable was the beautiful story and the way the makers of the film integrated the drama and action sequences together. It was seamless, almost perfect, and it nearly brought tears to my eyes. The experience would make my Film 100 paper easier to write come next week.

Back to this morning. I turned on the computer and, strangely enough, the my anti-virus program was not working. A quick look at the hard drives saw a huge drop in memory. Task Manager was also working strangely, since when I hit CTRL+ALT+DEL all I got was a message saying that 'the computer administrator has denied access to the Task Manager". That set off the alarm. My account was the administrator account. Someone screwed up big time.

It had to be a virus or a hacker. I turned off the Internet connection and fired up Avira Anti-virus. The program turned on, but when I clicked on 'start system scan' nothing happened. My anti-virus software had been compromised. I tried the Administrator Tools hidden away at the Control Panel, and I got my first break: the Event Log showed that Avira had detected a virus in my dad's flash drive two days ago. A quick check with my dad also revealed that the anti-virus program had been non-functional for at least a day before.

I tried to clean up the registry, but that too had been compromised; I couldn't get the msconfig utility to run. It was only when I ran Lavasoft Ad-Aware that I found and fixed the problems in the computer's registry. Yes, it also checks the system registry for errors and possible malware. Time check: it was already two hours after I first turned on the computer.

With my anti-virus program compromised, I had to get a new one. I first tried an online scan from Trend Micro, but for some reason or other it wouldn't start. I finally gave Avira the boot and replaced it with Avast!. This was just what the doctor ordered. The download took less than 5 minutes, the installation even less. The best part of it all was that the program turned on even before Windows itself was completely started up. A three-hour complete system scan turned up five different worms, trojans, and an 'unknown'.

I spent the better part of the day cleaning up the computer; it was only at 3 PM that I finally got to go online. I must say that I'm extremely relieved to have taken care of that virus without having to resort to a complete reformat.

I've traced the infection to my dad's flash drive, specifically to a file named 'Nicole.exe'. My cute little sister's ears should still be ringing from all the screams... Hehehehe...

I could use this little debacle as an introduction for my speech on Friday. Yes! Although the quote from Josef Stalin ("One death is a tragedy, while the death of millions is just a statistic") is more apt for a speech bordering on a call for genocide; plus the shock value of squishing on ant then pouring a bottle of alcohol on a jar full of the little buggers would really score points for "visual aids".

Speaking of ants, there are a whole lot of them in the garage right now. Time for some stress relief...

eighteen hours plus 36 minutes later

This will be my first sick day in ages. The headache and cold turned into the flu. Crap. It's like waking up from a blissful dream into a terrible nightmare.

Better take the day off now than take a week off later.

eighteen hours later

And I have a splitting headache, plus one hell of a cold. But I had fun, and that's what counts.

I need MORE sleep.

killing time

I won't be going home tonight. I'll be having a break at the Cattleya Resort in Antipolo. That it would also be the venue for our Final Rites is no problem; all I can think of right now is the pool and the view. Expect some panoramic shots of Metro Manila in the coming days.

We just had our rummage sale this morning. I had extremely low expectations about the outcome of the sale but, lo and behold, we made a whopping 1000 pesos! Easy money indeed from bags and bags of old and worn out clothes.

Speaking of easy money, join Facebook. An application available there called Cash Cliques allows you to make money in a few minutes just by clicking on some ads. While you're there, look me up and add me as well.

Yikes. Enough of the self-promotion! It's time for lunch (at one in the afternoon?), and I'll be shepherding our applicants through a "short" race for the rest of the afternoon.

Logging off now.

another thursday morning

It's a beautiful day to stay in. It's cold, it's dark, and I'm still sleepy.

The semester hasn't even ended yet, but I'm already in vacation mode. Unfortunately, a lot of things still have to be done; I'll be working up until the second week of October.

The good thing is that I don't feel that stressed anymore. Is it because I've finally adapted? Or is it because I'm actually having fun? Maybe it's because I've finally seen where I want to go, and all I need to do now is to go for it.

It's 8:30 already, and I need to get going, else I be late again for my English class. But then again, I've only been absent once in that class. Maybe I'll exercise my right to be absent just this once, or I'll flip-flop all over again and mosey on down the road to Katipunan. Whatever I do, I don't know. Hehehehe...

Haaay... Life...

quicker quickie

I've just finished my Comm 3 papers. Hehehehe... Just sneaking in a few minutes of online time!

why did the chicken climb the tree?

The chicken did it. That big, fat, brown hen did it.

There was a chicken in the branches of the tree right beside our Comm 3 classroom. I do not know how it got there, but it turned out to be one hell of a lucky break for me.

Today was slated to be the first round of our impromptu speeches for Communications 3. We would draw our topic from slips of paper, then we would be given 2 minutes to prepare a short speech about the topic we got, then we would be given another 2 minutes to present our speech.

I was very anxious at the beginning of the class. My classmates gave great speeches, and I started to worry about not doing as well as they did. My turn finally came after about thirty tense minutes. I drew my topic from the many slips of paper on the desk:

What are the three countries you really want to visit?

I took one long look at the paper then I went out of the room to prepare my speech. The chicken, America, Germany, and the Philippines; that was all I thought about for the next two minutes.

The bell rang, and I walked into the room. Pointing at the windows, I started my speech:

Look outside the windows. Everybody, what do you see?

And, as expected:

The chicken!

I spent those thirty tense minutes before my turn thinking of a way to integrate the chicken into my speech; whatever topic I got I resolved to use that chicken in my speech.

Mamaya na yung chicken! Look at the world outside, it's so big and beautiful. Now, look at the chicken. I want to be that chicken. I want to be able to go wherever I want. I want to travel all over the world. First, I want to go to America...

All my anxiety and stage fright evaporated during the first few seconds of my speech. Maybe it was because I really liked my topic. Maybe it was because I was wearing my favorite black polo. Maybe it was because my confidence was boosted by my well-received introduction. But I like to think that maybe it was because I was really inspired by that chicken.

I got a one.

Thank you, o magical and mysterious chicken.

quickie

Wow! I'm early for my English class!

Now all I have to do is get the hell away from this computer and YouTube!

Hehehehe...

of sandwiches and sardines

TRINOMA. I finally got to go to Trinoma.

For the first time in months I set foot in a mall. I spent an hour just walking around, getting a feel for the place, staking out places of interest, killing time.

Uncharacteristically, I went there alone. It was the first time I rode in an SM North jeep, and surely enough I handed over 10 pesos when I should have given 8.

There is a hobby store in Trinoma with a window display showcasing a scale model of the US Navy carrier USS Enterprise. The detail was exquisite; even the deck crewmen and officers were visible. If I ever have time -and money- for a serious hobby it would be collecting and assembling model ships, tanks, and warplanes.

A Powerbooks store is finally within striking range. If only I had the time -and yes, the money- to sink into books I would not be as prolific a blogger as I am now. I would spend my nights curled up on a couch with a book in my hands instead of sitting in front of a computer monitor.

After a few years I once again got to play Red Alert 2. With Timezone filled to the brim with people of all ages and sizes, we had a few games at Netopia. Victory was so sweet. Jed, rematch?

Erika's dad treated us to sandwiches and iced tea. I'm not really a sandwich person, and I'm afraid I made a fool out of myself when I tried -unsuccessfully- to cut my sardine sandwich.

I don't even eat sardines.

But there's a first time for everything, and I have one more dish to choose from next time. I feel sorry for the poor sardine though; his life was cut short when he was caught and then stuffed into a can, never to swim again in the deep blue sea.

He had one advantage though; he sure as hell was not in an elbow fight to get into that can.

The MRT has often been likened to a sardine can, with people stuffing themselves into a confined space in a desperate bid to beat the dreaded rush hour EDSA traffic. I am no stranger to the MRT, but today I had the singular experience of being carried into the MRT by a wave of crazed flesh vying for a comfortable place in the train.

I didn't even have to walk; everybody was pushing and shoving as if the world was ending and that was the last ride to a better place. Hands and elbows and knees and toes were everywhere as people came in from all sides trying to fit into the small aperture offered by the train's sliding doors.

It was all I could do to stop from screaming at the barbarians at the gates. A bomb threat right there and then would have landed me in jail for violating the HSA, but it would be well worth the satisfaction of seeing the frenzied crowd run and duck for cover.

It's another annoying example of Filipinos' tendency -obsession- to be the first in everything. It would be nice if that drove our people to excel in everything, but the unfortunate end result is a people that would choose to flirt with danger rather than wait a few minutes in line, or queue up in an orderly fashion, or wait their turn to cross, or stay in one road lane, or -you get the picture.

The sheer lack of discipline so prevalent in our society is extremely frustrating. We were talking about Singapore in class this morning, and I can't help but wonder how much better this country could have been if a person the likes of Lee Kuan Yew held office at Malacanang.

Getting out of the train was just the opposite of getting in. I had to push my way out of the sea of bodies that just wouldn't budge even to my repeated cries of 'excuse me'. At the door was another wave of people jostling and pushing and shoving to get in, effectively hampering my exit.

Needless to say, I was already in a very evil mood by the time I got down to the FX station. The woman who cut into my line sure as hell didn't help matters!

This day has strengthened my resolve to reach for my ultimate dream. I will have order. Freedom, democracy, and human rights be damned, but I will drill order and discipline into the generations that will follow me.

Somebody PLEASE give me a Venti White Chocolate Mocha.

waiting is the hardest part

Who knew that I would be spending so much time in Internet cafes this month?

Our interview project is due in an hour and a half, yet I still don't have it in my hands. We will be having a quiz on the Chinese and Japanese press(es?) tomorrow but our handout and the quiz itself is not yet ready.

I do have a lot of time on my hands, but most of it is spent waiting. Yes. Waiting. Waiting for my groupmate to send our interview project to me, waiting for my other groupmates to finish our handouts so I can make my quiz questions, and waiting for the YouTube video I'm watching to kill time to finally load!

I envy the guys on the other computers; they have all the time in the world to play online games. Of course I was just about ready to wring the necks of the damned fools who were screaming out their kills on DotA a while ago, and I have reservations as to the legality of providing computer games so close to an educational institution.

I now believe the horror stories I've heard about PLDT Internet service. The Internet connection here, previously way faster than what we have at home, has been erratic. I guess it's the same at other 'Net cafes here at the Shopping Center.

The timing is just right. I've got an essay to write for English 1, and the topic is on 'addiction'. There are a lot of people here right now, almost all of them lining up to play DotA. What's up with that game ba? Yikes. Conyo side asserting itself. Hehehehe...

I've just about finished downloading the last four parts of our project. Now all we have to do is to have them printed. In color. At 30 pesos a page. With 9 pages. Waiting's over, here comes the pain!

first of september

Back on a public computer, I am.

I've been here for an hour now. I'm hungry, but my meeting at Jollibee won't be until 1 o'clock. After that will be our group interview with Edgardo Vinarao. The knowledge I gained from my Film 100 class would be really put to the test, as he's a film director who directed and edited a lot of Filipino films.

My Journalism 100 report this morning went well; I barely stuttered and I even managed to make the class laugh a bit, which is quite a lot given my record with public speaking. I hope I get to cure my stage fright in the future. If I want to rule this country with an iron fist become a politician or a lawyer I have to learn to control the stress and anxiety associated with addressing a large group of people. It's really no problem when I know the people I'm speaking to but it gets dicey the moment I step up to speak before people I barely know.

That's why I took Communications 3 this semester. That subject is why I'm typing on a public computer right now. This public computer does not have Mozilla Firefox, it has Internet Explorer. I miss the tabs. I get lonely without the tabs. I love tabs. Internet Explorer does not have tabs. I hate Internet Explorer.

Not as much as I hate Joma Sison and his army of communist terrorists. I squealed with delight the moment I heard of his arrest. Yet I wholeheartedly agree with the militants' demand for his release. Yes, "Ka Joma" must be released. Preferably from an airplane 10,000 feet above ground level. With no parachute. Weeee! Splat!

Oh, will you look at the time. I now owe Cafe Manila 23 pesos. My meeting is in fifteen minutes. Gotta go!