Ephemeral

I find it frightening the way time flies by so quickly. It was December last year when I christened this blog; back then I did not have exams to worry about, no formulas to memorize. Although I was thoroughly stressed out by the heavy paper works and journalism stuff, I still had time to read books and blog often. I would admit, I miss that sort of carefree lifestyle. But then again, I do not regret the decision that I have made, no matter how difficult it is, and no matter how demanding it can be.

In less than a week or so, classes will finally resume. I'm terrified; I do not think I'm prepared for my first exam ever in Physics here in UP Diliman. I was solving tons of problem for the last chapter before I turned to blogging. I miss writing. I don't even have enough time for sleeping during school days, what more for creative writing? All I ever write these days are technical reports and the very minimal reflection papers for my only GE subject for this semester, Kas 1. I'm hoping that I will do well in my Physics 101 exam; I need something to boost my confidence, which has definitely dropped ever since I met my fellow Physics classmates for the first time (most of whom are comprised of DOST scholars, science high school graduate, and a few Oblation scholars). It can be very distressing when you are surrounded by such brilliant minds, when you know that you are just a normal student.

Good thing I really love Physics, although several instances it makes we want to cry. But once you are able to solve a certain problem, the kind of joy and satisfaction it can provide you is so immense and amazing. That is the thing with science and math. It is probably one of the reasons that I still strive even if it seems implausible for me to solve that certain number. I have my rough times though, and admittedly, a few weeks before the Christmas break, I spent one Saturday moping and being depressed just because I could not solve one of the numbers in our problem set. I knew the answer (courtesy of the answer key at the back of the book), and yet I couldn't fathom how it arrived to that. No matter what I did, I just couldn't even get at least one step right. I really believed I was the stupidest Physics student then. I had no  any will left anymore. I was seriously considering shifting out of the program to pursue my frustration, either BA European Languages or BA Linguistics. Good thing some of my friends were there to talk to me, and little by little I was able to recover. I took Physics aside for a while and began studying for Chemistry.

The next day, I learned that theformula for the Atwood's machine actually exists, and the only thing left for me to do is a little derivation. I almost smacked my head for my idiocy. Upon acquiring the equations, I was able to arrive at the correct answer. Yes, I was the happiest kid that day--all my desire of quitting Physics evaporated, and I vowed to myself that I will push this through, no matter what, no matter how difficult it is.

Another inspiration for me is astronomy. I'm currently applying in UP AstroSoc. And to be honest, astronomy is one of the main reasons why I decided to major in physics (with quantum mechanics as the other, plus watching a bunch of physics and chemistry related documentary). Every time I feel like giving up, I just look up and gaze at the stars, with the vastness of the universe slowly consuming me. It's enough reason to go on.

Selected Tales by Edgar Allan Poe

SELECTED TALES ★★★☆☆

by EDGAR ALLAN POE 

"I blush, I burn, I shudder, while I pen the damnable atrocity."

I bought this book more than four years ago, but it is only a few days ago that I decided to read it completely. Sure, I've read some of the stories, but only about five or so. I have always loved The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart, the latter I read for at least five times. I will first present my individual ratings of the stories (the rating three stars for the book would be the average):

The Duc De L'Omelette ★☆☆☆☆
MS. Found in a Bottle ★★☆☆☆
The Assignation ★★★☆☆
Ligeia ★★★★☆
How to Write a Blackwood Article ★★★☆☆
The Fall of the House of Usher ★★★★☆
William Wilson ★★★★★
The Murders in the Rue Morgue ★★★★★
A Descent into the Maelstrom ★☆☆☆☆
The Island of the Fay ★☆☆☆☆
The Colloquy of Monos and Una ★★☆☆☆
The Oval Portrait ★★★★★
The Masque of the Red Death ★★★☆☆
The Mystery of Marie Roget ★★☆☆☆
The Pit and the Pendulum ★★★★☆
The Tell-Tale Heart ★★★★★
The Gold-Bug ★★★☆☆
The Black Cat ★★★★★
The Premature Burial ★★★★☆
The Purloined Letter ★★★★★
The Imp of the Perverse ★★☆☆☆
The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar ★★★★☆
The Cask of Amontillado ★★★★☆
The Domain of Arnheim ★☆☆☆☆
Von Kempelen and His Discovery ★★★☆☆

I really like the way Poe wrote - it was almost like poetry, especially the way he manipulated the words and juxtaposed them. His style was very lyrical and personal, and as a reader, I felt really drawn to the minds of the characters, as though I could see the workings of their minds through the writing. In a way, it was also reminiscent of the "stream-of-consciousness" style. That being said, I preferred it when he wrote in the first-person, so much so that in Ligeia, although it was primarily narration, I wasn't bored. His protagonists' voice were distinct as well.

He had this annoying habit though of lapsing into rantings and ramblings, as was seen in A Descent into the Maelstrom, The Island of the Fay, and The Imp of the Perverse. Furthermore, I struggled in some of the stories (including the three mentioned) because I was confused the entire time. It was greatly exemplified in The Duc De L'Omelette. I didn't know which was which, and who was talking to who. In my opinion, it was a terrible decision to place it at the very beginning.

I like Poe best as a horror writer, then detective, and least would be as a science-fiction writer. The MS. in a Bottle wasn't really that bad, but as a piece of science-fiction, it didn't stand out. However, The Murders in the Rue Morgue was absolutely amazing. His fictional detective, Dupin, was a genius and was quite memorable.

Need I say more about him as a horror writer? I found Ligeia to be predictable, but still, the amount of terror in the story still managed to make my hair rise at the end, especially because of the last sentence. As I've mentioned, I've read The Tell-Tale Heart numerous times before, and whenever I did, it always chilled me to the bone. The narrator's voice was so memorable, and it gave an accurate picture of the protagonist's character. He claimed that he wasn't a madman, but through the writing, every inch portrayed his insanity. The tone was darkly sarcastic, another indication of his madness. I admire Poe's usage of clear and specific imagery to draw in the readers to the scene.

I wouldn't say that reading Poe is an enjoyable experience. It isn't. His stories are disturbing, haunting, and frightening. It makes you wonder about how the human minds work, and how the author could capture the madness of his protagonists so accurately if he weren't mad himself. Read at least The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart - if those aren't enough to make your hair rise in terror, I don't know what would.

What course, then?

I haven't blogged for a long time, have I? It's half-past midnight, and I am supposed to be studying for the upcoming exam or sleeping, but let me talk a little about what has transpired in my uninteresting life.

Saying that I had been busy this summer seems like a huge understatement. Sure enough, all I did was stay at home and bury myself in books and anime...but there was definitely more to that. The whole time I was immersed in a fairly emotionally draining experience as the first semester loomed and I still wasn't sure what my course (or my campus) would be. Every night I would have a hard time sleeping, and my dreams would be filled by the notion of me studying in UP Diliman. 

And where am I now?

Fate has been absolutely kind to me, thank goodness! I am officially a student at the University of the Philippines-Diliman!

From the middle of May onwards, I was beginning to be preoccupied with focusing on my papers and all those things. I only filed a transfer application at the College of Science; my course choices are the following: BS Geology, BS Applied Physics, and BS Physics. By then I was still filled with my intense desire to be a geology student. However, when we attended its orientation on the 10th of May, my dreams seemed to be shattered. My eyes were opened, and I was able to see things in a new light. Imagine this: out of the 110 applicants, only the top 25 will be chosen. I virtually had no chance - I didn't have a very high GWA, I didn't come from a science course, and I am merely a transferee from UP Los Banos; basically, my chances were fairly low. 

During the orientation, we were shown the usual stuff. I already knew what the geologists are studying and what they are doing. However, it was as though that at that time, the reality assaulted me: while I loved what they are studying, can I even survive the course physically? I knew the answer was a big no. I was beginning to consider the possibility of studying Applied Physics/ Physics if I were to be accepted. Unfortunately, I didn't seem to have better chances there, either.

TO BE CONTINUED

Review of "City of Fallen Angels" by Cassandra Clare

The City of Fallen Angels is the fourth book in The Mortal Instruments series. One would notice how considerably thinner it is than the former installments. Unfortunately though, the book in its entirety disappoints because some aspects were lacking. With lesser number of pages than the other books, one would be under the impression that the story would progress quickly, but on the contrary, the book was not fast-paced enough; leaving the readers wondering what the main problem really was, and what the installment is all about in general.

Like its predecessor, City of Glass, the book focused on the concept of love, but it delved into it more deeply. While most of the time it was about romantic love, friendship became another element. One would also notice that there is a different tone in this novel, as compared to the former three - it is a new approach that seemed rather foreign but worked quite well nonetheless.

While the earlier installments were more edging as "plot-driven," City of Fallen Angels took a brave step forward and became "character-driven." That is, the protagonists would be stuck in the moment where they would have to make decisions that could either be beneficial or harmful. That is why, while the novel seemed to beat around the bush and that it did not appear to go straight into the point, the dilemmas and new encounters the narrators would experience made the book riveting and somehow, a page-turner.

It is commendable how much the characters had developed and matured. Just at the first chapter, readers would catch a glimpse of how much Simon had evolved; not only his looks had changed due to "vampirism," but also himself as a person due to the experiences he had gone through. He still had smudges of his humor and sarcasm, but it was pretty evident how tremendously he had matured. The same goes for Jace, who, at the earlier books, was already beginning to show traces of his more vulnerable side. His voice in this novel was fairly emotional, and we readers would be tapped in his inner struggles against himself and the forces that try to break him. It is rather unfortunate, however, that Clary, the lead character, remained who she was, with hardly any improvement - she was still prone to impulsiveness, and the like. But then again, those traits perhaps were the ones that made her who she was.

With so much twists and surprises presented already in the three books, one might be under the impression that there would be no such thing anymore in the City of Fallen Angels, but Cassandra Clare still had a lot under her sleeves that would never fail to impress, and would leave the readers deeply astonished by the sudden turn of events and unexpected revelations.

However, despite the four stars that I gave, I would admit that this book has thoroughly disappointed me. I was expecting more from this particular installment, but the excitement was not able to come to me immediately - perhaps it never arrived - unlike the magic the City of Glass was able to conjure. 

SPOILERS AHEAD

 
I'm mighty proud of myself: this is my first attempt at an actual review, and I think it's not terrible for a first.

I'm really glad that Simon and Jace became in good terms with one another, that they were already friends. That time at the City of Ashes when Jace realized it was Simon who was calling and not Clary, his coldness at the latter was disheartening. For some reasons, I was happy they became friends.

Furthermore, I love Simon in this book, especially the fact that the story was seen in his point of view a lot of times. Sure enough, I liked him before, but I like him better now, perhaps even more than Jace.

What surprised me very much was the fact that Kyle was Jordan. I thought nothing could surprise me further. And I was torn between the idea of thinking whether he really was the bad guy or the good one. Fortunately, he was an ally.

There's very little that I've got to say in this personal notes of the book, I think I've already mentioned everything in my spoiler-free review.

Review of "City of Bones" by Cassandra Clare

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Note: I have read the City of Bones a couple of years ago. However, I failed to write a review at the time. Having been fuzzy on some of the details (but of course I remember the ones that are very significant), I decided read the book again; and now I can finally make a review.

A word of caution before I start: I don't think I can make good reviews. This is pretty much more of a reflection of what I have read than the real kind of critique Literature professors produce. Generally, this is just me ranting and rambling. You have been warned.

Immediately after having read the City of Bones some years back, Cassandra Clare became one of my favorite authors. I couldn't get over the book and I read it afterwards for what seemed like endless times. I love her writing style SO MUCH. It's very vivid, plus her descriptions are so detailed, but not to the point of being wordy and tight to read. She inspired me to improve my own writing - I can say that she's one of my ideal writers. We should admit it - these days it's quite difficult to stumble upon a writer who doesn't only have amazing stories, but also have the skill to narrate it perfectly. (That is why most of my favorite authors are Classic writers; they wrote stunningly well.) But Cassandra Clare is different from writers in this age: she is the epitome of what a great story-teller should be (Isn't it still obvious how much I love her?).

The book is thick but I managed to read it in less than a day. One sitting if I didn't have other things to attend to. It is surprising how the whole story occurred only in a span of two weeks. So many events have happened; and yes, some might seem pretty mundane but they actually contributed to making this story more readable and realistic. It isn't like other books which would skip for a succession of days, and then afterwards so many things have happened and you would be left wondering: "How did it become like this?" In the City of Bones you would never ask that question. You would witness how the events unfurl yourself. You would see the process of how things came to be.

Jace swiftly became my fictional crush, that need not be said. But thinking deeply, he isn't really what you would call the kind of guy girls would usually dream for. Sure enough, he's gorgeous, dangerous and hot and goodness knew what else, but he had another side. Sarcastic and witty and talkative? Where do you see those in a girl's fantasy? He is very charming, but his personality at times seems off and undesirable to me for a guy. But then again, that's where the wonder lies. He's different. He doesn't only portray perfection, but he has a "not-quite-hot" side too that makes him realistic.

The romance between Jace and Clary? At the very beginning of the book, it was obvious there would be something between them and they would eventually fall for one another. It was expected, but still, the chapter The Midnight Flower (which is my favorite, by the way) still impressed me a lot. The romance was amazing in the sense that even though you expected it, it still managed to become unexpected. And fortunately, it is not love at first sight or Clary thinking that Jace is so damn sexy she wants him. That would be annoying. The two of them are often together and we readers have seen how they interacted with each other - just normal, with its ups and downs. We wouldn't know when exactly the romance started. It just didn't happen and emerge all of a sudden. It came about gradually, when we are too busy reading through their adventures that we wouldn't be bothering to think how they suit each other very well.

And now.

The revelations.

In some books the authors make a revelation in a really overly dramatic manner, but then the revelation doesn't seem so surprising, thus only rendering me infuriated. Why make a big deal when it's not so unexpected and startling anyway? But again, Cassandra Clare turned the tables. Even if this isn't the first time that I read this, I still have goosebumps while reading those one-sentence revelations usually located at the end of the chapter. I can't imagine how I must felt the first time I read this. It would be superbly astonishing.

Let me cite some for purposes of example:

• Jocelyn Fray is Valentine's wife.
• Hodge is a traitor.
• Luke is a werewolf.
• Clary is Valentine's daughter.
• Valentine is Jace's father.

All right. I was already expecting Valentine to be Clary's father, and while I read, I was feeling so mighty of myself, saying: "Hah! I managed to see through what you're thinking, Cassandra Clare."

But boy was I wrong. I wasn't expecting there to be more surprises. Like, VALENTINE IS ACTUALLY JACE'S FATHER? So they are siblings? (But of course, I know they're not. I feel it. Then it is confirmed after I stumbled upon some spoilers.)

I was like: "CASSANDRA CLARE YOU ARE AMAZING!"

And when Valentine was manipulating their emotions because they loved each other? It was so disturbing and yet very well executed. I might as well say, since in every book there will be one character or so who would strike me as interesting, I'd say Valentine topped the list. (I know it's incorrect for me to think this, but he seems rather hot to me. Badass. But evil, of course.)

I think Magnus Bane is so cool as well. And when I learned that Godfrey Gao would play him in the movie, and when I saw this picture:

I would tell you, I almost fainted. He is perfect to play Magnus Bane and that shot is just so hot!

(All right, I think I'm straying away from my original intention already.)

Aside from those two, Simon is also pretty interesting. He's the kind of person that could be my friend. His sense of humor is epic. He and Jace together will start a war of words. I felt bad for him as well, because it hurt me that he was wounded when he discovered there's a thing between Jace and Clary in The Midnight Flower . . . and yet he is still such a true friend. He's just so amazing.

Some concepts in the book are cliche or are becoming too overused (vampires, werewolves, fallen angels, witches, etc) but Cassandra Clare, being a spectacular author, managed to pull it off. Even though some ideas are not new, she was able to present them in a way that made them seem fresh.

I think this review-slash-rant will never come to an end, so I might as well try to refrain myself from rambling further. For a final word, let us hear a few words from Lucian Graymark:

"Disappointed you didn't get to marry him yourself, Blackwell?"

That, Luke, is amazing. Despite the tension, I found myself laughing at your wit.

Buying books

I love reading books. There is no denying that.

My love for reading started when I was fourteen years old. I engaged myself in the beautiful and wondrous world of classics. Then I started buying other fictional books and fantasies. By the time, I was determined not to read "modern" (which I defined as those that are mainstream romance-fantasy series) books not because I was under the impression that classics were far more superior than them. But that is ages ago. Today I have a pretty vast reading realm - I mostly read anything. And I am up to date with the current books (I belong a multiple fandoms).

My collection of books is, as I've said, mostly classics and unpopular ones I hauled from Booksale. I bought them not only because they are relatively  cheaper, but because of one selfish reason: since they aren't famous, and not to mention that people my age hardly read classics, they won't borrow books from me. I would only have to keep them to myself. After all, I treat my books with especial care. And while I borrow from my friends more popular ones, I treat them as though they are my own. But I doubt there are other people out there who would be as careful as books as I am.

If I am not borrowing books from my friends, I read them in .pdf versions. At the beginning I found the convenience of this situation. With me being a cheapskate, this is perfect, since I don't have to spend a centavo to be able to read a new book. However, I was exposed to reading eBooks in succession, and when I was finally able to read a paperback again, you should have seen my excitement. Pdf files can never elicit that kind of reaction and pure joy.

I don't buy books because they're expensive? I realized how stupid my reason is. Every so often I would buy stuff that are of little importance, anyway, and when accumulated, the money can be spent for a decent book. That is why, from now on, I have vowed myself to buy books, that is, not just classics and those from Booksale. And hey - some of the books that I own are quite expensive in a way even if they aren't all that famous anyway. So why not buy those "modern" ones, making the need for borrowing unnecessary?  And I could read them as much as I want without having to worry of the need to return it afterwards.

I would buy at least a book a month. And I would finish all my unread books. And I would re-read the others.

Review of the "Beautiful Creatures"

I had so much expectation for this book. I really was hoping that I would like it. The cover was fantastic. There are two authors who worked hard for it, so surely it must be something.

Unfortunately, though, it disappointed me. It was a bit okay, but not enough to make me want to read the next book immediately. I don't know whether I'll read the rest still. I might give Beautiful Darkness a try, but the chances are slim.

The main problem? There were lots of cliches. It wouldn't take a genius to figure that one out. Sure enough, there were a few things that I liked - how it mentioned To Kill a Mockingbird, one of my favorite books, how the narrator is a male, which is quite rare in YA books . . . etc. However, the negatives outweighed the positive sides. Forbidden romance has been done multitudes of times; and needless to say, with its prevalence, only very few can pull it off. Sadly, these two authors didn't manage to do it.

A lot of the parts bored me. There was hardly any excitement or tension that would make you want to flip to the next page at once. The narration seemed to make a big deal out of the problem of the story, but certainly, the conclusion was very obvious. How very ironic, it's just like the way Ethan Wate can swiftly decipher the ending of a movie at the very beginning. It's similar to that. Except for the fact that you don't need to have a special thinking ability or something to figure out how the book would turn out.

Ethan Wate, of courses, had touches of the usual male narrators and protagonists. But despite that, I liked him in a way. He's the sort of person that could be my friend. Macon Ravenwood is rather interesting, but not necessarily original. Perhaps it's just me being impressed by characters who possessed that kind of enigmatic personality.

Overall, I don't really like this book. I am very disappointed. But as I've said, I might give it a try. Who knows? Perhaps the second book or the succeeding installments would be much better. I'm not getting my hopes high though.

Review of "The Serpent's Shadow" by Rick Riordan

NOTE: I don't think I can make good reviews. This is pretty much more of a reflection of what I have read than the real kind of critique Literature professors produce. And I would suggest you continue reading this (assuming you'd actually bother to do so) if you're finished will all the other books of Rick Riordan, because I will make some references. If not, then back off, because I don't suppose you'd want to be spoiled about Percy Jackson and the Olympians or The Heroes of Olympus series. Generally, this is just me ranting and rambling. You have been warned.
 

So. Here goes nothing.

As mentioned earlier, I have read ALL of Rick Riordan's books, except for those under the 39 clues series. His writing style improved tremendously compared to The Lightning Thief. Before, I would honestly say that I was purely driven to continue reading because of the plot and the characters, but his writing? Not so much. But as the Kane Chronicles progressed, I would give him a thumbs-up for his great improvement.

Reading the first page of the Serpent’s Shadow quite surprised me. I couldn’t believe it was only a trilogy. We all know that Riordan’s other series are definitely more than three books. But then again, with his knack of surprises, I won’t be surprise if another book comes out. Though it may not be officially a part of the Kane Chronicles, then perhaps it could be something like The Heroes of Olympus. Or, of course, a crossover between the two worlds.

One of the things that I like about Riordan is his ability to make interesting characters. In this installment, I would say that I have found Setne interesting. The same way Set has managed to amuse me. Admittedly, though, a lot of his characters have striking similarities with his previous ones, but still, he managed to still make them appealing and have their own charms. For instance, Anubis is like a replica of Nico di Angelo. But of course, they also have several differences – Nico di Angelo more immature and more driven by revenge, etc etc. I could go on and on. (But it doesn’t change the fact that I am ALWAYS fangirling for these two gorgeous characters. You should see me squeal with delight and make weird faces while reading. Yep, I just love them both to the deepest pits of Tartarus, or to the deepest layer of Duat.)

In that note, I would like to briefly say something about the romance in this book. This is what is appealing about adventure and fantasy – there’s always a fair dose of romance involved. The Sadie-Walt-Anubis thing is relatively quite complex, especially since I am a girl and I can understand how Sadie feels. Here is where the fandom would ship either Walt and Sadie or Anubis and Sadie. Rick Riordan might not have focused on this aspect, but I would most certainly say that he managed to baffle me with decisions as if I were Sadie Kane myself. Boy, that would require some serious decision-making skills. I love Anubis, of course, but poor Walt is also amazing. (Honestly, I was decided that Anubis and Sadie would be perfect. After all, Anubis had left me starstruck at book 1. I'm pretty sure, though, that Anubis isn't as extraordinary and all that . . . rather, it is Sadie Kane who was able to let me see him in that light because of her internal monologue and beautiful descriptions of him.)

I don't know if this is good news or bad news for me, but I wholly realized what was about to happen to Walt on chapter 14. Suddenly, an "Aha!" moment occurred to me and I knew what Rick Riordan was intending to do. That is, make Walt the host of the gorgeous death god. I would have enjoyed that shocking revelation if I weren't able to see through the author's plans. It was quite obvious, if you ask me. With the growing impossibility of Sadie's relationships, it was not unexpected something like that would happen. After all, as I have mentioned, romance is not clearly Riordan's thing. He wouldn't dare fiddle with it too intricately, such as making a tragic end to the relationship. There has to be a way. There has to be a safer option.

But despite that expected "happy ending" theme, somehow this book managed to be realistic. (Of course, there's magic all over and that's definitely not a sign of realistic , but let me explain first.) It's realistic in a sense that it managed to surpass expectations from the cliche events that happened in epic stories. For one, the battle of Carter and Bloodstained Blood was not on the side of our protagonist, and he surely suffered a lot from that encounter. Normally, what would happen was Carter would amazingly defeat the enemy almost unscathed. Also, the fact that he has been tempted several times by the Chaos god Apophis illustrated that Carter is human.

The other seemingly realistic event is the betrayal of Setne. Of course, this is quite expected, him being a treacherous magician and all that. But with the most interesting nature of Setne, it was hard to say. Even Carter thought a lot of times that the ghost was quite harmless. The reader would be inclined to believe so too. I don't like betrayals, of course, but it fitted very well in the story. Because if everything went well from there, then there won't be much of a thrill.

The trick that Sadie pulled off with Neith reminded me of The Mark of Athena when Annabeth Chase intelligently tricked Arachne. Aside from that particular one, several other instances in this book reminded me of Riordan's other works. Towards the end, the romance between Carter and Zia resembled that of Percy and Annabeth. And needless to say, Carter is quite similar to Percy in some ways as well.

Let us wrap things up.

In a way, I think this is even better than The Throne of Fire, but it is really hard to declare that. They are remarkable in their own ways. This book had less drama than the second installment. The tear-jerking kind of drama, if I may correct myself. But other than that, this has enough internal turmoil to confuse and baffle you as if you were the one making the decisions rather than Carter or Sadie. I would also like to commend Rick Riordan for effectively making this a page-turner. Most of the chapters ended in a cliff hanger, urging the readers to go on or else they would be torturing themselves in imagining what could plausibly happen next.

I rate this five stars. And I think Rick Riordan was right in making this a trilogy. It already stands amazingly well in its own shadow.

Sonnet: Brain folds

How do Remollo-brand students differ from others?

We have the precision of scientists;

We possess the persuasiveness of lawyers;

We are imbibed with the creativity of artists;

Armed with multitudinous readings,

Students shall first be struck with panic while glimpsing those papers,

But then the manner in which we compose our writings

Are the fruits of analysis of us students who became thinkers—

Intuitive and perceptive, as trained by our professor;

His activities and requirements are for us necessary practices.

Those two, along with his lectures, provide us impetus for labor,

Enabling us to acquire brain-folds molded through tests—

All of these things make Remollo-brand unique,

Not only are we intuitive but also quite analytic.  

Busy. Preoccupied.

Almost two months have elapsed since I posted my last entry. Somehow, I couldn't believe that I lasted long enough to be able to bear not posting anything online. And even in my personal diary. I am so much stressed and preoccupied these days that I have little time for self expression.

In this entry, I will enumerate the things that I have been doing or I have accomplished.

1. I have improved a lot on my CSS skills, and I am further developing my javascript capability.

2. I finished reading Stories in Rocks by Henry Lionel Williams.

3. I started reading The Great Gatsby a few days ago, and I'm past halfway.

4. I began watching the anime adaptation of Mirai Nikki and I am already on episode 17.

5. I was able to write the first few chapters of my new romantic novella.

6. After what seemed like a long time, I wrote poetry again, a requirement for my ENG 2 class.

7. These days I have become more appreciative of OPM.

8. I was able to meet and correspond with new people on Twitter.

9. I was finally finished with the first draft of my Library Research Paper, and I am on the process of revising now.

A Symposium to Empower the Youth

LOS BAÑOS, PHILIPPINES – Hundreds of students flocked to the DL Umali Auditorium this morning to attend the symposium entitled, “Youth Republic IV: Youth Empowerment” where three people—Alex Castro, Lourd de Veyra and Ramon Bautista—would talk about various timely concerns for the youth.

For the opening message, Arthur Kent Holt, the second-time USC councilor, went to the stage and gave an inspiring speech to the students. He first defined what the Youth Republic is. “It is a form of organization, government affirmation governed by the youth,” he explained.

He specified the three important points which are very integral to Youth Empowerment: leadership, service, and standard. Leadership, he said, was the “capacity to translate vision into reality.” Later on in his message, he added, “You not just lead people; you lead people with a standard. [...] As an Iskolar Para sa Bayan, you are a vital part, a vital power part, of the society.” 

Alex Castro, a BS Psychology graduate of the University of the Philippines Diliman and the vice chair of its University Student Council, was the first speaker for the symposium. A bisexual woman, she thoroughly discussed about the topic of gender equality. She tackled the “thirteen un-empowering statements” that we use most of the time, without the slightest idea that they are actually considered “oppressive” for the LGBT community. 

Majority of what she mentioned might seem relatively harmless in the surface, but she reiterated that they are actually oppressive statements. It’s wrong to pattern all relationships in heterogeneous ones and to label other people’s sexuality, Alex Castro emphasized, among many other things.

“What we want is that at the end of the day, you treat us equally,” she said.

The second speaker is Lourd de Veyra – a musician, journalist, and broadcaster – focusing on the topic of “non-apathy.” He said that the part of Alex Castro was the only serious one the audience would be hearing in that symposium, pertaining to the laughter and cheer of the students because of his humor and wit.

He voiced his concern about service and excellence, and how the former is being more exemplified in UP, when excellence is the one that should be attended to first. 

“Nagbago na ba ang mukha ng pakikibaka?” he asked. Then he cited some cases that were serious in nature and showcased the reality. Lourd inquired: when you turned your display picture to black, were you able to feed people in Somalia? 

While his speech was humorous in some parts, it was very serious in nature. Again, he made an interrogation that would make one pause and ponder: What are we doing with the internet? He said how it became what it is now because of the industrial revolution and constant struggles, but people nowadays would only use it to google Justin Bieber, who, he went on, was the most searched person in the history of search engine.

He also mentioned the concept of “nosebleed” for us Filipinos, and asked why we would make fun of someone when he or she is saying intelligent things, or perhaps uttering unfamiliar words with deep meaning.

“Kailan pa naging masama ang katalinuhan?” asked Lourd. Then, to put a closure to his brief lecture, he said: “Bago natin palayain ang bayan, palayain muna natin ang kamangmangan.”

The last speaker was Ramon Bautista, who was met with wild cheers by the students as his name was being announced. His topic was all about “literacy.” He discussed the social media, and how it is characterized by his modification of the 3Gs: guts, glory, and gold.

He compared this with his own experience. Because he had the necessary guts and self-esteem, he was able to make videos of himself together with his friend. Soon enough, it transformed into glory when he started to become famous. Lastly, it was turned into gold once sponsors poured in and bought his videos, and when he finally became a celebrity. 

Ramon Bautista played some of his videos, particularly: Dan Michael Master Magician and his music video. Later on, he stated three very important things needed for one to be empowered: to study hard, to build relationships, and to steer clear of love.

As a parting message, he gave this advice to the students: “Huwag umibig.”