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".