happy new year everyone!

Happy New Year!

It sounds like a war outside; cannons are booming, flak bursts in the air, random surface-to-air missiles reaching vainly towards the sky... Hehehehe...

Call me evil, brutal, bloodthirsty, or sadistic, but I'm really waiting for the latest casualty reports. I want to see how many stupid idiots blew themselves up with mishandled firecrackers and overpowered explosives. Just a few days ago I was watching some children throw firecrackers around WITHOUT ADULT SUPERVISION. What a crazy world we live in...

I think that this would be the first New Year's Eve wherein I would spend most of my time inside our house. Guess why... Hehehe...

I FINALLY GOT A NEW COMPUTER!

After more than 48 hours of problems, glitches, bugs, flared tempers, and quite a few snapped heads, I finally got our new computer to work. People, Windows Vista is a nightmare! Thank God for good old Windows XP; I can finally install and play Call of Duty 4 and Command and Conquer 3!

WOOHOO!

Yes, I wasted no time in saving you good people the trouble of having to get me the top 3 items on my wishlist. Hahaha. Now I can truly say that I had a VERY MERRY Christmas.

The noise is getting louder and louder. It's only 10:50, and people are already letting loose with the stereos, horns, pans, and firecrackers. I guess it's time I put on my headphones and drown out Beautiful Girl with the sounds of submachine guns and tanks.

Hehehehe...

merry christmas!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!

I'm sending out my greetings while my DSL connection is still functional. Hahaha!

Oh, and thanks to everyone who greeted me a happy birthday!

o holy crap

Yes. I'm in a VERY EVIL MOOD today.

The "carolers" outside only serve to fuel my rage. Thank heaven for earphones; I can drown out the out-of-tone screeches of the children outside with white noise.

I know, I know. I'm being a Scrooge. Don't send the ghosts of Christmas after me.

I really need some stress relief.

skyrockets in flight

There is something magical about watching meteors in the sky. Streaks of light coming out of nowhere courtesy of dust particles in space are some of the most beautiful things one can ever see.

The sad thing is that I didn't get to experience it that much.

It was really unexpected. With nearly a hundred people to look after I spent most of my time looking at the ground instead of at the sky.

Hearing the people squeal with delight at every bright streak of light was immensely frustrating since I didn't get to see much.

CRAP. Why the hell am I complaining?! I should be thankful.

AND I AM.

Our event on Friday night was a HUGE success. We were even featured in a QTV news report!

Haay... I'm tired. Not sleeping for 27 hours straight can be bad for you. Hahaha.

There is something magical about seeing a lot of people having fun. The applause and screams of "yun!" or "wow!" every 10 or so seconds may make your ears hurt, but it's all worth it.

The smiles on people's faces are one of the most wonderful things you can ever see.

Congratulations to all the members of the UP Astronomical Society!

back in time

I envy children.

They don't have any problems at all. Transport strikes are nothing to them. Crazy senators with delusions of saving the Republic don't bother them. Oil price hikes? Government corruption? Tuition fee increases? Papers? Reports? No allowance? Smelly, disgusting, repulsive, inconsiderate cigarette-smoking jerks polluting an air-conditioned FX?

I want my baba.

That is why I miss my childhood. Oh crap, look at the can of worms I just tipped over. I didn't have a care in the world back then. It was just me, my milk bottle, my toys, my fluffy pillow, and my books. My worst crises dealt with cuts, scrapes, bruises, splinters, and the odd milk tooth coming out to meet the tooth fairy.

School? Work? Family? Country? Future?

Georgie Porgie,
pudding and pie.
Kiss the girls
and make them cry.

Hahaha. Yes, I'm about nine days away from crossing the threshold into full adulthood; no more hiding behind the illusion of being "twenteen"!

I'm getting older every minute. Can of worms? More like Pandora's Box! I do try to hold on to every bit of my childhood which I could get my hands on.

Hehehe. We played patintero and piko in class this morning. Patintero I remember. Piko? No idea. Relation to topic? Absolutely minimal. Hahaha.

Bits of childhood. Right. Remember that picture of a dinosaur book I posted some days ago? I still want that book! I spent hours in the CSA Grade School Library all those years before reading that and all the other dinosaur books there. I must have borrowed every dinosaur book at least twice.

What is it with me and dinosaurs? Wow. Nice segueway. Ever since I saw Disney's Fantasia when I was in kindergarten I had become entranced with the ancient beasts. However, it was The Land Before Time which pushed me over to obsession with Littlefoot and all his saurian brethren!

My parents and grandparents "helped me along" by giving me books about dinosaurs. I also got toys which I used to recreate (you read that right!) the three periods of the Mesozoic era on our living room floor. I filled notebooks with categorized lists of dinosaur names complete with descriptions.

I could make them all march over my head.

Sauropods: Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, Brachiosaurus, Ophistocoelocaudia...

Ceratopsians: Triceratops, Monoclonius, Styracosaurus, Anchiceratops...

Hadrosaurs: Parasaurolophus, Corythosaurus, Lambeosaurus, Anatotitan...

Carnosaurs: Tyrannosaurus, Allosaurus, Charcarodontosaurus, Carnotaurus...

And I could go on and on and on...

Plus there were the cards (one big stack of them) and the posters (one thick pile of them) and the drawings (yes, I do have some artistic talent) and, and did I mention the books?

What was it with me and dinosaurs? I still don't know.

Come to think of it, that is one bit of my childhood which never really went away. I'm still quite obsessed with dinosaurs, so much so that the most recent issue of National Geographic (the one with pachycephalosaur Dracorex hogwartsia on the cover) had me squealing with glee. Oh, and I'm really looking forward to NGC's Bizarre Dino Week next week. Now that's a birthday treat!

Of course, the one thing which would really, REALLY make my birthday complete would be a trip to Star City's Dino Island. I saw it on Unang Hirit a few days ago, the largest dinosaur exhibit in Southeast Asia... I WANT TO GO THERE. I haven't really seen a complete dinosaur skeleton before, and they have one of Tsintaosaurus just waiting to be photographed with me. Hehehe.

Robotic and fossilized dinosaurs just an hour's drive away from home...

I WANT TO GO THERE.

And when I get there, and you happen to see me there, you'll see a little child standing awestruck in the shadow of the giants he so obsessively loved -and still loves.

writer's block

I am at a loss for words. Literally. Pun intended. Hahaha.

So... What to write about... Hmmm...

I am now officially on holiday mode. In other words, I now consider deadlines as mere suggestions to get to work (as if I didn't do that before) and class hours as short breaks from my more important job of relaxing at home.

Ahh... The life of a student... Must be why (as Day-day so succinctly put it the other day) I'm on my way to becoming an institution of UP. Hahaha. One day, they'll be renaming the Math Building to 'Obidos Hall'. Hehehe.

***
It's December once again. The Christmas spirit is in the air. I can't wait for Christmas break! Hahaha. So what should you get me for Christmas? Wish list to follow. Hahaha.

***
I should be transcribing my interview right now. However, the two-hour break I have later on DURING (or is it before?) Prof. Avecilla's class should be enough time to put that 12-minute interview to paper.

As Prof. Lambino told us some weeks ago, I got a life and watched the Pamaskong Pailaw 2007 Dance Concert at the UP Theater last night. It was the FIRST time IN FOUR YEARS that I got to enter the UP Theater. Here's hoping that next time I enter it I'll be FINALLY graduating. Hahaha.

***
My lunch is taking too long. I'm hungry. I already had a cup of coffee and two dinner rolls for breakfast, but my stomach is already screaming for more. I just checked. The rice isn't even done yet. Crap. I'm hungry.

Maybe I should start on that interview.