…at long last

After 11 months (almost a year!) of planning, I, Gracia and (Miss) Mcne finally got the chance to get together yesterday. We watched a movie at Gateway Mall, and pushed a booze session through at Mcne’s place.
I truly miss such gimmicks. But I miss Mcne more (for I see Gracia almost everyday. Hellerrrr?! We are housemates in UP Village, dude!). I sincerely pine for our chats, laughters, book criticisms, movie reviews, spiffs, PA’s, and all those Epix days’ stuff. I wanted to go back there. But with all the academic works and extra curricular activities I have, it is impossible now. I just wish that time will permit us again to have a gathering like this in the future.

My Two New Babies

A friend once told me that the material things (the gadgets…hi-tech devices in particular) a person treasures must be tagged with names. According to him, this must be so for it signifies the fact that these objects are really precious. And also, ‘baptized’ items, as stated by him, function at their best if the owner treats them so dearly, which in a way is exemplified by naming these doodads. I do not really understand the raison d’être here, but this seems interesting. Too bad I was already enjoying my P910i for months when my said friend shared this idea. Hence, I wasn’t able to give it a name anymore.
Because I badly need a laptop for my thesis, Papa bought me one just last December 7. Now it’s solely mine! I was even lucky that this laptop came with a digital camera! Wohooo! Picture galore! Since I now have two new gizmos, I had to think of two names as an adherence to the give-names-to-widgets notion mentioned…

Meet Sammy (laptop) and Kimmy (digital camera), my new babies. Their names do not really have meanings…I simply find them cool and cute. Hahaha!

Whattah Christmas Gift!

This is such a long devastating day! I am so angry, exhausted, disappointed, and agitated—all at the same time.
Lantern Parade is one of the most awaited events in the University of the Philippines (Diliman). Not only it enlivens the spirit of Christmas in the campus, but it also showcases the creative side of the students of UPD’s colleges. It has long been an annual tradition, even outsiders are longing to witness. But just because the chancellor was so threatened by what student protesters could do just for TOFI (Tuition and Other Fee Increases) not to be approved, he called this off. Without thinking of all the effort, money, and time many people have offered just for this event to be pushed through, the very great chancellor of UPD cancelled an affair quite a number of people have long been preparing for. Just as when the College of Arts and Letters was confident enough we could win this time—mere reason why many of us set off our beds and the luxury of sleeping for a night or so—Chancellor Sergio Cao suspended what we have been setting up for! What was his reason??? According to rumors, there was a bomb threat so he could not risk the safety of all the people who would be joining the parade. Huh!!! The hell with the bomb threat!!! Why couldn’t he just admit that he was so alarmed with what we could do to fight for our rights?! Why was not he showing up whenever we demanded for explanations?! If he was really not desperate, why did he have to hit a student demonstrator with his own car, just to stop the activists from articulating their sentiments?! And if the UP administration has truly no agenda, why were today’s memos all set for dissemination knowing that this year’s Lantern Parade’s termination was an abrupt pronouncement?! Hmmm… I smell something fishy…
Among others, what certainly pissed me off the most today is the approval of TOFI!!! While I and the other students, who truthfully scrutinize what the society dictates, endured the heat of the sun and formed barricades for the BOR (Board of Regents) not to pursue their meeting, many UP students still remained apathetic. With all of the educational discussions and fora we have been conducting, many still do not understand what we are fighting for. And it hurts us so much to know that even our co-iskos had been rejecting our presence when we, despite the physical stress and emotional torture, were still trying to make them aware. It was as if none of them will be affected if ever TOFI proposal would become a reality.
With 7-0 votes (because the Student Regent and the Faculty Regent were not informed where the meeting was, so they were not able to express their thoughts in front of the board), the Tuition and Other Fee Increases proposal was finally agreed upon by the Board of Regents. It seems that all our exertions for the campaigns have gone in vain, but we will never look at it this way… So long as there are people like Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Emerlinda Roman, and Sergio Cao who think of nothing but just their own comfort and welfare, the fight still continues. We will again STAND UP… Now better…stronger…larger…