one-liners

2006-12-31T07:52:00.000-08:00

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness.

I hope you read some fine books,

and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful,

and don't forget to make some art - write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can.

And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself."

(Neil Gaiman)

True, true, Mr. Gaiman. Everyone, let's all leave 2006 with no regrets. No coulda, woulda, shouldas to bring with us in 2007, okay? 'If it was good, then wonderful. If it was bad, then it's experience.' ;)

Let's remember to live our lives so we can achieve the best of benedictions - "If I had my life to live over, I'd do it all the same."

2007, here we come!

Happy new year, everyone! :)

DON'T QUIT

2006-09-15T17:14:00.000-07:00

When things go wrong as they sometimes will
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill
When the funds are low, and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh
When care is pressing you down a bit
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns
As every one of us sometimes learns
And many a fellow turns about
When he might have won, had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow.
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt
And you never can tell how close you are
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit
It's when things seem worst that you musn't quit.

-Anonymous

So again, my dear ladies, and to you, my dear reader, I hope you do take the road less traveled by, rage, RAGE against the dying of the light, and always remember that you are the master of your fate and you are the captain of your soul. :)

caution: smiley face overload

2006-06-23T07:01:00.000-07:00

June 19, 2006. Without a doubt, one of the best birthdays I've ever had. :)

Never, as in never, did I expect anything like that to happen. A million thanks would not be enough to show you how grateful and overwhelmed I was. (My advisory class knows this. Hehe.) I still am actually. Grateful, overwhelmed, in awe, just plain happy. Euphoric, even. :)

Thank you for giving me something to look back on, something to replay in my head when things aren't going so well. Or even when things do :) I won't go into detail anymore about what happened in fear that I might leave something out. Don't worry, everything's still as clear as day in my head, and it will forever stay that way. The whole day was just bliss. Pure and utter bliss :)

The night before. The moment I woke up. The moment I set foot in school. All the classes I had that day. Recess. Lunch. Dismissal. The moment I got home. The mysterious doorbell. The moment I went to sleep that night. Even the day after. Everything was just so surreal. So surreal that I can't even write in whole sentences :)

It was an extraordinarily special day. Wow. Extraordinary na, special pa. Haha :) And yet it still doesn't define how special, in fact, that day was :)

I am truly blessed. I am. From the very moment I was given that great opportunity last year, I knew that this was going to be something. It didn't have to take a birthday to realize that. My dear ladies, you inspire me. Thank you. :)

5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

2006-06-03T14:15:00.000-07:00

Goodbye, summer. Hellooooo, SY 2006 - 2007. :)

2006-06-02T18:29:00.000-07:00

"Modern communication enabling technologies will only heighten your sense of desolation by making you more keenly aware of the fact that no one is trying to call." -WKW

He's really a genius, that Kar-wai. It's funny in a painful kind of way because there's truth in it. How many times have you heard a person say "Ay. Walang nagmamahal sakin" when he/she checks his/her cell and sees that there are no messages or missed calls?

While we're on the subject, let's take a look at texting. I myself have fallen victim at times to its codes. I can get all paranoid about a lack of punctuation or a smiley face. How sad. It's annoying how a "u" with an umlaut (I don't know the ASCII code for this) or even a period can mean the difference between "Everything's fine and dandy" and "There's something wrong." Can't it just be that we're being grammatically correct? (Oh, don't even get me started on how texting has slowly deteriorated the literacy of its users, especially the younger ones. I did a whole paper on that back in college.)

Sometimes, I have half a mind to throw the concept of having a cellphone out the window. It just gets us into trouble.

Plus, it's sad to think that the very device that's supposed to promote and enable communication can also be the exact device to bring people apart. Tsk.

Sing with me now.

...and isn't it ironic? Don't you think?

postcard perfect

2006-05-08T19:01:00.000-07:00

Let's do this again. :)

m:i:3

2006-05-08T05:06:00.000-07:00

i heart philip seymour hoffman. you da man.

Props to J.J. Abrams for creating an adrenaline rushing, edge-of-your-seat, and witty (there were some good and funny lines in there) film. It, of course, seemed very Alias-y at times. I was half expecting Sydney to come out. Even some of the characters were very reminiscent of the said Abrams show. Then again, you can't really do away with token characters in these kinds of films now, can you?

I thought there were one too many cars (among other things) that were blown up, but hey, it's all about shock value, right?

After watching the film (actually OBB palang,) you realize one thing: M:I:3 IS Hollywood.

'Nuff said.

Opening the freezer door is heaven.

2006-05-03T14:41:00.000-07:00

...and the heat deserves yet another entry:

I was watering the plants awhile ago, and I could hardly resist turning the hose on myself. Yeeeesh. If only I weren't in my home clothes. Hmmm... Maybe next time I could wear a swimsuit. Err... Riiight. That's when I'll know that the heat has really gotten to me... and so will the neighbors.

It seems I'm getting a bit more irritable and lazy because of this heat. *sigh* I'm really not a big fan of this kind of "warmth."

Aside from the obvious, do you have any other tips on how to battle this hot, hot, hot, (and did I mention hot) weather? Preferably ones that I can do in the comfort of my own home. Or at least somewhere close by. Thank you.

IT. IS. HOT.

2006-05-02T08:09:00.000-07:00

The weather's so hot, it deserves its own entry. It's too hot, however, to write much about it. Hah!

Sabi nga ni Sergio Mendes, featuring Will. I. Am and Erykah Badu, "it's that heat, that heat, that heat. it's that heat yo."

*sigh* ... and that heat has officially melted my brains. Grrreat.

"it's a friendship built on silence."

2006-04-26T17:25:00.000-07:00

Tears are allowed to flow, but words are not a prerequisite.

Expectations? Non-existent.

2006-04-19T19:43:00.000-07:00

"You have five minutes to wallow in the delicious misery.

ENJOY IT. EMBRACE IT.

Discard it.

Then, proceed."

Sanity-saving strategy right there. Good to last from half a day to a whole one. No need to worry though, because once the effect wears off, you can simply repeat the process.

I heard those quoted lines, by the way, from the movie, Elizabethtown, which is surprisingly not a very good film despite being directed by Cameron Crowe. It does have its saving graces, however, like a couple of inspiring quotes such as the one stated above.

Now, I'd been meaning to try this little strategy out ever since I heard it a couple of days back. Finally, the opportunity presented itself yesterday, and what can I say? It works. Big time.

Even if the effect isn't permanent or long term, it's long enough to help me go along the rest of my day with at least half my sanity still in tact. Anyway, it's a rinse and repeat kind of strategy, too, so you can just keep doing it once you feel the pangs creeping up on you again.

It really is much better, methinks, to allow yourself first to feel the pain and grieve before moving on than to believe you are devoid of feeling any of it.

you're feeling verrryyy sleeeepyy...

2006-04-10T16:40:00.000-07:00

I've always been fascinated with visual tricks/exercises/etc. I came upon this particular one back when I was in grade school, in a collection of LIFE encyclopedias. My favorite among the collection was entitled "Light and Vision," and I remember taking it from our bookshelf as a kid and treating myself to hours and hours of visual exercises until my head ached.

Now I remembered this particular exercise as I was browsing through our bookshelf and coming across that collection of LIFE encyclopedias after a loooong time. I desperately wanted to get "Light and Vision," but the collection is too far up the shelf that I have to step on a chair (plus step on the T.V. rack) to get it. I don't want to risk it since it's 4 o'clock in the morning, and if I fall, no one might see or hear me.

ANYWAY, let me just share this one with you.

Okay, so here's what you do. See that heart up there? Stare at the black dot in the middle for 30 seconds, preferably without blinking. Then, immediately look at a white space (the space around the heart will do.) You'll see a pink heart with a blue outline, exactly the same size as the heart above, sans the dot. The longer you look at the dot, the more defined the heart will be. (Is it just me or was there something symbolical/metaphorical/proverbial in that last statement?)

Anyhoo, did you see it?

in other news

2006-04-08T18:35:00.000-07:00

I made a major decision last Friday. Hopefully, a wise one at that. Oooh, I really hope so.

what a difference a sundae makes

2006-04-08T08:02:00.000-07:00

I had to be somewhere this morning at 10. Had my breakfast at around 8:30 or 9, and after watching Ice Cream Unwrapped on the Food Network, I headed up to my room to get ready. I was feeling a bit groggy from sleeping late the night before so when I saw my bed, I decided to lie down just for a bit. Wrong move. I woke up and oh yeah, it was 11:30 already. Great.

Now, no one was affected by my being late. Well just me, of course, because it meant that I lost time to do the things that I was supposed to do. Now, driving for me is therapy. (Yes, even in this country of ours where most drivers seem to be reeling out of control, driving for me is my escape.) So instead of going straight to my destination, I decided to drive around a bit (hence, wasting more time, but not caring since I was feeling really bummed about what happened.) I found myself at the drive thru section of McDonald's Commonwealth ordering a Cheeseburger Meal plus a hot fudge sundae. So with that to boost my mood, I headed off to where I was suppposed to be.

So many, many thanks to XBN and to Ronald McDonald for that quick picker upper.

Elliott's safe!

2006-04-06T17:14:00.001-07:00

Oh he better be! I would have had a major fit if he was eliminated. What's the deal? Did he not do a wonderful job singing Garth Brooks' If Tomorrow Never Comes? Kenny Rogers (yes, that famous roaster) was right. Elliot didn't have to use all those frills in his singing as long as he was able to tell the song's story, and I personally think he did a wunnerful, wunnerful job. Heck, I already have the mp3.

Sometimes late at night
I lie awake and watch her sleeping
She's lost in peaceful dreams
So I turn out the lights and lay there in the dark.

If tomorrow never comes,
Will she know how much I loved her?
Did I try in every way to show her everyday
That she's my only one?
If my time on earth were through,
And she must face this world without me,
Is the love I gave her in the past
Gonna be enough to last
If tomorrow never comes?

So tell that someone that you love
Just what you're thinking of
If tomorrow never comes.

Okay, the lyrics might seem a bit mushy to some, but you should hear him sing it! *swoon* I'm not a very big country music fan, but I swear I got goosebumps listening to the song. He sang it beautifully. Watch his performance and see if you don't go "Awww..." afterwards. I certainly did. Hehe.

I really do want him to win. (He's obviously my favorite.) Well, either him or Catherine McPhee :)

Next week I think they're covering Queen. Now that should be interesting. I bet someone's doing a cover of Bohemian Rhapsody.

someone got up on the wrong side of the bed

2006-04-04T17:02:00.000-07:00

It's 5 a.m. and I'm passing a bit of the time before I head off to school for the big fieldtrip. I'm actually just waiting for the C.D. I'm burning for the roadtrip to be completed. Can you imagine a roadtrip without good sounds? *shock horror gasp* Oh no no no...

We're off to Batangas, you see. Now seeing as my whole April schedule will be full of paperwork, documentation, compilation, packing up, and the like, this is probably the only break I will get. The only "summer vacation," if I may.

If so...

How come I'm not the least bit excited?

Oh wait, I know. It's the imminent deadlines. It just has to be. For crying out loud, how will I be able to enjoy the sun, the sand, and the water, if I know there's a ton of paperwork waiting to be done when I get back? How will I have fun when I know I could've spent the day finishing more paperwork, hence, meeting the said deadlines faster and earlier? It's just not... right.

Rawr.

I've been working for three days straight now, and somehow the piles and piles of papers on my desk still don't allow me to see my seatmates in the faculty room. I really don't like sitting at my desk the whole day. It's a pain in the neck. Literally and figuratively speaking. It's just too quiet in school. I need a break, please.

Oh wait, this IS my break.

*sigh*

C.D.'s done. See yah leytah, alligeytah.

call me cheesy, i don't care :)

2006-03-31T16:20:00.000-08:00

I've been pondering for the longest time, thinking of how and what to write in this entry. It's not that I have nothing to say. It's actually quite the opposite. I have SO MUCH in me right now, I feel I'm about to explode. Okay so after staring at the blinking cursor for God knows how long, am I finally ready for this? I think I am. Are you? Okay, here we go.

It still hasn't sunk in that the schoolyear 05-06 is finally over. I'm actually scared of the day I realize that, seeing that now that it hasn't really sunk in yet, I'm already feeling all kinds of sadness.

Okay, I will definitely remember March 31, 2006. I never expected anything like that to happen. As in ever.

A special shout out to III-Kamalayan 05-06

Ladies, I know I couldn't find the words to thank you a while ago. I was just so overwhelmed by what you guys did. Cliche as it may seem, but it's true that words cannot express how grateful I am for you. I can try, though :) So here goes:

You cannot believe my amazement and appreciation for what you guys did for me. So that's what I'd look like as a blonde... Haha :) I appreciate each and everyone's paper crane and wish. I appreciate the "surprise" :) (You guys are sneeaaakkyyyy!! Haha :P) I appreciate the laughter that we all shared. I appreciate the fact that you chose to stay despite the fact that the pep rally was starting in five minutes. I appreciate each and every hug that I shared with you. I appreciate the huge group hug wherein we all got smoooshed (but I could've cared less!) I appreciate the tears that we all shed awhile ago. Those tears won't be in vain, I promise. We'll still see each other, ladies. I'm sure of that :)

I hoped it would never end, but alas it had to. I cannot express enough my gratitude having you as my first advisory class. I know things became kind of rocky for some time, but seeing ourselves all together for the very last time in that little classroom we called our home for a while, it all ended up worth everything. Thank you so much, ladies, from the bottom of my heart. I love you :)

To all my students, I appreciate everything! I honestly wished that the day (or should I say the schoolyear? Hehe) would never end. All the gifts, the hugs, the well-wishes were all very much appreciated. I will keep them with me always :) I wish I could keep you all there with me, too, so we could all be together, hanging out, having fun, and of course learning at the same time. From each other of course :) I've learned so much from you guys, as much as I hope you've learned from me, too :) You made this year such an amaaaazing year. Nothing can compare to it, really.

I dread going back to school on Monday and finding the school empty. It's going to be so weeiiirrrddd... :/ *sigh*

I still have so much to say, but again, I fear that words will not be able to contain the overwhelming greatness of emotion I am feeling right now.

*HUG* - just let this say what I feel :)

Once again, my dear ladies, thank you. The schoolyear is finally over, but I hope the memories and lessons that we learned, taught, and shared won't ever be :)

---
by the way
it has recently come to my attention that students actually read this little blog of mine. (*sings* ... i'm gonna make it shine. Oops sorry I couldn't help it :P)

I have just one question, though...

Why don't you guys comment?! Haha :) and why didn't you mention it to me? :) Anyway, feel free to make your presence felt. I would appreciate it. :)

Oh and also, just a disclaimer. This is NOT formal writing, so please allow me to use contractions :P

bittersweet

2006-03-27T05:02:00.000-08:00

Last day of teaching today for SY 2005-2006. I don't think it's sunk in yet.

I'm glad, however, that we patched things up in the batch. At least I hope we did. :) Mwah! I love you juniors :) Whatever negative things have been conceived about you, just remember: PROVE.THEM.WRONG.

Now something strange happened, though. Okay, so before I left each class, I gave them a little message of thanks for making the schoolyear a memorable one (of course, in a good way.) However, when I reached my last class, I failed to do so. Or at least, I didn't elaborate as much as I did with the other classes. And this was the class that I actually had the most strange and most extreme and interesting experience with. Why? This was the class where I first got mad (as in really mad.. I actually walked out.) And for a while, things kind of became awkward. I had a feeling they didn't want me there anymore. But as time passed (as it inevitably does,) things changed. We started to really have fun. Especially during our English Week practices and literature sessions. I eventually loved teaching their class so much, too. And demmit, I never got a chance to tell them properly!

So, if by any chance, you, my dear reader, come from II-Biyaya (or know anyone from there), please tell your classmates I had a wooonderful time teaching your class, too. It was very interesting, my experience with you guys :) Thank you! :)

Okaaay... Now I still have four days more to go with my girls. I wonder what Friday's going to be like. I'm new at everything in this teaching business, and I've learned a lot. Now, I'm going to have to learn about the letting go part. Oooh, that was cheesy. Cheesy, but true. <-- Ooh, that's even cheesier.

Oh well, I am just going to savor these last few days with them. Especially with the juniors, since I know for a fact that I won't be teaching them anymore next year :(

As for the sophomores, if I'm still in school next year, I'll most probably be handling them again. That's good news for me :) I've really grown to love their batch, too. I don't know if they feel the same way, though. Hehe. But I hope they do.

Okay, I've been babbling on for much too long now. I think I'm in a state of something I cannot put my finger on. It's still just so unbelievable that it's actually been a year already. I cannot understand what I'm feeling right now.

And so, I stop here.

O, i am slain...

2006-03-24T06:56:00.000-08:00

My dear ladies, for the love of grace,
Lay not that flattering unction to your soul
That not your procrastination but my wrongdoing is reason.

Honestly, I was really hurt by what happened.

"Miss, two weeks lang po ang binigay samin ni miss para gawin yung term paper..."

Are you serious? ARE.YOU.FOR.REAL??? And that's just one of the many unbelievable lines I heard. I swear I almost lost it a while ago.

Please ladies, I love you. I really do. But please think before you say or do things. Don't say just anything just to save your backs.

Ang cool ng black-eyed peas noh?

2006-03-11T03:26:00.000-08:00

I'm not a fan of theirs, but there's just something about them that makes me look and listen whenever their videos are shown on T.V.

They're just... cool. I can't think of any other word to describe them. (And of any other thing to write about, obviously.)

Errr... yeah. That's it.

*smile*

let's do this

2006-03-01T08:01:00.000-08:00

One down. SEVEN to go.

Bring it on, baby. Bring it on.

please swallow your pride

2006-02-25T12:53:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: This post is for no one in particular.

Kung badtrip ka, wag mong ilabas sa ibang tao. Lalo na sa mga taong wala namang kinalaman sa ka-badtrip-an mo. At lalong-lalo na sa mga taong gusto lang naman tumulong sayo.

It's just plain... disrespectful. "Disrespectful" -- not enough impact? O di bastos. Ayan. Ang bastos kasi eh.

what the hey, let's give this a shot :)

2006-02-19T03:34:00.000-08:00

http://kevan.org/johari?name=Jennifer+Jo

6 weeks more to go...

2006-02-19T01:38:00.000-08:00

... and I'm having mixed emotions about it.

Part of me's excited to head off into the summer slacking off craze. But I know another part of me's going to miss them like hell. A big part, methinks. *sigh*

I guess this is one of those things again that I'm just going to have to learn in this profession.

observation week

2006-02-11T14:57:00.000-08:00

I've got eight, count 'em, EIGHT effing observations.

Deep breaths, Jennifer Jo. Deep breaths.

2006-01-28T17:33:00.000-08:00

May nakita akong kalabaw na tumatakbo.

It even looked as if it threw its head back and then went splashing along the rice fields. Straaaannggeeee...

baptism of fire

2006-01-27T16:48:00.000-08:00

I had my first fieldtrip with my girls today. Well, actually yesterday. Honestly, it was one of the things I had been dreading for the longest time. Mainly because we were supposed to do outdoors-y stuff. And I am NOT an outdoors-y type of girl. Or so I thought. :)

We went to Tunay na Biak-na-Bato in San Miguel, Bulacan. Yup, fieldtrips nowadays are not the usual going to the museum, E.K., shopping kind of thing. The school hired Lakbay Kalikasan to sponsor all high school trips. Meaning they're all adventure-hiking-trekking-swimming-rappeling field trips. It scared the hell out of me, I swear.

When we got there, I was placed at the end of the line. That was expected since I was the adviser. What I didn't expect, though, was that I would really be THE last person at the end of the line. I expected some Lakbay Kalikasan guide to at least make sure all of us got safely into the caves!

Oh yes, CAVES. We went into five different caves. All of which looked impossible to get into, but somehow we all did. Some students started to get nervous so I tried walking ahead of them just to show that there was nothing to be worried about. Wrong move. I kept on slipping and clumsily trying to clutch everything in sight to hold on to dear life. (Hey give me a break, it had been raining all week and IT. WAS. MUDDY.) It was not a pretty sight, I tell you. So with poise, I turn back to my students and calmly tell them, "Ladies, what happens in Biak Na Bato stays in Biak Na Bato," and slowly make my way back to the end of the line.

Now, after all the trekking, river wading, slipping, falling, rappeling (oh yeah!), and a little bit more slipping, I actually had a good time. A great time in fact. :) It took every last ounce of my dignity to show my students that I actually knew what I was doing, but in the end, it was worth it. It always is. I had fun. And it looked like they did, too. :)

Things that made 2005

2006-01-18T15:27:00.000-08:00

This may be a little late, but what the hey :)

FOOD
1. ripe green mango shape
2. wendy's frosty (with rich choco plus cookie crisps)
3. mister kabab! (double chelo kabab, please)
4. beef garlic, beef topping, cititop fiesta
5. cereal na madaaaaming milk
6. tom yum at iba pang ulam from the thai canteen
7. kowloon bola-bola siopao
8. beef misono with extra rice and red iced tea
9. country style choco glazed donut
10. sbarro's baked ziti and spaghetti with meat sauce and extra parmesan cheese
11. tapa prince and tapa queen
12. kimchi!

PLACES
1. getaway
2. megamill
3. st. francis square
4. metrowalk
5. circle c congressional
6. berkeley square
7. sm north
8. watson's
9. amorsoli
10. TMY! :)

GAMES
1. We love Katamari!
2. Guitar Hero (I love rock and roll! *jeng jengk*)
3. Sonic the Hedgehog

SONGS
1. all songs by hale! (oh yes, we are a HALE fan and proud of it.)
2. everything on those mp3 cds. we have everything from lou pardini to mariah carey to the eraserheads to those audio clips from ed wood to gary v. (well, that's not exactly a good range, but you get the idea.)
3. SONG OF THE YEAR: ewan ko by soapdish :)

Did I forget anything? I'll just keep adding to the list once I remember them. :)

Oh but wait!

***CHEESE ALERT***

Of course, what really, really, really made 2005 was you, monrock. *huggle*

in the wee small hours of the morning, when the whole wide world is fast asleep...

2005-12-27T16:05:00.000-08:00

Since it's Christmas break, I often find myself still wide awake at 4 am doing absolutely nothing productive. Which is quite, well... nice. I missed this. I missed the 11-2-5 lifestyle I had when I was still slacking off. Sleeping at 5 am, waking up at 11 am, sleeping at 2 pm, waking up at 5 pm, sleeping at 11 pm, waking up at 2 am, etc.

But it can get old after a while. And I realize, I miss my students more. Huh.

It's true, I guess, what Miss C told me. There's a reason why my evaluation came before the break. I just hope I make the right decision.

hold me closer, tiny dancer.

2005-12-24T14:19:00.000-08:00

Phoebe: it's just like that song Elton John did for that guy from "Who's the Boss?"

Ross: *confused* What song??

Phoebe: *clears throat* Hold me closer, Tony Daa-anza-aaaa....

Heehee. Going through old mp3 cds is fun.

natural high #46

2005-12-23T23:05:00.000-08:00

Receiving a Friendster testimonial.

Heee. :)

Christmas is not a good time to lose money

2005-12-23T16:28:00.000-08:00

Then again, anytime isn't a good time to lose your money. But it does get especially hard to take during Christmas time. Especially when you're Christmas shopping for loved ones. Rawr.

*sniff*

by the way

2005-12-22T12:14:00.000-08:00

If you happen to stumble by this blog of mine and you intend to comment on any of my posts, PLEASE tell me who you are. That is if you're not one of the people I advertised my blog to.

Out of respect, out of courtesy. Do not post comments anonymously.

Thank you.

let's try this one more time

2005-12-22T12:04:00.000-08:00

Due to unforeseen events, my previous blog had to be relocated and left alone (it still exists somewhere in cyberspace, though). After a while, I missed the shout-outs, pour-outs and the like, so I've decided to create a new one.

Let's see how this works out.