Carnaval

Terça-feira, Junho 29, 2004

Leila Barros Is Coming To Town

She knows I'm her biggest fan so she's coming to the Philippines for me. Leila told me (in portugues) that she wanted me to see her play at the Grand Prix on July 16-18 at the PhilSports Arena. And she said she would want me to sit on the bench with her team so I'd be nearest to the Brasilians among all the other Filipino fans out there. I'd be among the VIP and I'd yell for my team during the play until my lovely throat gets sore. And then Leila would make me tumblers of cold caipirinha, and we'd drink until we get intoxicated and then we'd be dancing to the snazzy rhythm of samba as if we're actually in Rio for the carnaval... and that would be very nice. It's really nice to imagine things, isn't it? It's my potent anodyne and it makes me forget that I'm supposed to be busted up inside, or having problems... don't get me wrong, I'm not suicidal.

Hopefully, we got neither AnaPhy nor Microbiology tomorrow. That means my new block mates would badly miss our instructor worth sending to Coventry. Forget about Intensive English. We are unfortunately left without a teacher available in CLA. I tell you, this is one reason why I had the gall to sign-up for some newsletter group in CN. And I was left nonplussed that, so suddenly, I am one among the three newly hired Literary Editors on our first meeting. It's an ubergroovy title, but just the same, I'm scared to do some profession I'm not really familiar with.

You see, I have never been mustered into a cluster of journalists. Back in high school, I used to think they're too smart and at the same time boring people. (Now that I'm an official journalist, you can now associate the words 'too smart' to me, but never a boring person. I'm anything but dull. You may not be aware of it, but I could be the grooviest person to ever walk this earth. No wonder Leila Barros wanted to meet me). Dream on, wannabe. As I was saying earlier, on hot afternoons in MaSci, I often find these 'little writers' sitting lazily outside the journalism room, reading the daily papers and jotting some crucial information down to their composition notes. I used to be upset too about the crazy accounts I kept hearing from these students that the notorious Miss Janet Gallardo, the journalism teacher who is rumored to be having mental disorders, often threatens them. For Miss Gallardo (I believe she hasn't any husband), to threaten means to defenestrate or to throw something or someone out of the window.

I slightly moved out of the subject. Now, going back to the first statement I wrote on the second paragraph... We got no classes tomorrow. But it's imperative that we assemble early in the morning to witness PGMA's oath in Luneta. I absolutely don't want to go because I'm a lazy kid. But it would be my first time to witness a Philippine president taking oath live, so that would be muito cool.

Greenwich's Beef and Mushroom Meal... Mushroom and Beef Meal... Meal Mushroom and Beef... who cares? I had a satisfying lunch this afternoon. Thank you, dearest. You had been my anodyne today. I have endured the strong tempest in EDSA. At that time I accidentally dropped my phone, next my umbrella. I got my bag, pants, and shoes wet. But I'm okay. Save for my sudden urge to eat another Beef and Mushroom meal.

Carnaval took a nap at 10:14:00 PM

|
----------------------------------------------------------------

Domingo, Junho 27, 2004

Even Shakespeare's Lips Grow Foul

"Flesh, flesh, how art thou fishified." -Romeo and Juliet

In a nutshell, this world is unkind. Its people try to appear too clever to veer off from saying something unpleasant to the others. For great fear of hurting that unfortunate person, we have conceived the smart idea of soft-pedaling.

Euphemisms. They're one among the most unforgettable topics I've learned from my dear instructor in Communication. (This article, personally, has nothing to do with Shakespeare. But what the heck, I only need a title for this. Will's catchy enough). Anyway, this one's a helpful piece of teaching, you know, because euphemisms aren't merely a practice -- it's a lifestyle. Miss Cherry is right. She said that when we're fuming mad, we don't normally say, "Galit ako," instead we utter the gentler statement, "Hindi ako galit... Naba-badtrip lang ako." By saying those words, we automatically make the effect of our raging wrath seem reduced in the eyes of our friends. We somehow reassure them that this freaking outburst is only temporary. And no, they aren't the reason why we feel bad, although oftentimes, they're really the ones why we do.

And I'm as smart enough to, in some way, decipher people who soft-pedal, as I am quick enough to turn insults into speeches more pleasant to a friend's ears. And so I did not feel bad when my friend messaged me, "I think a chubby Trish looks better." With all honesty, she even made me feel good. I knew myself. I knew I'm getting really robust, and I still feel okay about the fact that I'm not doing anything about my being fat and all. If you can only take a look at Mingming, she's turned so obese she can hardly groom her back. And it seems to me that Kofi constantly advises/coerces her to chase some rats or kill some cockroaches in the house so Mingming can be as useful as she. But Mingming only brushes her off.

I have no idea how to end this, so I'm going to conclude by putting in another person's retort about phone operators. I totally admire her opinions. This girl talks great sense.

I hate it when operators ask you, "can you hold a minute, please?" It's such a pointless question. If you want to talk to someone and achieve whatever it is that you've called for then you have to say ,"yes." So really they should say, "If you want to talk to someone, hold on, if you don't want to talk to someone hang up, but remember that if you do you might never get to talk to anyone at all. So you should stay on the line." How difficult is that? (Ochoa,09/06/03)

Carnaval took a nap at 1:47:00 AM

|
----------------------------------------------------------------

Quinta-feira, Junho 24, 2004

Go Ahead And Okray Pamela Wan

Brace yourself for another piece of me.

It's been WEEKS since my last post here and my devoted 'readers' (albeit very, very few) have missed out on a lot of things. Our PC, which suddenly broke down weeks before, had at long last been rescued from eternal damnation by a technician. The first days of classes had been terribly long and dreadful and hard. The changing weather is often unforgiving. But I am always getting bigger and heavier each day.

A futile re-shuffling of nursing students took place last enrolment. I, including ten others from the great BSN1-2, enrolled together and had managed to reserve slots in Block 5. Never in my entire life as a student have I been so unexcited to meet new people in her new section. I was only thrilled to hook up once again with the 'Block', which I have learned to love and treasure.

The first day of classes inevitably arrived. As a matter of fact, I almost died grasping for some air after I struggled fastening my skirt, which I have abruptly outgrown. 'This uniform distress is only temporary,' I told myself reassuringly. I will lose some weight, you'll see.

In BSN2-5, Block 2 is only next to Block 6 in the rate of population. You can see from how my block mates speak that they are smart. Slowly I came to like all of them except for one. Block 2 even has a code name for this particular unfortunate person: BFO. Basta. It's intensely difficult to befriend new classmates in a room that seemed to me more like a populated cafeteria perpetually bustling with activity. Block 5 is merely an aggregate of in-groups. Oftentimes, we only talk to our own set of friends. It's a lonely place to be in, if you know what I mean. But I'm always hopeful that this impression will change before semester break draws near.

So far, we have no problems with instructors in our subjects except for two. The first is no more than petty. Two weeks had passed and we still have no teacher in Intensive English. More than any subject ever conceived, I absolutely love English. And I feel so miserable that we've already lost out four IntEng meetings. The second problem is totally a huge one. It's our little AnaPhy instructor, who also happened to be our teacher in Microbiology. Miss Pamela David is the kind of teacher you want to ostracize. This young portly woman thinks she's so good in AnaPhy and Microbiology that she constantly bombards us with questions she believes we cannot give answers to. Alright, she may know everything in those fields of sciences but she's utterly a lousy teacher. We are expected to be prepared on each meeting, but who expects to learn by mere reporting from your classmates who have meager knowledge on AnaPhy and Micro without an instructor facilitating in explaining each topic? The callipygian lady even had the gall to retort 'Bahala kayo!' when we failed to give the right answers to her vain queries.

But I somehow left her stunned after I finished my report in cell division. I think I've explained it to my classmates in the simplest means possible, as if I'm only educating grade-schoolers.

Okray like you've never okray-ed before.

Carnaval took a nap at 9:15:00 PM

|
----------------------------------------------------------------

Sexta-feira, Junho 11, 2004

Shake Ya Ass! Grind Ya Teeth!

Ha! A new post at last! Our PC at home has gone kaput for more than three days and now I so badly miss browsing the Internet that I'm presently sneaking in at a cyber cafe in Pedro Gil. Anyway, today is a great celebration (a.k.a. pah-tee!) of the Salot Inc. in Obando, Bulacan! Ate Joy is having her debut pah-tee in advance. Des, Augie, and I will meet in just half an hour in a fastfood nearby.

Bruxism will ruin your life!

I subconsciously grit my teeth at night. I feel execrable pain in my jaw each and every God-given morning. And sometimes, it goes with a slight headache. And so I advised MYSELF to have a mouth guard to prevent it before it starts to dislocate my pretty jaw.

To be concluded. Ugh! My dear buddies are waiting for me outside.

Carnaval took a nap at 4:48:00 PM

|
----------------------------------------------------------------

Sábado, Junho 05, 2004

Road To Perdition: Straight Ahead

I'm frustrated. I'm depressed. I'm disturbed. It's because I had very little sleep! Been wide-awake on my bed from three in the morning. The room was cool, there was drizzle outside, and I lay absolutely restless on my bed by the window. I knew all along that reading a dull book would make me sleepy and all, I didn't want to do that though 'cause I'm a sensitive person (what?). Yeah, if you could just imagine there's three of us in a not so spacious bedroom. I share a king-sized bed with my youngest sister while my pretty cousin (who religiously practices conspicuous labeling) has her single bed on the other side of the room. Enough with the description, what I'm trying to say is that I didn't want to wake my bed companions up before sunup with the bright light flashing intensively on their drooling faces while I read a boring book to get me some stupid sleep. That makes me a sensitive girl.

So finally I did get some sleep at around five in the morning but that didn't get me elated at all! I thought I have endured the lousy distractions I got during the two hours that I was restless but nightmare came and invaded my dreams! *shivers* It was terrible. Probably the worst I've ever had in years... What's it about? I'M NOT TELLING. Not here. Not now... Probably in another lifetime.

Yesterday was the first time I went to Robinson's Galleria. My whole family save my sister (who preferred staying home and review for her board exams) celebrated my Ma's golden year there. We weren't very much familiar with Galleria but we thought the mall, in its entirety, is an ubercool place, like Ayala Center. Ah! We were shocked at what we've seen as we stepped inside on the first floor from the parking lot! 'Twas not what we've expected, really. At the first sight of the dirty tiles, the antique escalator, and the poorly lit place... we thought we were in Harrison Plaza! We almost wished we were in Makati instead.

'There's THX in the mall, so the upper floors must appear more pleasing to my eyes' I thought. So there they were, they reserved the best restaurants and movie houses at the topmost floor, and I never felt more relieved. My family heavily ate Japanese food at a restaurant on its soft opening. Afterward, we headed to the theater to watch The Day After Tomorrow. It was scary, but I liked it. I liked it because it won't happen in my lifetime. I'm no expert on these things, I only know global warming is hideous and detrimental to life, and I don't believe that extreeeeeme climate shift from melting ice cap would take over in a matter of DAYS.

And I can tell you a more factual/credible thing about possibility of extreme climate shift. I, being a Discovery Channel baby, have learned that it is through the loss of the earth's natural satellite (otherwise known as the beautiful moon) that we can actually experience that. The moon, ladies and gentlemen, isn't merely a source of light on a gloomy night. It also is in charge of the tidal friction making the earth rotate in a slow motion. The moon also has it's own gravitational pull, my amigos, and that's why our world has a fixed axis on a 23 degree angle. Unfortunately, since the moon rotates around this earth, it is influenced with a centrifugal force, which would EVENTUALLY make it fly off in an outward direction. And once the earth loses the moon's gravitational pull, everything is in total chaos. Meaning: there's no axis, there's rapid rotation in EVERY direction, then there's what we call extreeeeme climate shift, my amigos. At one time, the Sahara Desert would become as dead cold as Siberia, and at another time, South Pole would melt like mad, the Pyramid of Giza would be covered with great slabs of ice. Even the Philippines and Brasil would create heavy snow. Timepieces would be futile, people would not be aware of the time, because TIME would not exist! Big time designers would have a hard time making wardrobe since weather shifts instantly! Humanity, wildlife, plant kingdom (or just anything that has life) by that time would all cease to exist. That, baby, is what science calls the 'end of the world.'

Carpe diem.

Carnaval took a nap at 3:32:00 PM

|
----------------------------------------------------------------

Quinta-feira, Junho 03, 2004

Some Afflatus I Got From Thinking Too Much

I never really write poems. But I got inspired. So I wrote one.

Like Merlot In My Mouth

I hold my wide-brimmed glass
Above its short stem
From open palm, comes heat--
Emanating warmth to the
Sweet scarlet spirit,
Effulgent as the unencumbered
Thoughts that you whispered to me.

At the intoxicating smell of grapes
I partake by breathing it
Grasping the rich aroma
Up to its last delicate thread

Slowly
I take a sip, little by little
The juice –- a red sap;
The sanguinity reminds me
Of the ineluctable struggles
That you and I grappled
And endured.

At every taste of pleasure
I picture your beautiful
Face, which lingers
As a scent of perfume does

Moments of our childish repartees
Are more vivid than ever
Whilst gradually the
Blissful drink
Consumes my soul
Each time I
Pour some more.

Relieved I am now from execrable fantods
In my solitude, I think of the time you
Finally set off -- only with nonchalance
As ephemeral as it would seem,

You were only like merlot in my mouth.

--(Laoagan:2004)

Carnaval took a nap at 4:30:00 PM

|
----------------------------------------------------------------

Quarta-feira, Junho 02, 2004

Mi Dun Know Patois. Batty Wa Mek Mi Dweet Fa?

It's depressing 'cause slumber won't come to me at this ungodly time. I had been successful sleeping for two hours a while ago when hunger woke me up. My stomach is currently experiencing peristaltic contractions, which only means that I'm starving. (What? I ate eight slices of toasted bread spread with cheese, drank two glasses of milk, and ate a large serving of broiled chicken and vegetables last night! So why does my stomach churn so abruptly?) But I guess I won't do anything about my execrable hunger pangs because I'm afraid to go downstairs and look for food. (Trish is scared in her own house? That's silly!) Certainly not. I just don't like to go down at this time that's all.

Today is Ava's happy day. She's got a huge date with Daniel Radcliffe (or is it Harry Potter?) later at G4. No one beats Ava's feverishness when it comes to HP. She gets too excited with Harry/Dan that she *faints* even before she finishes typing away her fixation in our yahoogroup or in her blog. I can already imagine her bouncing as she slumbers away at this hour. Believe her when she says she feels like a child again.

Meanwhile I haven't done anything useful these days except occasionally reading materials and watching shows in Discovery Channel. I'm having a pretty dull life this summer I know. No classes means no cash and no cash means you can't go have fun outside. So there isn't much to be written here about me. But I don't give a fart. Based on the number of comments I get here, which is mostly zero, wala, nada... no one really reads my journal. Which only means, if I put it in a positive direction, I can say anything I want. I can even use this to swear at people that I don't like (or pretend to like), can't I? And I could not care less if the length of my post for the day reaches up to page fifty or so because only a few (and I mean FEW) dares to read my sentiments. By the way, thank you Ava for the comments. Hehe.

Speaking of dough, which I terribly lack this hot, hot vacation, I still get frustrated over Chevalier's new books. Been having my eye on her two books for months now. I often gaze blankly at her books displayed in National Bookstore and I furiously say to myself: 'Putek, kelan ba kita mabibili?' Sometimes I say that publicly. People nearby would start to think I'm nuts when they see me soliloquizing in bookstores.

Batty mi naa badda dem ca mi waan di book.

Carnaval took a nap at 4:52:00 AM

|
----------------------------------------------------------------