Seventeen syllables, No. 45

Piano fingers see
Kitchen blade--thud!--Fingers one
Piece; Peking duck two.

Seventeen syllables, No. 44

While I type, the song
Buzzes about in my head--
My fluorescent head.

Seventeen syllables, No. 43

Enlightenment is
The silence from the last song
Up to pressing "Stop".

The semester I came back

It feels like coming back from a long vacation, and just like in a real vacation, it feels good. ^_^

Today I received a tiny yet momentous hope that I will be able to pass my Calculus class--after three tries. My grades haven't been the best for that class, but from the tests and homework I have been submitting, it seems that I am at least hanging by a moment at a C right now. Additionally I'm feeling really good about the final, even though I wasn't able to answer these two really easy questions there (which I chalked up to the normal test jitters)--I walked out of that testing area looking forward to the next class in the series. I really hope the third time is the charm. ^_^

Today I found out that someone has counted me among her friends. Quite a surprising discovery for me, because lately I've been feeling kind of nothing special. She spilled her guts over some fast food, so the best I could do was to comfort her, saying that I went through almost the same thing. Kind of therapeutic, I should say... for both of us.

Hope tomorrow is also good.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Genesis, "Follow You Follow Me". I can't describe what this song makes me feel. There's an almost spiritual quality to it... whatever it is, it's part of imo.

Seventeen syllables, No. 42

Sesquipedalians
Have internationalized
Me demonstrably.

Seventeen syllables, No. 41

To ears, the shower
Is indistinguishable
From pan fried fish halves.

What about some high-order communications topic?

What about, indeed. If you've got a few minutes, please help a fellow friend out; one of my friends has written a reflection on underlying gender messages in popular fairytales; she invites as many people as possible to give it a read and place a comment. She hopes (as do I) that you be enriched by this endeavor.

http://vee-f.blogspot.com/2007/11/fairytales-not-so-happily-ever-after.html

No, you don't have to leave a name. Yes, it's for a class (hers, not mine ^_^). Any other questions? Go on over to her blog and ask her yourself.

Thanks for reading. Now, what are you waiting for!? Go on, I won't be upset. Not too much.

Seventeen syllables, No. 40

How did the half moon
Manage to fit between my
Bedroom window slats?

Seventeen syllables, No. 39

The house is on fire--
And Santa and the reindeer
Dance upon the flames.

Seventeen syllables, No. 38

Dark wind carries an
Electric guitar wail while
Crickets sing backup.

Seventeen syllables, No. 37

Stalking footfalls crush
Leaves underfoot. Who is it?
Oh, it's only fire.

Straightedge

I don't consider not being an alcoholically-inclined party animal a bad thing.

Today a whole cadre of my comrades from the old Collective got together for the birthday of the Fabulous One. An impressive array of us was in attendance, including some people I was surprised to see there. Naturally, Freshwater masterminded the beverages (as is the custom of Stud Life and hereafter) and a majority of them were alcoholic. I showed my face, joined in the laughing loudness for a short time, and then Jesse, Gogo, and I headed for Kmart.

Sure, sometimes I wonder what it would be like to imbibe on the level that my friends do. But I guess I enjoy driving around much much more. ^_^

One of the tutors at the Stairwell is taking a two-week leave, which means I am looking good to replace him for his hours on Saturdays. If I take them all, that'd be eight more hours of work (and pay) I can get. But now I come upon a conflict that I never thought would ever happen--my work conflicting with my school. You see, I signed up to present during the Language Arts Conference next Saturday, and yet only an hour later I would have to go to the Stairwell to do my replacement shift.

At least I have a week to agonize over it. My growing pile of homework has to be done immediately. ^_^

Thanks for reading, and see you later.

Song in my head: Michael Buble, "Home".

P.S. I hope you would get to see this to fruition--I am posting this message from my shiny new Windows Live Writer gadget. OK, here goes nothing...

All-nighter

Yesterday, I pulled off an all-nighter. I shouldn't have, because I ended up needing all that sleep this afternoon! ^_^ You may know how much time you use sometimes, but you never know exactly which minutes are going to be used up!

Song in my head: Kalapana, "Naturally".

Where is the iPhone now?

Watching the newest Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode, I saw an iPhone. ^_^ I also saw a reference to Raymond Carver, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. I read an excerpt from this book in my Linguistics class a few weeks ago. Detective Logan was handed it during a search, and he threw it to the ground. How about that, huh?

Just thought I'd mention it.

Song in my head: Jackson 5, "Give Love on Christmas Day". I remember this to be the very first song I ever recognized. I heard it while with my family at the Light Rail Transit (LRT) station and train somewhere in Manila.

What about you? What is the first song you ever heard?

399

Currently I'm reading (for outside class) TL Heath's translation of Euclid's Elements of Geometry. I never thought I would hear such succinct "definitions" for lines and planes:

• A straight line between two points is the same distance as the distance between the points.
• A plane is a surface for which any line segment drawn between two points on the surface, falls fully in the surface.

Yeah, yeah, so they really are undefined, but these come really close. ^_^

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Trina Belamide, "Tell the World of His Love".

SiliconValley/Code/4023

A few weeks ago I decided to install Google Desktop to help me search my computer. Then a few days ago, while searching for something completely different, I came across the link to my very first webpage, the very first "Math Wizard on the Web." As a bonus, the link was still in the GeoCities "neighborhood" format, so I was able to recall that I had a homestead in the Code section of the SiliconValley.

I'm thinking of applying a "poor man's copyright" to my current board game idea: stick it in an envelope and mail it to myself. Now if I can find a place to print it all out. ^_^

Thanks for reading, everyone.

Song in my head: Cranberries, "Linger".

Seventeen syllables, No. 36

Through the window the
Deep blue skies flash: Night--day--night--
Day--night. Then thunder.

Through-composed

It's official, and every moment that passes it's getting more and more official. I will not be able to return for another semester at the Writing Gym. Why I won't be able to return is a matter I would rather not discuss here, but suffice it to say that I have served it as best and as loyally I could.

The things that started in Chapter Five are coming to an end alarmingly quickly, actually. As far as I can tell, there is no more Stud Life. There is also no more Bohemia, and the Bohemians have now sought shelter elsewhere, with varying degrees of success, of course. I have two or three side-projects that are finally seeing the first tentative light of day: Planet Run, God/Man, and some odds and ends here and there, including a portion of a short story. Even the debt I incurred Colleague seems to be manageably sifting away... because of my Collective check I was able to pay off a huge chunk of it. I think I'll be able to turn the page pretty soon... but I don't think I've anticipated Chapter Six quite as well as I did this one.

What do you do when you have a serious problem that's rending you into pieces, and the only people you can talk to about it are the ones who rent you in the first place? "Something bothering you?" What do I say? That's why I've said "No."

If all this life, together with the drama, were composed (and choreographed and scored) all in one go, I'd like to have a word with the Director.

Song in my head: Cora Corman and Alex Fletcher, "Way Back into Love".

Seventeen syllables, No. 35

The neon heart bounced
Off the screen--transplanted to
The anchorman's chest.

Seventeen syllables, No. 34

The amber cat on
Guard atop the gate stands--sits--
Stands--wags tail--lies down.

Onto the autumn haiku. ^_^

Seventeen syllables, No. 33

Lemon-lime soda
Stings my tongue. But moonlight-glazed
Clouds float silently.

The small hours

This week I'm venturing into the small hours again.

I spent every other night of last week awake, without a single drop of sleep while the Sun lurked under the horizon. And today I'm doing it again, this after having been amply reminded of the effects of staying up all night. It was just this last Saturday that I woke up at maybe 8:30 am with an intense throbbing pain in my eyes that wouldn't go away for such amount of time as to almost make me nervous. It was a weird pain: it felt as if my left eye were forcibly jammed into the back of my eye socket and was stuck there, immobilized. Not a pleasant experience... but then again it was an experience that I've never felt before. Never in my earlier exploits with foregoing sleep in years past have I felt that particular pain. I conjecture now that the pain came from my eye muscles which were forced to work overtime that night.

At this point I would counter to myself, "Hey, cut me some slack! I had some things to do." But actually, that's not an issue anymore after maybe about 4:30 am. Because at about that time, if you aren't yet sleeping, that's what you need to be doing. ^_^

I had finally caved in and agreed to teach someone how to play piano. She seems definitely interested, and I am too (I'm really wondering whether I can find a replacement pianist or whether I would earn much money in the process), but the books are yet to get here. I'll have to scrounge around for some books that I used to play from when I was learning piano myself.

I'm going to try and get some sleep now, seeing a how my field of vision is starting to swim slightly, and the edges of my laptop screen start to throb. ^_^

Song in my head: Cyndi Lauper, "Time After Time".
Currently reading: Soseki, The Miner. Partly to enjoy the story, and partly to see whether I should voluntarily withdraw from my Modern Japanese Novel class...

Seventeen syllables, No. 32

Outside my window
Lies a lush, vibrant forest
Twenty inches thick.

Death list three

I was walking with Maggie and Jesse from Bohemia to Colleague, on the left side of the road, in order to watch out for vehicles. Suddenly a burly-looking truck loomed behind us slowly, on the wrong side of the road. There were suddenly three vehicles all around us, and just as quickly the road was empty again.

We looked at each other, and finally I said, "Did someone order a hit on one of us?" Then we cooked up multiple conspiracy theories as to which of us ordered the hit, and which one of us it was on. My favorite theory that came out was that I ordered the hit, and that it was for Elaine, but since Elaine was not walking with us the hit did not go through, and that there was nevertheless a timebomb in my car that, as soon as Jesse realized its existence, I had to deactivate. ^_^

I called it a rehearsal of emotions should one (or more) should suddenly die. It was funny, but at least to me, it was thought-provoking. And hey, seeing Maggie get some fresh air with us that night? That's got to be valuable.

I talked with Serenity earlier today. For once, it was day here, and it was the deep of night in Oz where she is at. ^_^ A reversal of roles... and finally I got her to talk at length about something happening with her! Did I really have to wait this long to hear about her side of the screen for a change?

Good luck, Serenity. In all that you do.

In other news I finally used the pasta machine. Pictures will follow soon.

Thanks for reading, everyone.

Song in my head: Sean Cullen, "Wood, Cheese, and Children".

Seventeen syllables, No. 31

The teacher tells me,
"Where are you in what you do?"
I answered, "I'm at

Day # 8400

Can you imagine?

Thanks for coming to the party. You know who you are. ^_^

Song in my head: Survivor, "Eye of the Tiger".

Seventeen syllables, No. 30

I sped downstairs with
Dry books in hand. But the rain
Reached the pavement first.

Seventeen syllables, No. 29

I can't keep the notes
From leaving the flute. But I
Can keep on playing.

Seventeen syllables, No. 28

Horizon changes--
But not for me--as the plane
Zooms out steadily.

Unofficial withdrawal

Something I hope to never hear again. ^_^

I watched a movie with some friends tonight. Well, actually, there was only one friend--Kim--and the other three I met for the first time tonight. But I guess they are friends at the time of this writing. ^_^ We watched Stardust, and I remember cheering out loud at the part when the main guy finally gets the courage to do what we have been wanting him to do since the beginning of the movie. It took him a week to do it? It took me much longer.

You know, I never would have thought that I would see Kim leave. But in a sense, I guess we all have some sort of idea what life requires of us. And her life requires her to seek new horizons. The way I see it, the horizons are all the same.

I am sleepless again, just one day after the Weekend. I don't ever want to forget what I learned in it, but it is only now that I'm realizing how much I have to go through. When I ended the weekend, I expressed my happiness that I have passed the weekend program. But a staff member asked, "But are you ready for what's out there?" He moved away before I can say my answer out loud: "That question will take a lifetime to answer."

I am sleepless again. I am really confused... it is like I want to break down and cry, but I can't. There's no macho upper lip reason behind it, either. Because really, what is the use? I can't cry because I don't think my problem is solvable by me alone. So what do I do? I've been sitting in one place, silently, staring at my wall, or my window, or my ceiling. It was good that I found something to do: finally place all my loose notes from the semester so far into their own notebooks. Nothing is as therapeutic as order.

I can't believe that tomorrow I'm going to the store to pick something out to send Kim off with.

I can't think.

Song in my head: Survivor, "The Search is Over".

Seventeen syllables, No. 27

Night shrouds powerless
Buyers of meat, cans, fruits, time--
A phone flips on. Light.

Seventeen syllables, No. 26

I can see where the
Car went airborne from where the
Railings were crumpled.

Who really knows what goes on in the mind of a monkey

Truer words have yet to be said this week. ^_^

My classes and work are in full swing, with their usual difficulties and dramas that I have become accustomed to over the semesters. I finally feel like I have a definite schedule, though the time I leave the house is still largely dictated by my brother. I also notice that I am halfway through my Summer haiku, well in advance of my deadline (21 September). The thought that I will soon be busy with some of my other projects excites me a little bit.

Never thought that a straw-type hat would be branded as gang-related. ^_^ But we shall see how I manage.

And I finished the card. I hope it says what I want it to say.

Looking around at my room at this point in time, I get the distinct impression that it is time for moving on has come, and that I have been making big strides in that regard since this Summer. There are things in my room (like unopened wine bottles, a naked Rubik's Cube, and stacks of paper everywhere) that are now older than my current attention to them--had a few of these things were to be irrevocably lost, I would look for them for a few days, but then give up and feel blessed for a tidier room. I'm looking at a pink folder that contains bank statements from 2002 onwards, and I know that there are some more in one of my drawers. Why do I keep them around? Will I ever get around to matching them against the mountain of receipts going back to that time in the red shoebox in the other corner?

There's another thing I know is in my room, but right now its view is hidden by the very high ledge it is sitting on. It's a small "world clock" with two independent clock faces, and two other faces which used to be less independent than they are now. ^_^ I don't think there is a proper way to get rid of something like that, you know? Even if it were to turn up missing, its mere absence would remind me of the thing itself, so in the end I would accomplish nothing by disposing of it. So, even though it has ceased to function, there it is in an unseen corner of my room, collecting dust.

My teacher for the class Modern Japanese Novel (a very interesting class) said something about the philosophy called phenomenology, which claims that objects and facts are meaningless unless viewed through your experiences with that object or fact. This claim fits in with that two-faced clock. The only person I can ask about the value of that clock is myself, and in this case I say that it is worth more than to be thrown out.

Maybe a major cleaning of my room is not a bad idea. ^_^ We'll see if we can follow through with that thought.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, "Express Yourself".

It's the start of a new semester

...my eleventh. ^_^

In previous semesters, I've welcomed the hopeful feeling I always get when the semester starts and the Add/Drop period ends. The problem is, in the last three or four semesters I've had this feeling, my semesters actually haven't been good at all.

So this semester, I'm cautiously optimistic. I'm also going to write more. I feel like I have more outlets now than I did when I started school. And I also see a way (partially) out of the Collective. See, some people read comic books. I believe I live one! This sometimes writes itself.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Elvis Presley, "Hawaiian Wedding Song".

Seventeen syllables, No. 25

The guitar sings, too,
As half-remembered verses
Mingle with our laughs.

Seventeen syllables, No. 24

If coldness were a
Cat, it would sleep on my floor
On rainy mornings.

Seventeen syllables, No. 23

The old radio sings
Like it sang last night. The words
Are in my mouth, too.

Seventeen syllables, No. 22

The first Sunbeams that
Come through the window loudly
Pierce my ears. It's warm.

Seventeen syllables, No. 21

Do you remember
The movie? The characters
Spoke Filipino.

A whole lot of nothing

Have you ever had one of those extremely unproductive days where you ended up sitting around doing absolutely nothing at all? I think that if it happens too often it would be a problem, but sometimes it's exactly what you need.

Today was one of those days. Now, while many times we only have ourselves to blame for barely unproductive days, but yesterday, things just kind of fell into place, ensuring that I would have nothing to do today. ^_^ I guess it's just as well. I spent most of my day sitting down. That I sat down in different locations around the island yesterday but was equally unable to do much of anything in any of the places just adds fuel to the flame.

Anyway. At least it produced a blog entry. ^_^

Thanks for reading.

Current weight: 213.

Song in my head: VST and Company, "Rock Baby Rock".

P.S. Oh, but on the bright side, I think that the haiku are finally starting to bite. ^_^ I bet you've noticed...

Seventeen syllables, No. 20

Warm rain falls from the
Same spot everyday when I
Turn on the shower.

Seventeen syllables, No. 19

Up there, the pillows
Bleach in the Sun. But are they
Cool underneath, too?

Seventeen syllables, No. 18

Metal behemoths
Walk in place, subjugating
All those who mount them.

Seventeen syllables, No. 17

"Hey green car, you must
Stop behind the red stop sign!"
Blue lights swim through rain.

Looks like my Spring haiku are done... now on to Summer.

My fate is sealed

A day ago I turned in the last documents required in order to become part of the Collective. I'm currently in quarter time. Or so they say. Whatever that means.

I do hope I can get to write some Summer haiku before Summer actually ends. ^_^

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: The Thompson Twins, "Hold Me Now".

Seventeen syllables, No. 16

I press Down, Down, Down,
On the keyboard, pointlessly.
Moonbeams shine outside.

Seventeen syllables, No. 15

The passenger seat
Is always occupied by
My friends yesterday.

Seventeen syllables, No. 14

Silk lei on the ground.
Looking—now flowers not just
On my printed shirt.

Seventeen syllables, No. 13

If tomorrow won't
Come, I'll just sit with you all
Night. The Moon will do.

Unintended quote

Something I said at a job interview:

There are some things that are right but not good,
and there are some things that are good but not right.

It's true, isn't it?

While I do enjoy the adventurousness of not having any money on hand, I hope it's a feeling that doesn't last long. And once it passes, I am pretty sure that I won't miss it much, if at all. ^_^ Then again, isn't that what every old person tells the willing ear? "Oh, I remember when I didn't have any money... it was rough and tumble, those days."

The nights are cooler these weeks, so I have been able to give my airconditioning unit a rest.

Thanks for reading.

Current weight: 214 lb.
Song in my head: Donna Peña, "Against the Grain". My favorite song from the musical Tales of Wonder.

Florante and Laura aren't Filipino

Close to a week ago, Elmo came back from the Philippines, and handed me a copy of a classic book that I've been wanting to read for some time: Francisco "Balagtas" Baltazar's Florante at Laura. Right off the bat I was hooked. It might have been the feel of Tagalog coursing through my mind and coming out of my mouth. That's not to say that it's easy to read aloud. It's got lots of archaic and classical Tagalog words that even my parents haven't heard of!

But now that I am getting by in it, I am discovering how emo it really is. It figures, really... it was written in 1838, right smack dab during the Romantic period (or maybe a few years after... at any rate, it allows for the idea of Romanticism to reach the Philippines). That seems like it's worth writing a paper about. What do you think?

Oh, and yeah, I should be writing more haiku. But I guess I'm waiting for them to write me.

Song in my head: Stevie Wonder, "Isn't She Lovely". There's also the Kris Aquino version.

Cube day

It's 07/07/07. Isn't that cool? ^_^ Watch out, there are only five more Cube Days left this century... but guess what? We get to see them all!

Song in my head: Whitney Houston, "I Believe in You and Me". I haven't played a wedding reception in ages!

Stop and go

Today my car officially got rims (and new wheels). That means that currently my wheels look newer than the rest of the car.

Today I also had a "What do all of you want from me?" moment.

I guess I'll try harder next time.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Phil Collins, "Take Me Home".

In paradisum

A few days ago, I played one song on the piano for a funeral--a big one--at the Vestibule. This was one of the few instances where I was not the main pianist at a service. (I'm thinking there should be more, but that's really just my laziness talking... ^_^) After the pianist (who also conducted the choir) heard me play, he told me in passing that he admired the naturalness of my playing, and invited me to receive from him his 40-year-old catalog of musical arrangements. He also told me that a gift like my playing is received from God, not inherently mine, and that I should always find a way to give it back to Him.

I was inspired by what he said, needless to say, but then I thought about it. This is exactly what I needed to hear at this point in time. I can't be too upset about being unable to do everything I'd like to do. I didn't ask for a broken leg that's still healing, so the best choice is to deal with it.

In somewhat related news, my mother, my brother, and I just took advantage of two weeks free at a fitness club in the lowlands below the Plantation. I've visited the club twice already, and at least in this very early stage, I'm enjoying it. Fact is, my muscles have started to ache. Then again, people tell me that's when my muscles are growing. ^_^

Thanks for reading. And yes, your card is coming to you, Serenity. ^_^

Song in my head: Jack Johnson, "Better Together".

Titanium legs, one year after

Yesterday marked the day last year when I broke my leg over the ice. Because I realized it at 8:30 pm at night, I wasn't able to mark it in any special way.

Perhaps it is just as well. ^_^

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Philip Bailey, "No Compromise". Did Gary Valenciano ever cover this song?

Laws and orders

In my natural scheme of things, Summer is heralded by a number of occurences. One of the more notable indicators that Summer is here is the increased frequency of Law & Order marathons on TV.

After a few days (a few hours each) of watching the show, I realized something that I (and I am sure all the Law & Order addicts) do when perusing the program: they--I mean, we--check the clock. ^_^ Actually, the clock is a very good indicator of where the plot of the story is going. There are two things that almost always happen in an episode: (a) an arrest, and (b) a verdict. Avid viewers know that the arrest should normally happen at 30 minutes and the verdict near the end. If either doesn't, then the story has a twist. For example, today I saw an SVU program get a verdict at 30 minutes. That means it's not over, and a plot twist is in progress. ^_^

It makes watching the show that much more fun, I think. Keep the episodes rolling.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Royksopp, "Remind Me".

P.S. Oh, yeah, and before I forget, I thought that Law & Order fans didn't give Milena Govich enough of a chance to become part of the show. Why be threatened because she was hot? ^_^

Seventeen syllables, No. 12

The white pillow-clouds
That cover blue sky don't stop
The Sun from shining.

Happy birthday, Serenity. Belated, as always. ^_^

Fifty posts and two less teeth

A few days ago I went to the dentist, and my top wisdom teeth were pulled out. It took three years of delaying it, on the grounds that I didn't want to lose my wisdom.

Turns out I didn't have much to lose, because I don't feel any different. ^_^

Summer's upon us, and projects abound. I hope that I am able to land a summer job. Any ideas?

I'm writing songs again. I think that imo as a concept is maturing, and it shows in my recent writings.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Eagles, "The Best of My Love".

Not quite like seventeen syllables, No. 1

Here's a popular song that just happens to fit into a haiku. I suspect that there are more out there:

Tears in my eyes burn,
Tears in my eyes burn while I'm
Waiting... for my turn.

The song? Bob Marley, "Waiting in Vain."

Seventeen syllables, No. 11

The waves batter the
Sand under my foot like the
Sharp knife inside it.

Two rounds

I got through one week of doing some walking every night, and I am well on the way to establish a nightly routine. The standard route is twice around Colleague, and usually I am able to coerce participation from a subset of the Bohemians. It's not perfect, though; sometimes I get lucky, and I walk down Tumon after my time at the Staircase, but sometimes I am left with no one to walk with and I walk around the Mall.

Now if I can just work on my diet. Part of the problem is that I'm usually very hungry after the walk. Perhaps a solution would be to take the walk after I have already eaten. It's a possible fix...

It would be nice to have someone to walk with.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, "Face Down".

Battlefield squared, No. 1

[Event "Computer chess game"]
[Site "TERMINAL-1"]
[Date "2007.05.18"]
[Round "-"]
[White "The Math Wizard"]
[Black "GNU Chess 5.07"]
[Result "0-1"]
[TimeControl "40/300"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6
5. O-O Ne7 6. Nc3 Bg4 7. b4 Ng6 8. a4 Nh4 
9. d4 Bxf3 10. Qd3 Bxg2 11. Re1 Nf3+ 12. Kxg2 Nxe1+ 
13. Kf1 Nxd3 14. cxd3 Qxd4 15. Bg5 Qxc3 16. Rd1 Qc2
17. Re1 Bxb4 18. Re3 Bd2 19. Rh3 Bxg5 20. f4 Qc1+ 
21. Kf2 Qxf4+ 22. Kg2 Qd2+ 23. Kg3 Qxd3+ 24. Kf2 Qxh3 
25. Kg1 Be3+ 26. Kh1 Qf3# {computer wins as black} 0-1

Hey, we've got to start somewhere! My opponent, GNU Chess, came with the WinBoard program that I am using to hone my chess skills (which, as we see here, are clearly wanting!). We can see that Black, by Move 10, has been able to send a Bishop within cutting distance of my King; castling on Move 5 did not seem to do me much good. The computer continues to be brutal, delivering its first check by Move 12.

Near the end of the game (from about Move 19) I just got carried away trying to save the material I had on hand, and the computer put me on the defensive from there on, delivering the gory checkmate with a Queen and Bishop on Move 26:

In contrast to the above carnage, look at this endgame between Paul Keres and Bobby Fischer in the 1959. Now I understand what it means to have a beautiful checkmate. If I were Keres, I wouldn't have minded losing in order to witness this divine position...^_^ Well, then again maybe not; it's still pretty brutal:

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Justin Timberlake, "Lovestoned".

P.S. The above formatted text is in the format of a PGN file, which can be read by the program I am using, WinBoard. If you would like, download WinBoard from Tim Mann's website and paste in the text of the above game, if you would like to see the carnage being replayed. ^_^

A tribute to Euclid

Today I saw my Geometry students for the last time. After having answered the worksheets I have given them and helping them with the confusing parts, they up and left, and went to a nearby coffee shop, just as they might have done any other day.

You know, if somewhere down the road, it is revealed to me that what I actually taught them was not Geometry, but the doctrine of staying cool--through the impossible-to-read proofs, the intently difficult teacher (not a typo), the tests that did not get an A, and the weird tutor who thinks that Geometry is one of the pillars of the foundation of human society,--and if they were able to use this power to stay cool in their future classes, I would be satisfied with the outcome. In fact, I think I would prefer it that way. ^_^

And, if you really think about it, junior year is hard, but not harder than sophomore year. Junior year is hard when you're a sophomore. But it won't be hard when you're a junior.

So take heart, everyone.

I'm thinking that maybe I should thank my Math students at the Stairwell this semester for giving me back the faith in the numbers that I thought I lost. I hope Fall 2007 finally sees me crawl out of the rut in my Math classes.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Queen, "We Are the Champions". Heard on the radio while driving.

Chess--what about you?

Can you beat the Rozerem beaver in chess? I did--and much to my surprise, I might add. ^_^ I have never considered myself to be any good in chess, but I guess I can surmount a beaver in the beginner level.

I feel another diversion coming along... play a few hundred games with a progressively stronger computer, and post the results here. ^_^

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: The Beatles, "You're Gonna Lose That Girl".

Seventeen syllables, No. 10

The grain of rice sticks
Vehemently to my spoon
And won't let it go.

Seventeen syllables, No. 9

She frees her hair from
Their bonds, and they dance outwards
In jubilation.

That's so cherry

I laugh when I remember that six or seven years ago, I dreamt about a time when I would know what it would be like to sleep in. Now I find myself longing for that time when I could wake up at 5:30 am on a good day. ^_^

Things change real quick nowadays.

I realized that Jesse's final paper for the Literature class crystallized for me my sudden interest in haiku. He essentially says that poetry is a way to unwrap our raw thoughts, separating them from our own and our society's metaphors and modes of thought, in which our thoughts are usually packaged. I am beginning to realize that the large majority of my thoughts are overpackaged; I then see my haiku as an exercise in unpacking my thoughts so that I can test whether they can stand on their own.

So here's to a long Summer, a walk a day, a haiku per two days. ^_^

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Dirty Vegas, "Days Go By".

P.S. Props go out to Kim, who looked something up in the Urban Dictionary and is exploring verse. ^_^

Seventeen syllables, No. 8

Only the keyboards
Don't sweat as the fingers dance
On them busily.

Seventeen syllables, No. 7

One black slipper lies
Along the road, Sun-crackled,
Stepping towards shade.

--From an inspiration from Kim.

How many steps

I have a crazy idea for this Summer. I think that in addition to my many projects, I should determine the step distances between the many places I frequent. I think the values would figure into the tens of thousands or even the hundreds of thousands. ^_^ The route (not continuous! ^_^) would be as follows:

• The Plantation to Bohemia
• Bohemia to Colleague
• Colleague to the Staircase
• The Staircase to the Vestibule
• The Vestibule back to the Plantation

Wish me luck.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Sheena Easton, "Morning Train". Heard it today; brought to mind those four days with Serenity. I remember pretending to sing along. I remember being amazed at her knowing it. ^_^

Piano in the dark

Being a hotel lobby pianist is a job, but it's only barely one. It'd be a dream job.

Maybe this summer.

I guess a part of me was glad to be holed up in a hospital room in St. Luke's Hospital in the Philippines. I hadn't been sick in such a long time. There's something... reflective, peaceful in a hospital room, no matter how busy the ward actually was. I remember thinking the clearest when I was there. Had I stayed any longer, my comparative solitude would've generated more than the one song I wrote there.

Or maybe it's actually visiting someone who's sick. I can remember the last time I visited someone in the ward at the GMH. Even though I knew that he's been visited profusely--he had a large family--I got the sense that he was glad I was there. I would've been the last person he expected to drop in. (The fact is I go out so rarely that I'm the last person anybody expects to drop by anywhere.) So we took a walk around the grounds, just to get away from the hospital smell. I'm sure that that spelled just a little bit of regeneration for the both of us.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: James Taylor, "Caroline I See You".

Seventeen syllables, No. 6

"Good night!" "Good night." "Drive
Safely!" "You two have a good
Night." "OK, 'bye!" "'Bye."

A Louisianan pragmatic and a Congolese Mass

Overheard on the History Channel:

Louisiana was not bought for four cents an acre; it was bought for four cents a gallon.

They were, of course, referring to the Mississippi River, whose mouth the Americans would now control. Bonus: Confusing War Name number 1: The French and Indian War. So, who fought? And who won? ^_^

I saw the University Singers perform the Missa Luba yesterday. It was a particularly pretty set of music. The one that made me tear up and cry was the fifth movement, "Agnus Dei". Some of it had to be the words, but I think that a large part of it had to be the intricate, "quilted" harmony that I never had the good fortune to replicate.

Well, you can't win them all. At least I wrote the best melody ever--for a little-heard responsorial psalm. ^_^

Song in my head: Earth, Wind, and Fire, "September". And also the rousing rendition from the UOG Jazz Ensemble.

Seventeen syllables, No. 5

I sit, playing the
Note over and over, like
A song without words.

Seventeen syllables, No. 4

The kitten outside
Feels the tiny drops of rain,
Meowing, shivering.

Walk the walk

My doctor read a recent X-ray film of my leg, and pronounced that I can now walk regularly without my orthopedic. Now that's a relief, because it was slowly but surely wearing down my pair of rubber shoes. ^_^

Now the frequency of FFFFF should increase. ^_^

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Justin Timberlake, "Sexyback".

Seventeen syllables, No. 3

The open letter's
Pages rustle in my hands.
I hear you laughing.

Seventeen syllables, No. 2

The sandwich last night
Had the exact amount of
Yucky mayonnaise.

One down

This morning I finished To Kill a Mockingbird. I have completed my spatialization of the novel, which, my Literature professor says, is what you do the first time you read a book. You basically toil through the book to reach the end and to find out what happens. The way to find the great books, I deduced, is to look for those books which survive spatialization--the ones who bear a second read. That means that this semester saw me with three great books, then.

Now the rest of my reading list awaits.

Jesse gave me great advice today, applicable to life as well as math problems: if you don't know what to do, do something and quick. Chances are that the things you know how to do are the things you are supposed to do.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Busta Rhymes feat. Mariah Carey, "I Know What You Want". It's been ages since I heard this one.

Breakfast

It's the first time in a long time I ate breakfast. Pretty good, but I actually ate lunch. ^_^

Song in my head: Wham!, "Careless Whisper". I sure wish I can hear the Freedom Fries version.

Creativity

A few days ago, I took stock of the things that I was busy with. Other than my three jobs (at Colleague, the Super Paper Patrol, and the Staircase), my home responsibilities, and my classes in school, I am involved in twenty-six side projects, of which fourteen are being actively planned or developed.

I came upon this because I was planning on making a web showcase of these various projects. But when I saw the number, I quickly decided not to.

A few lessons here: It's very easy to start something, but it's difficult to finish it! Most of the these have been projects since my sophomore year in high school... the oldest one started when I was in the eighth grade. ^_^ The reason I still stick with them? I don't know... maybe I recognize that it would be really cool to see them to fruition. I recognize a spark of myself in them, and if they were to be disseminated and available, people would understand who I am.

Another lesson: sometimes it's easier to finish something if you're collaborating with other people. Of course, this isn't always true: one of my only finished projects I worked on alone, and two of my collaborations are stuck in planning. But having other people concerned with the project as you are really helps when it seems you have nowhere to go. And it's infinitely easier to push a collaborated project a step forward: have a meeting. ^_^ With introspection and self-dialogue, inspiration is hard to come by--it's like stirring water. Nothing happens; it's still water. But when thoughts combine, the end result is always different. Like water and iced tea mix. Or water and vinegar. The point is, after the meeting, the project will (hopefully) be in a different place than where it was before.

Like Sassoon and Owen collaborating in Regeneration (it goes without saying that I think you should read the book; it's really good ^_^) creativity is less about inspiration than about the follow-through work one must put in to carrying out the project. The book can be seen as a critique of the Romantic view of inspiration and creativity; so was Frankenstein, and, I guess, so is this post. ^_^

Thanks for reading. And create something today, will you? It'll make you feel better.

Song in my head: APO Hiking Society, "Doo Bidoo".

Fake chemicals

OK, so here's a really simple yet addictive game you can play in Wikipedia. I'm going to call it "Fake Chemicals".

1. Go to the Wikipedia website.
2. Think of a possible name for a chemical. Maybe you've heard generic names for drugs on TV ads, or the chemical name of some popular recreational substances, or industrial cleaners, stuff you put in your hair, etc.
3. Type it into the search box.
4. If there is no Wikipedia entry for the chemical, give yourself 2 points and write it down somewhere (I use a Notepad window).
5. If there is a Wikipedia entry for the chemical, give yourself 0.5 point.
6. Stop doing it when you're tired of it, or if you're not bored anymore.

My list of fake chemicals? I scored 28 points!

• Cycloparaben
• Isoquinone
• Pentathone
• Hydroxycalbutenal
• Dimethizone
• Lamic acid
• Hydrokeratinol
• Pentaphthalate
• Stereoxanthylline
• Metrocyanibinol
• Polymethylacridase
• Propanodione
• Multidecanine
• Hydroproxin sulfate

As an option, try scoring your chemical names Scrabble-style, by adding up the Scrabble values of the letters in the chemical. That means q's and x's and the like would score very high.

What can you do with your list of words? Nothing, really... but if you're a science fiction writer (or know someone who is) this list may come in handy someday. ^_^ Oh, and advance apologies to any Biology or Chemistry majors whose sensitivities are offended by this kind of nomenclature-wrangling. ^_^ It's all in fun, I promise. And tell them the Math Wizard thought you'd have a laugh for it.

I watched my old school's rendition of The Little Mermaid tonight. It was great, as their productions always have been. The parents section went wild when my sister's class appeared on stage; hey, my sister and her friends were celebrities in their own right. ^_^

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Regine Velasquez' version of "Harana".

P.S. OK, found one more... Phosphydactilone. This is addictive... ^_^

Nothing, and To kill a mockingbird

Yesterday was a good day to do nothing.

Now don't get me wrong; I did something, but in this case I think that the sum of the things I did amounted to much less than the individual things I did. I mean, sure, I watched TV, and ate lunch, and sat around at home. But I had no net output.

...you know what? It felt kind of good. ^_^

And, I guess, good for nothing.

OK, but I did read a few more chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird. I'm enjoying it mightily. I cannot remember what I was doing the same day lat year, but I am fairly certain that I didn't read any fiction. I'm thinking that this English class is reawakening something in me that I thought was dead for a long time.

When I got to the second to the last page of Regeneration by Pat Barker, I put it down, uneasy. There they were, Rivers writing a report about Sassoon's progress in Craiglockhart, and I was keenly aware of the fact that if I read any more paragraphs in five minutes, Rivers would cease all conscious, observable thought, action,--change. In a sense, he would die, together with Prior, Sassoon, Burns, Anderson, Bryce, Sarah Lumb, and all the other characters. And I would kill them, they whom I have resurrected in my brain so that they could play scenes for both my escape and edification. Pat Barker, like Charles Dickens and Mary Shelley before her, made the dough, but I baked the characters in my own mind. And as a result my Rivers and Sassoon would be different from Jesse's Rivers and Sassoon and from the Riverses and Sassoons the thousands of other readers would have had.

I felt a sense of thrill in this co-creation, this amazingly intimate, unique collaboration between author and reader. In the last four years I have not read a single work of fiction (OK, that's most probably not true, but I cannot remember any) because I thought for a long time that my imagination is dead, or at least broken, and I didn't know how to fix it. As a result I read mostly nonfiction works, like textbooks and instruction manuals. But now I'm thinking about writing a reading list, and commenting on my latest characters.

If this tirade is a bit long, blame Kim. She gave me the questionnaires that gave birth to these thoughts. And I'm glad she did; I hope that this Summer doesn't halt my reading activities. And I guess I'm also glad that Elaine and Jesse own so many classics. ^_^

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: James Taylor, "On the 4th of July". I thought of this song when I read about Prior and Sarah having their moment in the bushes in Regeneration.

P.S. You should really try reading fiction aloud. Sure, it can get tedious, but you're rewarded by hearing your characters talk. I credit To Kill a Mockingbird with bestowing my normal speaking voice with an Alabaman twang for the time being. ^_^

Seventeen syllables, No. 1

I'm getting into haiku, guys. Check this one out.

Cold water ripples
Inside a white plastic cup--
A pen is moving.

Laughing all the way

What was I doing at 4:20 at 4/20? I was driving.

Song in my head: The Pillows, "Sha-la-la-la".

P.S. OK, more things happened yesterday, but to make it clear, I didn't participate in the festivities. ^_^

Fansub

One of the advantages of getting cable is being able to watch some Kapamilya shows when I need a fix of Tagalog in my day. This latest craze is pretty shiawright--a teleserye (soap opera) called "Rounin," something that is currently being described as an "anime-serye". And the description is apt... lots of fantasy action in this show (much more than you'd see in a run-of-the-mill Filipino soap opera), a slightly dystopic, post-industrial world where everyone speaks Tagalog (and lots of really correct, crisp, highly fluent Tagalog at that), lots of good character development, and a decidedly epic storyline. I've suggested to Freshwater that I get a copy somewhere of maybe the first two or three episodes, perform a fansub from Tagalog to English, and show it on a future Anime Night. Now that would be a worthy undertaking.

Does it ever occur to anyone that we do some fansubbing ourselves unconsciously as well, whenever we talk? Language differs from person to person all around the world. The depressing conclusion is that we will never be able to communicate at all with anyone else. The optimistic conclusion is that miscommunication is to be expected and forgivable. So if at first you misunderstand, look for a fansub. ^_^

Thanks for reading. I promise I won't tell anyone what you inhaled today.

Song in my head: James Taylor and Yo Yo Ma, "Benjamin".

P.S. You know, yesterday Jesse and I felt as if we were struck by lightning.

Having a video capture camera

The hardest thing about joining YouTube is deciding what to contribute to it.

Song in my head: The Math Wizard, "Two Twenty-One".

Like a sudden alignment of planets--

Today I spent some time with Madge playing some pool. I haven't played it for ages, but I was glad to realize that I am just as poor at it as I was when I first started. ^_^ But pool is one of those things where if you aren't having a good time, you might as well quit. So it was quite a favorable bellwether that Madge and I played four games, much to the hilarity of both of us. "That's got to be the most fun I've had playing pool," she said.

Hey, I can't take all the credit, can I? I mean, I can't help but laugh at a game where you take turns hitting balls with thin sticks. Again, if you're not having fun, why are you still doing it? ^_^

Then there was some FFFFF afterwards. I didn't know you could walk up Happylanding Road, albeit with much exertion!

Here's to more matches in desolate pool halls. And score one for the random guy in a bike, wearing a black hoodie and Pringles in his pocket.

Thanks for reading.

50 Cent, featuring Lupe Fiasco, "Touch the Sky".

Horizon

Is this finally the lighted passageway out of the three and a half year old ditch that I have been occupying? My mood: cautiously optimistic, as always.

Song in my head: Neocolours, "Tuloy Pa Rin".

P.S. I'm thinking that I should import the blog posts from my past journal to here. That's a lot of work, but it may be worth it. Thanks again for reading.

Asleep

This book I'm currently reading, Regeneration by Pat Barker, is easily the heaviest book I've read so far. It's about a war psychologist serving during the First World War. Its depiction of the fall of the old Victorian order and subsequent de-Romanticization of war and idealism is represented so effectively in the soldiers sent to Craiglockhart mental institution, trying to deal with their past. Very heavy work, but I am enjoying reading it. Makes me think about what they had to go through.

I'm pretty tired right now, and just as well. I have an early dentist's appointment tomorrow. So maybe I'll choke down another chapter of Regeneration, play a round of Tetris (I bought a handheld version this afternoon ^_^), and then go to sleep.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Phil Collins, "Against All Odds".

Golden hour

I drove down Airport Road yesterday at about a quarter past six in the evening. Since Spring is now with us, the Sun was still peeking through some clouds, not content to leave the show just yet. What I saw was spectacular--the Sun shimmered on everything it could get its rays on. Everything from the coconut tree fronds swaying in a lazy wind, to the buildings that consequently looked like they were all made of gold, shone in the Sunlight. It was Guam's Golden Hour--and I saw it in the fifteen-minute drive from the Plantation to the Vestibule.

What a coincidence. Had I delayed in getting ready that afternoon, or otherwise not done any of the chores I accomplished that day, I would have missed the very narrow window for the Golden Hour. My day must have been progressing the way it was supposed to.

And I wonder how many of my fellow motorists noticed. Maybe they were too busy driving. But then again, so was I.

Thanks for reading, and Happy Easter, everyone. And welcome back, Kim.

Song in my head: Shamrock, "Paano", originally by the APO Hiking Society.

Spring break

It seems like a whole week passed between my last post and this one. So much has happened in the last weekend, and it will be a challenge to make this one short. But I shall try.

It has been a pretty medical weekend, what with me getting my blood checked and my leg filmed in X-ray. I hope that it is easy to send developed X-ray film to the Philippines. I was happy with what my lower leg looked like on the film, and I hope that my orthopedic surgeon would be happy as well.

I'll be aiming to stay home more. So far I'm succeeding, leaving the house only when necessary.

I was aiming to disconnect from the Internet this Spring break. Well, you know how that's turning out. Maybe Friday I'll disconnect.

The youth retreat earlier today was a lot of fun. It was the most spontaneous one I've ever been on.

That's all I have to say for now. Thanks again for reading.

Song in my head: The Pillows, "Carnivore".

Hi guys! or, The cheapest hoax ever

Hey there! Guess what?

It's not April Fools' Day!

Heh. ^_^

Happy April Fools' Day. Oh, yeah, and a blessed Palm Sunday to all as well. I'm contemplating disconnecting from the Web for Holy Week.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Kushida Akira, "Hallo! Shaider". I'll post the lyrics tomorrow.

Cast of characters

There are a few people that I will constantly be talking about. Here I will describe them at length, in random order:

• The Math Wizard. That's me. I can best be described as recursive: To describe myself, I must first describe myself.
• Serenity. Someone I still consider to be my best friend. She's known me the longest.
• Jesse. I have been hanging out with the rice cracker since before i-mo was born, and he put himself up at Bohemia. He represents "apathy" in the i-mo triangle.
• Elmo. I see him as the embodiment of the Anime ethic carried to its logical conclusion. He plays some good guitar, and is close to his family.
• Elaine. She's a soul currently living in Bohemia as well. One of the more artistic people I've known in a while.
• Timmy, or Freshwater. By most accounts, the leader of the pack. Everyone's big brother. He likes to party and hang out.
• Gogo. My [little] brother. He's industrious, and for that I look up to him.
• Wave. She works at Colleague central, but that is the end of her strait lace. Enough said.
• The Youth Choir. A rambunctious group that sometimes gets together to sing at the Vestibule. A handful show up for practice, and twice as many show up for the actual thing.
• Stud Life. Another rambunctious group... and not much else. Close-knit, though.
• Kim. I get her codename from Kim Possible. Now, if she's Kim Possible, that'd make me Wade. Travels the world just like Kim does, except she doesn't do as much crimefighting.
• Super Paper Patrol. It's a small group who is tasked with helping everyone who approaches with term papers in hand. It has changed in composition at least once while I am in it.
• The Proprietress. She holds the keys to the Shellcase. Her feet may only walk on Post-it notes and mailing labels, and is never doing only one thing at a time.
• The Doc. Actually, there are two people called "The Doc"; both of them are employers of mine. One oversees my work as a Super Paper Patroller, and another looks over the Colleague website.
• Fobber. A radio personality. I haven't seen much of him lately, but I know he is there by the sound of his voice in my car.

There are some others, like the Whiteshirt, and Flamingo, who I hang out with at length, and some others from my memory, such as Noside and others who I haven't seen in a long time. But as people enter the story, I will take care to mention them here.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Green Day, "American Idiot".

Broken packages

I'm having a lot of fun with Linux. ^_^

The trick to Scrabble is scoring as many points as possible with as few tiles as possible. I played three and a half straight rounds of such, and, while I consistently placed third out of four, I felt that I'm a lot better at it now than when I last played it (which was years ago).

I'll need to find work for the summer. Save up a little for next semester.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Regine Velasquez feat. Andrew E., "'Di Bale Na Lang".

A mountain of dishes

Whenever I think that I should contribute more to the work at home, I turn around and I realize that I really have four homes. ^_^ Thanks, Elaine, for pointing it out.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Rent, "Seasons of Love".

Open window

I think I should get more sleep. Last night, after Wendy's night, and having headed home, I stayed up. But it was for no particular reason other than to stay up. I think it has something to do with the things going on in my life.

A few days ago, while conversing with her, Kim said that I should not dwell on my past mistakes. At the time I agreed with her, but after she signed off, I asked myself. If I don't dwell on my past mistakes, where would I dwell? It seems to me that I have been wallowing in what Dickens called a "Slough of Despot" for what would be almost two, three years now, and frankly, I don't know any other place to dwell in--any other place to call home.

Maybe I should now instead dwell on how to fix things. It would be more productive.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Gary Numan, "Cars".

First run

It feels extremely good to be able to run all the distance between Bohemia and the customary place for parking my vehicle. ^_^

I will do it again tomorrow, no excuses.

But Salad Night was cancelled. I don't know whether Wendy's is an appropriate substitution thereof.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Franz Ferdinand, "Michael".

Spring break actions

While I lay in one of the couches at the Shellcase, I made a mental survey of what everyone is going to be doing for Spring Break.

Kim, as I have so astutely prophesied, is going to be travelling over the break. (Then again, she travels whenever there are more than twelve hours between classes. ^_^) So are Gauge and Wave, but they are going to the Philippines.

It is very likely that Elmo and Jesse are staying at home; maybe something with the Imaginary Friends can happen during the break.

As for me, I'm probably going to be dividing my time between the Plantation and the Vestibule. There'll be a recollection sometime early Holy Week, and I would very much like (although I would be very much advised against) hiking to the top of Mt. Jumullong-Manglo for Good Friday. This means that it'll be the first yearly hike I skip in the five years I've done it. The leg should get its due recovery.

What about you? What are you doing for Spring Break?

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Mocedades, "Eres Tú".

These are hard times, indeed, and Pancho-tacos

After some tutoring at the Staircase, I made an unannounced visit to Bohemia. But as I discovered, not as unannounced as I thought. ^_^ But I did get to read to the end of Book II of Hard Times by Dickens, and to cook some pancakes.

Pancho-tacos
Traditional Bohemian cuisine

• 1 cup pancake mix


• 0.75 cup + 1 tbsp water


• 1 scoop ice cream (rocky road, double dutch or any other flavor)


• Butter to coat pan


• chocolate syrup to taste

1. Mix the pancakes and water, stirring until combined. Do not overstir.


2. Coat a medium low to medium high pan with butter.


3. Pour the pancake batter in batches, turning once after about one and a half minutes. Note: To show off to the ladies, accomplish the flip with the pan. Remember: it's all in the wrist.


4. Place the finished pancakes on a stack.


5. To serve yourself: take a pancake in hand, scoop in ice cream, add chocolate syrup over it, and fold into the shape of a taco.

Try it.

Then later that night I became an impromptu emcee at one of my sister's friend's parties, so my voice is gone for today. ^_^

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: F4, "情非得已 (Qing Fei De Yi)".

Lonely lamp posts

I went for a walk tonight, under and along the lonely lamp posts that dot the road that circled Colleague. It was a pensive walk, as there was nobody to walk with me. But it was just as well... I had a healthy talk with myself.

I wonder if it is too late to be diagnosed with attention deficit disorder.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: The Pillows, "Hybrid Rainbow".

Simulation

When I was younger, I used to imagine that my life was a simulation--not the real thing. Whenever I looked around, I imagined that it was all a big movie production and I was on a set, and everyone around me was paid to appear there, and everything was a prop. I constantly tried to find evidence of this--every time I visited some new place, I quickly looked around the backs of buildings, checking whether "they" have had enough time to build a whole building just for me, or else just left the fronts of the buildings finished, propped up from behind by wooden planks. The fact that I never did see any prop buildings didn't really console me; it just increased my wonder at how complete and "big-budget" this production was.

Other times I imagined that my life was a video game, an ultra-realistic simulation of what life would be like as a nine-year-old living in a suburb in Metro Manila. But that was not as extensive as another storyline--that I was really not human. That I was really a cybernetic being that was planted into the Philippines by a shadowy security agency called the Network, whose aim it was to foil diabolical attempts to take over the world. I had continuous neural contact with an operator named "Rick", and a secretary named "Wanda", who orchestrated excuses whenever I was going to be missing for a mission. Now being missing from school for a mission--that was something I never was actually able to orchestrate myself. But that would've been fun, too. ^_^

I don't know what led to that thought process. I have no idea why I thought that my life imitated art. Looking back now, I think that by keeping to myself instead of playing at the playground with my friends, I became somewhat detached from reality... nevertheless aware of it, but feeling as if I was not a participant in it. It gave me a different kind of grounding than what my friends really did... and I think it's another reason that I'm still alone at this time.

That's not too bad, though; in fact it's shiawright. Understanding why you are a certain way goes a long way towards deciding whether a change would be either good or bad.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Styx, "Mr. Roboto".

P.S. I just found out that at one point in time, Bobby Flay's girlfriend was Stephanie March. Yeah, one of the past ADAs from Law and Order. We can all hope for a comparable station in life. ^_^ Oh, well.

Two Comtrex

I was thinking during the Retreat that my hacking cough was being caused by vog. Now I'm guessing closer; that it's a virus. I felt terrible today; like I had bricks inside the caverns in my nose, pressing upwards against my brain.

I hope the medicine does the trick. We'll know tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Justin Timberlake, feat. will.i.am, "Damn Girl".

P.S. Experimenting with the look of this journal is fun. ^_^

Locations

Our story will take place mainly in a few places. I will add to this list as the number of places grows.

• The Plantation. This is the place of reflection, where the cool grass is your carpet and the billowing cumulus is your blanket. It is a high place, overlooking the rest of the northern part of the island. Most nights, the whistle of the gentle wind is the only sound to be heard. The Plantation is fairly populated, but other than the people in my family, I seldom catch sight of the other inhabitants.
• Bohemia. Its location is nondescript; a place just like dozens of places very near it, atop, below, or beside. But inside resides a singular randomness that keeps together some very dissimilar housemates. Four people now officially call it home, including Jesse and Elaine, but now and then the White-shirt stays for periods of welcome.
• Colleague. The place called "Colleague" is an expanse of trees, grass, and hard fact. Merely walking on the grass or breathing in the air increases knowledge and understanding. It is dotted by haphazardly-placed buildings, which seem to be held together by the combined vibration of all the facts and opinions expressed here. For now, this is my primary place of work, though lately it has also been my primary place of sleep.
• The Shellcase. The Shellcase is a special room within Colleague. Its Proprietress is a kind sort of sorceress, whose magical feet may only tread on yellow Post-it notes and is never doing only one thing at a time. The Proprietress has taken many disciples, who have free recourse to the room. One of its walls is made of glass, which allows the inhabitants to see future visitors to the Shellcase. This is the place where much, often boisterous, conversation is done. It is the base of operations for the group named Stud Life.
• The Stairwell. This is a place of learning far away--at least seventeen minutes by car from both the Plantation and Colleague. I ascend its steps three or four times a week to teach what I know about Mathematics, the Art-Science, of the Invisible Force of the Number and the Extent. Sometimes I also teach the intricacies of our language. My students are few, but they are devoted to their continued study.
• Vestibule. I always feel welcome here. The floor is lined with marble and the ceiling lined with fluorescent light. Near the front of the room is a black grand piano that becomes mine whenever my fingers light upon it. Whenever I am here, I hear the truth and the beautiful song that bids me come back. Someone eagerly wants me to take the Vestibule with me and show it to everyone I meet wherever I go, but that has been a tall order, at best, for at least all of my life.

These are some of the places you will visit as you follow my adventures. I hope that your travels with me are made easier because of this list. Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: The Five Stairsteps, "Ooh Child".

For all that I care

So I'm starting another one of these projects, right? I'm going to co-produce this indie magazine made up of literary attempts. Kind of like Storyboard, but grungier--which is really the point. The editors are going to be anonymous, and we'll publish on letter single-fold photocopy whenever we have seventeen articles written. We hope to get some sort of response, even some form of contribution from the students, our classmates, for this one. It would be really cool to see what they care enough about to write something.

There have been a lot of i-mo song ideas that flew by my head this past week. My only regret is that I could not catch all of them. I hope that what I was able to pick up are the good ones.

Song in my head: Modest Mouse, "Dramamine".

Thirty soldiers

I think I've forgotten how to attend a retreat. I hope I remember before it's over.

Please think of and pray for our second year confirmation candidates who are at this moment deep in slumber (or otherwise, as experience teaches us ^_^).

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: "Come, Holy Spirit".

Reboot

The place known as Latte Plantation is a strip of grassy, windy land overlooking the northern part of an island called Guam. Its weather is pleasant all year around, with the windswept grass always pleasant to walk on. The Plantation's inhabitants are relatively agreeable, once they are found out (and it's difficult to find them out!).

The Plantation is also my home.

I hope that this would be the last reboot for my online journal.

Song in my head: Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Freebird".